Large Trees - Hazards (Dallas, Murphy: home, neighborhood, living)

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by whj3773

most of the homes ive looked at are in dallas and some parts of richardson,

TC not sure if that was directed at me, i dont remember saying i wanted a 2 acre wooded lot, may have me confused with someone else

Sorry , I did have you confused with another poster. I found the post I was thinking of. Apologies!

Carry on....

[JoeSiczpak]

Anyone having substantial tree work done would be smart to hire a company which is bonded and insured. I asked a hillbilly tree guy about removing some trees which were close to the house. His reply: "Hell no, we ain't bonded or INshured... but if goes up it can come down!" Yeah... come down right across my roof. Naturally, I hired the real pro's instead.

[SVTRay]

Originally Posted by BigDGeek

But tornados? Hell no, I don't worry about those. They're not worth worrying about. I worry about stuff that's way more likely to happen.

It's easy to say this tree or that tree will with stand some 40-70mph storm or EF-0 Tornado. Outside of a direct hit, all they seem to do is knock off some smaller branches and misplace some shingles. That EF-3 that struck our ranch cleared a mile long path through dense woods. I should have taken some pictures of the valley like path. As for ice storms, we had a freak ice storm that literally exploded large trees. The trees was saturated with rain water the day before the freeze hit. It took my wife's uncle and 3 ranch a week to cut a path large enough to drive his truck out. He was without water and power for 2 weeks...well, he used a small generator. It sounds like its just me but you see enough of this and your start making sure your home is free f large trees and or branches.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by SVTRay

It's easy to say this tree or that tree will with stand some 40-70mph storm or EF-0 Tornado. Outside of a direct hit, all they seem to do is knock off some smaller branches and misplace some shingles. That EF-3 that struck our ranch cleared a mile long path through dense woods. I should have taken some pictures of the valley like path. As for ice storms, we had a freak ice storm that literally exploded large trees. The trees was saturated with rain water the day before the freeze hit. It took my wife's uncle and 3 ranch a week to cut a path large enough to drive his truck out. He was without water and power for 2 weeks...well, he used a small generator. It sounds like its just me but you see enough of this and your start making sure your home is free f large trees and or branches.

Like I said, I'm more worried about stuff that's more likely to happen. I've seen trees over 100 years old completely uprooted in wind storms and split in half from ice damage in Europe.

Worst thing that ever happened chez moi in the same wind storms? Roof tiles came off. That's it. I went to B&Q, got a box, and replaced them myself. Ice storm? Car got covered in ice and cats pooped in the litter box instead.

All I can do is keep my house out of the line of fire of falling tree branches, and make sure if a tree dies on my property that it is promptly removed.

I leave the rest in G-d's hands. Life's too short to waste it worrying about every little "what if."

[loves2read]

Most problems like this (which I think is valid concern when you consider how tree roots can damage a home's foundation as well) are because when homes are built, developers use small caliper trees and usually place them closer to foundation than is smart when you consider the tree's growth and lifespan...
I see this quite a bit in neighborhoods that are more than 10 yrs and especially 20--

many of them have oak or other species that can grow LARGE

We bought house about 25+ yrs ago with three pecan trees on one side--trees were established but a good deal smaller...
by the time we moved the limbs were over reaching a good part of the roof on that side--
we had the trees trimmed professionally several times to keep the limbs off the roof but in an ice storm with strong winds I was certainly concerned that large limbs could come down and punch holes in the roof...

It would have killed the trees to have cut back enough limbs to make that impossible and they provided great shade in the spring/summer...
we sold the house and the problem couple of years ago

Our house now has two trees in front that I hope will be far enough way from roof when more mature and that trimming will help shape them to do that...

[SVTRay]

Originally Posted by BigDGeek

All I can do is keep my house out of the line of fire of falling tree branches,

Thats all I'm really saying.

[whj3773]

yaaaa.....this is why i wouldnt want to live under a giant tree in dallas, this was from may

i guess i am really trying to get information on, not personal opinions about whether i should be worried or not, is...

if i bought a house in dallas or richardson and wanted to either remove a large tree or trim it way back would i run into any hurdles?

[MurphyPl1]

So this might actually be a first. Generally people come on here and complain about the lack of mature trees in the Dallas area. And then we spend time pointing out some of the really fantastic wooded areas that do exist in the area. And then you come along and have what some might consider an inordinately high fear of large trees.

You seem to be looking absolutely the wrong spots for homes if the homes you are looking at are have such frightening trees. There are hundreds of neighborhoods in this area that have tiny little trees instead. You should redirect your search.

And quite honestly, I would hate to have you as a neighbor. People who want homes with large mature trees do spend time finding them in this area. And if I did that and some brand new neighbor came in and took out a healthy mature tree out of a somewhat irrational fear, I'd be very unimpressed.

[whj3773]

lol Murphy - that is my biggest fear, that i took down a huge tree the neighbors would be pissed at me. When it comes down to it, i rather not be crushed by a 2 ton "frightening" tree while sleeping in my bed

[ChristieP]

+1 for Murphy above!!!

If you want a home without large trees, move to one of the newer areas where there are no trees. Your fear of trees is...unique...

Our neighborhood in Grapevine has many large trees. We have a 100+ year old HUGE oak tree in our backyard. That was one of the things that made us choose this neighborhood!