Help! Heave worry from removing tree

[Bingjamin]

Hi all,

 

I've got myself in to a pretty bad headspace. I had a tree removed from the drive of my property (partial picture of the tree included, apologies that all I have) in November 2021. I have for some reason 6 months later found myself reading about heave and the damages it can cause which I wasn't aware and I need some advice. I want to put to the back of my mind as currently is cause me endless amounts of stress. Not sure at this point whether I'm being irrational or not.

 

Essentially the tree trunk stood 22/23ft from the my property and stood around the same height, think it may be a sycamore. Wasnt a big tree and the tree surgeon/aborist who did the job said it wouldn't be a problem at the time and more recently too. I believe it was planted after or at the same time the property was built around 1990, and certainly was not before.  

 

What I think has got me into a spin is that since then I've been made aware of some mortar cracking around the back and front windows which from the homebuyers survey states were there at the time of purchasing in June 2021. Relatively minor and not uncommon from what bricklayers have advised, but from my endless (and frankly damaging) readings of google is that this is a sign of subsidence which therefore can be affected by heave if tree are removed. 

 

Further more from research my property sits on loamy soils which are made up partly of clay. 

 

Can anyone help me get out of this worry?

Am I being irrational or is this is genuine concern?

 

Thanks in advance,

Dan

[Stubby]

43 minutes ago, Bingjamin said:

Hi all,

 

I've got myself in to a pretty bad headspace. I had a tree removed from the drive of my property (partial picture of the tree included, apologies that all I have) in November 2021. I have for some reason 6 months later found myself reading about heave and the damages it can cause which I wasn't aware and I need some advice. I want to put to the back of my mind as currently is cause me endless amounts of stress. Not sure at this point whether I'm being irrational or not.

 

Essentially the tree trunk stood 22/23ft from the my property and stood around the same height, think it may be a sycamore. Wasnt a big tree and the tree surgeon/aborist who did the job said it wouldn't be a problem at the time and more recently too. I believe it was planted after or at the same time the property was built around 1990, and certainly was not before.  

 

What I think has got me into a spin is that since then I've been made aware of some mortar cracking around the back and front windows which from the homebuyers survey states were there at the time of purchasing in June 2021. Relatively minor and not uncommon from what bricklayers have advised, but from my endless (and frankly damaging) readings of google is that this is a sign of subsidence which therefore can be affected by heave if tree are removed. 

 

Further more from research my property sits on loamy soils which are made up partly of clay. 

 

Can anyone help me get out of this worry?

Am I being irrational or is this is genuine concern?

 

Thanks in advance,

Dan

Forget it .

[Khriss]

Plant another tree to suck up the moisture. K

Edited April 20, 2022 by Khriss
( and hide that crack in yr window wall)

[benedmonds]

13 minutes ago, Stubby said:

Forget it .

What he said..

 

You would need to be on shrinkable soil, tree would have needed to be there before house causing a persistent moisture deficit and even if those things were true there is nothing practical you could do about it anyway.

 

 

[Bingjamin]

17 minutes ago, Stubby said:

Forget it .

Forget it, as in you don't think its a problem?

[Stubby]

Just now, Bingjamin said:

Forget it, as in you don't think its a problem?

Yes . 👍

[Lowestoft Firewood]

More likely crud brickwork

[Patrick goulding]

Point the brick work up for piece of mind and just forget about it 👍 

[Dan Maynard]

Zooming in it looks a bit like the pointing is different above the window, I wonder if there's a story to do with the window that has nothing to do with the tree. If you get a decent builder in to repoint they can have a look at the window and lintel.

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

14 hours ago, Stubby said:

Forget it .

“Forget it” he says nonchalantly!

 

Removal of that tree is a contributory factor in global deforestation, climate emergency and habitat loss. 
 

By such individual acts, a great harm is visited upon all life forms. 
 

Rather than forgetting it - make immediate arrangements for the planting of a 100 new trees to atone for the climate crime of removing that one.....

 

(if that doesn’t appeal, do like what Stubby said!)

[Guest Gimlet]

17 hours ago, Bingjamin said:

Hi all,

 

I've got myself in to a pretty bad headspace. I had a tree removed from the drive of my property (partial picture of the tree included, apologies that all I have) in November 2021. I have for some reason 6 months later found myself reading about heave and the damages it can cause which I wasn't aware and I need some advice. I want to put to the back of my mind as currently is cause me endless amounts of stress. Not sure at this point whether I'm being irrational or not.

 

Essentially the tree trunk stood 22/23ft from the my property and stood around the same height, think it may be a sycamore. Wasnt a big tree and the tree surgeon/aborist who did the job said it wouldn't be a problem at the time and more recently too. I believe it was planted after or at the same time the property was built around 1990, and certainly was not before.  

 

What I think has got me into a spin is that since then I've been made aware of some mortar cracking around the back and front windows which from the homebuyers survey states were there at the time of purchasing in June 2021. Relatively minor and not uncommon from what bricklayers have advised, but from my endless (and frankly damaging) readings of google is that this is a sign of subsidence which therefore can be affected by heave if tree are removed. 

 

Further more from research my property sits on loamy soils which are made up partly of clay. 

 

Can anyone help me get out of this worry?

Am I being irrational or is this is genuine concern?

 

Thanks in advance,

Dan

That cracked brickwork looks like a dropped lintel to me. It's not actually dropped, that's an old term from the days of wooden lintels, which did drop from bowing or compressing as they decayed. But catnic types cavity lintels are prone to minor twisting and settling and can bow if disturbed to create a tell-tale stepped crack running from the lintel bearing point up to the centre of the opening. That's exactly what you've got. It's possible that there is lintel distortion due to rusting but more likely it has settled over time or was stressed when the windows were replaced.

If you were to trace that stepped crack up from each side of the lintel bearing until they meet at the central point above the opening, the triangle shape formed is called the critical triangle. Provided there is no load-bearing component (like a beam) built into that triangle or directly above it, you could remove it completely without support and the brickwork above will remain perfectly stable. 

Subsidence would more likely show up in cracks at the base of the window opening running down to the ground, not a triangular crack above the lintel. If you have cracks running from the bottom of the opening running down to the ground, you should investigate those with test trenches to see if your foundation has fractured. I think that's most unlikely. But even if it has, it's fixable.  

 

Any good bricklayer can take out those loose bricks in the triangle I've just described, and provided the lintel is sound and not corroded, simply re-lay new ones and that will be problem solved. If the lintel has rusted out, it can be replaced. Bit messy and a nuisance but not the end of the world or big money. 

 

If you've got no cracks running down to the ground, chill and stay away from Googgle.

Edited April 21, 2022 by Gimlet