On Feb 17, 3:18�pm, Deke wrote:
*You miss the whole point of this group.

*The vast majority of people here do not want to hire other people or
have someone such as yourself tell them to hire a professional. *

*They want to hear the opinions from people who have the experience or
special knowledge of the task involved.

*They do NOT want someone saying "Hire a professional".

*I gave my opinion and others gave theirs. *The OP can take them all
with a grain of salt.

*But if you want any credulity, *whatever you do, don't go around
telling people that oak roots usually go down 7 feet and then run
under houses. *

On 17 Feb 2007 10:14:21 -0800, "
wrote:



On Feb 17, 12:34?pm, Deke wrote:
On 17 Feb 2007 09:21:24 -0800, wrote:

On Feb 17, 12:02 pm, Deke wrote:
On Sat, 17 Feb 2007 08:28:55 -0600, Tazz
wrote:

I have a big oak in my front yard. *orgeous tree. It was planted by
the original owner in 1978. As you an imagine it is large. The roots
have really screwed up my driveway. And i am sure it is already under
the house.

What can you do?

I have heard guys tell me to go out as far as I can an dig a ring and
then cut all the roots I can see,. Cut a 3 foot piece out of them and
that will stop alot ( not al) of the roots getting up under the
foundation of the house.]

This doesnt seem right with me but had to ask if there are
alternatives OTHER than cutting down,

thanks in advance

Tazz

*ure, you can trench around your house and driveway and protect from
busted concrete and foundation problems. *epending on your soil type
the trench probably doesn't need to be over 24 inches deep in deep
soil and 8 inches in rocky soil like mine.

*he first time you can rent a powered trencher and from then on, just
a long spade will cut the new roots. *efill the trench when done.

*o it when the tree is dormant and you won't have any problems. - Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

You don't see any issue as to how many roots he cuts, how close to the
tree trunk for the size of the tree relating to the survival of the
tree. *r if he cuts too close and too many, during the next storm,
the tree may fall on his house?

*hat a laugh. * ave you ever tried to completely remove an oak
tree, stump, roots and all? *No, I didn't think so.

*he main issue is - *e is saving his houe foundation and driveway
from root damage by stopping the roots from destroying them. *The
tree will survive and grow back stronger than ever with even more
roots in areas that are acceptable.

*ow, if you want to talk about DEAD trees and limbs doing damage,
then start another thread. *hat is NOT the case here.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Geez is this discussion full of miss information. Cutting roots can
and does create a safety hazard, roots hold the tre in place while
keeping it alive.

roots can go many feet deep my basement floor is 7 feet underground
and when I installed a basement toilet I found roots 3 feet below
that, so clearly roots arent just 2 feet deep as someone stated. Trees
can add major value to a home, pretty, cooling in summer etc worth
thousands to many buyers.

they can also topple over and flaten a home.....

OP must see a prpofessional arborist, someone who wouldnt be motivated
by the possible thousands to cut it down but do whats right for the
home and owner.

driveways can heave from big roots but this issue can be addressed
also.

The just cut it down, at home resale time may cost him thousands of
lost bucks, first for removal cost then for lower resale value.

besides in this era of global warming trees help clean the air- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

My best friend has a oak tree in his backyard, small lot. His next
door neighbor reports oak tree roots in sewer, line down between 6 to
8 feet.

So clearly for bll my buddy his tree roots got that deep. The neighbor
demands bill remove the tree, he refuses he planted it as a child bill
is 75 now.

It would cost a fortune to cut down and is close enough that in a
storm could damage 3 or 4 houses.

DIY is fine but checking with pros is important if only for opinion.

For instance cut roots around tree first wind it falls and flatens
neighbors home.

Legal, healthy tree the homeowner whos home got damaged, their
insurance pays, tree becomes property of neighbor as it falls, its the
law.

sickly tree, neighbor says looks bad... Later it flattens their home.
Owner of property tree planted on is now on hook to fix damaged home,
since they diodnt take care of hazard

Mess with tree roots it falls on neighbors home, I bet that makes it
owners trouble.

Like your cutting down tree it falls wroing way, brings down high
tension line across low voltage line fries tv stereos etc for many
miles. owner of tree insurance on hook for all damage, i knew someone
who did just this. Homeowner insurance added exclusion in case it ever
happened again........ 15K in damages, no doubt bad tvs came from
friends for replacements......

He is NEVER allowed to even trim a tree anymore, he nearly got killed:
(

Sometimes its important to at least get a pros opinion