Neighbour (2 doors down ) has claimed root ingress has damaged his sewer pipes.

[KarlSUK]

Hi,

 

Some advise please. 

 

I live in a 1970's built three floor terrace, although it is 2 floor at the rear as it is built into a hill, with garage and entrance a bottom in the front.

The building required some backfill work on the rear foundations shortly after building to prevent subsidence, but this was a long time prior to moving here,

 

My neighbour two doors down came to inform me that he has had to have his pipes unblocked ant it was found the blockage was caused by roots.

In my garden I have several trees, a very tall Eucalyptus, above house by about 6-8ft, this is located about 2mtrs from the back of my house and has raised a the concrete around it, the tree is mature and over 20 years old.

A Bird Cherry at the end of the garden that is fully mature and quite high, planted in the early 70;s when the house was built.

There is also a 25 year plus Apple Tree at the end of the garden.

Added to this there is a Lauren hedge on one side of the garden that has cause root ingress to my own pipes in the past.

There are quite a lot of treen in the area but my trees and one other unknown tree further down the road are the closest large tress to my neighbour.

 

My question is regards the possibility of the tress causing issues with the pipe several houses down ?

The liability for cost to repair, ie: despite the tress being large could it be reasonable to have foreseen the issue ?

As I have read via googling the lability is with the tree owner if it could have been reasonably foreseen, also that once advised I could be held liable for any future damage if I do not take steps to mitigate the cause.

Could the age and lack of maintenance of the pipe work be a contributing factor, as 50 year only sewer pipes laid by council builders would probably not be in the best state of repair.

 

My proposal is to have the two larger trees removed, as I can not see what other mitigation I can do ?  Although I am open to suggestions if anyone has any. 

Cost is the real issue here as I do not really have the funds to remove the trees - and certainly could not afford to pay to defend any court action or pay cost for replacement of sewers on others land.  The neighbour is known to be unreasonable so and mediation is not likely.

 

Any advice, help and guidance would be appreciated, 

 

Many Thanks 

 

Karl

 

 

[Steve Bullman]

so the roots have blocked or damaged the pipe, which exactly is it?

 

Sounds like a chancer to me

[Dan Maynard]

Do you have a legal helpline on your house insurance? I think you need proper advice, I agree he sounds like a chancer, Google will tend to lead you to worry more than appropriate.

 

Not every broken pipe requires all the trees in the area to be cut down, there'd be no trees left in London.

[daveatdave]

what has he got growing in his garden? Has he had a survey of his drains,

camera down the pipe you can request to see the video how far the trees are away from his drain. And how deep are the pipes   

[Joe Newton]

@daltontrees

[JonnyRFT]

A survey with camera footage should be the first thing you would need to see. If it’s roots ingress, it’ll likely be the finer roots that can be blasted away by high pressure water. The pipe can then be internally sleeved, in situ, without any excavation whatsoever. Also, root ingress normally occurs to already damaged pipes.

[daltontrees]

If this is going to get acrimoniuos and expensive, best not discuss it on a public forum.

 

Two things are needed, straying roots and a defective drain. Generally it's not the type of thing that's foreseeable. There's also no way that you could have know that your tree in particular is causing damage. Indeed, you couldn't have known there was daamge. But I'd steer clear of admitting that "sewer pipes laid by council builders would probably not be in the best state of repair", as that comes close to acknowledging that you should have foreseen susceptibility to blockage.

 

That said, a properly specified and constructed sewer shouldn't allow roots in. There are rare exceptions to this. Might be best to start from the position that responsibility for blockage lies predominantly or wholly with whoever allowed the drain to fall into disrepair enough to allow roots to enter. But tread carefully, the disrepair (not the blockage) might start at your property. If it's on the neighbour's property, it shouldn't be your problem.

 

The law of nuisance, negligence and foreseeability issurprisingly complex, with no absolutes. It is certainly not a 'strict liability' situation.

 

Eucalyptus is rarely a good idea in urban settings.

[openspaceman]

9 minutes ago, daltontrees said:

 If it's on the neighbour's property, it shouldn't be your problem.

 

 

 

 

Eucalyptus is rarely a good idea in urban settings.

In England if it is a shared foul sewer it is the responsibility of the drainage company and too true about eucalyptus.

[daltontrees]

5 minutes ago, openspaceman said:

In England if it is a shared foul sewer it is the responsibility of the drainage company and too true about eucalyptus.

Sometimes they are not adopted until they get to a public area. The position of the blockage is not described, if it's in the neighbour's garden it might not be adopted.

[daltontrees]

11 hours ago, Dan Maynard said:

Do you have a legal helpline on your house insurance? I think you need proper advice, I agree he sounds like a chancer, Google will tend to lead you to worry more than appropriate.

 

Not every broken pipe requires all the trees in the area to be cut down, there'd be no trees left in London.

Yep, Google allows many varying half-truths to spill forth to a worry-prone society. One can always find one that fits an argument.