roach711

Greetings from sunny Detroit! I’m looking for an opinion on two trees close to our house. One is a sugar maple with a concerning crack in the bark just below the “Y.” The “Y” has a spot that collects water and it feels punky when I stick a knife into the base of it. In past icy winter storms this tree has lost several large limbs. I’m thinking this tree needs to go. The second is a big sycamore that also has a punky spot in the base of one of the larger branches that hangs over the house. It has some dark spots on the bark at the base of the tree that seem to be leakage from the trunk. It has been a beast and has never lost a limb to storm damage but it would also do some serious damage if it did fail. Both trees look healthy with no large dead branches and the leaves look fine. They have shaded our house for decades now but if they are becoming weak I’d rather remove them now before they fail and damage the house. Pictures below. The two trees The maple tree from the south west The opposite side of the maple from the south east The sycamore with 4 dark spots on the trunk The large limb with a punky spot