24 Leylandii cypress 20 ft trees removed and stumps ground out last September advice for building

[Lady T]

Evening everyone,

We had the trees removed in preparation for a house build we are about start. We believe the soil to be around 800mm loam and below that clay. (Suffolk, East Anglia) I do remember the Arborist mentioning the Cypress doesnt search for water and have quite shallow roots. Are the roots no longer demanding water now the trees and stumps have been removed this last 10 months, just second guessing before survey what kind of foundations we may have to dig

 

TIA

[monkeybusiness]

10 minutes ago, Lady T said:

Evening everyone,

We had the trees removed in preparation for a house build we are about start. We believe the soil to be around 800mm loam and below that clay. (Suffolk, East Anglia) I do remember the Arborist mentioning the Cypress doesnt search for water and have quite shallow roots. Are the roots no longer demanding water now the trees and stumps have been removed this last 10 months, just second guessing before survey what kind of foundations we may have to dig

 

TIA

Whatever your structural engineer specifies! 
The tree’s legacy is unlikely to have any relevance. 

[Lady T]

Thank you, when you say the trees legacy is unlikely to have any relevance, do I understand that to mean they have gone so not likely to effect foundations regardless.

 

[monkeybusiness]

1 minute ago, Lady T said:

Thank you, when you say the trees legacy is unlikely to have any relevance, do I understand that to mean they have gone so not likely to effect foundations regardless.

 

Yes, I’d say so. We’ve had an incredibly wet winter and the soil will have fully re-wetted since your tree removals so any potential for heave possibly caused by said removals will have already occurred.

[Lady T]

10 minutes ago, monkeybusiness said:

Yes, I’d say so. We’ve had an incredibly wet winter and the soil will have fully re-wetted since your tree removals so any potential for heave possibly caused by said removals will have already occurred.

Great thank you

[Canal Navvy]

Once you start digging foundations it'll become clear if the clay has been dessicated. Effective building control will insist on the depth being below any future likely problems. Properly dessicated clay can take years to rehydrate so if present needs digging out not covering up.