sycamore roots causing subsidence

[robertsonstreecare]

i recently visited a client who explained to me that they have been experiencing what they believe to be root problems causing damage to their house. the cause is potentially a large sycamore tree which stands approximately 5 metres from the house. the question she asked me is could i prove that the roots were the cause of the problem? the tree is protected and the council require proof of root damage before they will consider removing the tree. i advised her that without any excavation work all i could say was that due to the size (height 50 feet, crown spread 40 feet) and the proximity to the building that it was very possible the tree could be causing the problem but i am not sure how this could be proved?? any advice would be welcome!!

 

also may be significant the house actually stands about 10 metres from the tree but they added a conservatory about 5 years ago which is now 5 metres from the butt. the roots at the butt are also raised in a mound, but not protruding through the grass.

[treequip]

Any householder would be better advised to consult their insurers

[slack ma girdle]

How old is the house in question ?

[springtrinity]

If you can show root intrusion to nearby drains that usually works with the council.My drainage company carries out drain cctv surveys for homeowners and in many of the cases we have worked on, that usually pushes the council to give a destruction order on the tree due to the cost of remedial work on the drains.After the tree is removed the drains are usually sorted with rootcutting equipment.Drain cctv survey £150-£200 with the drains the first to show early root problems.

[slack ma girdle]

And what is the soil type ?

[treequip]

If you can show root intrusion to nearby drains that usually works with the council.My drainage company carries out drain cctv surveys for homeowners and in many of the cases we have worked on, that usually pushes the council to give a destruction order on the tree due to the cost of remedial work on the drains.After the tree is removed the drains are usually sorted with rootcutting equipment.Drain cctv survey £150-£200 with the drains the first to show early root problems.

 

You are probably going to need more than that for a tree subject to statutory protection

[springtrinity]

Not in my experiance, insurers will only pay out once on root intrusion then any future problems are down to the homeowners, no council will take the risk of being held liable for more root intrusion by making you keep the tree.

[treequip]

Not in my experiance, insurers will only pay out once on root intrusion then any future problems are down to the homeowners, no council will take the risk of being held liable for more root intrusion by making you keep the tree.

 

With respect you are wrong

[RobArb]

With respect you are wrong

 

[springtrinity]

As i said previously not in my experiance with shropshire county council, on 5 occasions just this year protected trees on private and council owned land were destroyed, the council are more than willing to drop a tree as they are a liabillity nightmare for them.

[treequip]

So, less than one a month on a very limited statistical sample, in a restricted geographical area. You also don’t know how many were assessed and the solution was found to be replacing the drains.

Nor do we know what other mitigating factors there were indicating removal of the trees.

 

If you want to know what lengths an authority will go to check out the Dellaware mansions judgement (legal precedent)