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My biggest fear would be how the foundation will be affected in years to come. Cutting the tree down or leaving it alone, the root structure that is undoubtedly under your foundation will change over the life of your house.
I'm in middle Tennessee...I think there was some foundation repairs (ram jack) at that corner of the house-so they might have cut the roots out, I don't know...I have no idea what kind of tree it is...maybe some kind of oak?
That's very close to the house. I love trees, but that tree is in the wrong place, IMO. It's going to be easier and less expensive (if hiring out) to take it out now than to wait.
From the bark pattern, it looks like it could be an oak, and a young one at that. Some oaks are strong and sturdy and great at withstanding storms and others are quite bad at it (like water oaks and laurel oaks, which are also short-lived, often just 60 years).
I had to take out a Live Oak recently, it was about 10 feet from my house. It had already cracked the patio and was starting to life the foundation of the garage. My house is off-grade, so no real house "foundation" to worry about with roots, but it was still a situation that was not going to get any better. I had the tree removed and planted a new baby Live Oak in my front yard where I have lots of room for it to grow .
Your inspector is correct. The tree is way too close to the foundation. Roots grow under the foundation where there is moisture. There they grow/swell up and something has to give, the foundation. Other problem can arise as critters can get in through the cracks in the foundation and into the house.
A tree that size should be planted no closer than 30 feet to any structure. The primary lateral roots of your tree under the house are probably 8-10 inches in diameter. That would mean something has to give 8-10 inches.
The roots will cause foundation problems and possibly drain problems if the roots are in the vicininty of your main drain from the house to the septic or city sewer system. The roots always go toward water. I had to have part of my main drain pipe replaced due to an oak tree that the roots had damaged the pipe. That was over $2000.00 and the distance was only about 60 feet from the house to the road where my drain connected to the city sewer. Not to mention the tore up yard.
Also, a tree hanging over the roof causes a lot of damage to roofs and gutters. Having the tree removed will save you a lot of headaches in the future if you plan on staying there for awhile.
Have whoever takes it down to grind the stump.
We also had a gorgeous oak growing way too close to our house (10 feet away.) This was a full-grown oak with a 3-foot diameter trunk. It was starting to buckle the basement wall (though we do not believe damage had set in yet,) and it was also wrecking the flagstone patio. It was a healthy tree, so it was sad to see it go (that was in 2001.) At that time we had nine large oaks on our one third of an acre property. Now we have only 6 left. The last one died in the past year and it was taken down last month. That one was 93 years old! The only positives of losing our trees are many fewer leaves in the fall and more sunlight to grow flowers requiring sun.
As a general rule, the root system of a tree is almost a mirror image of the branches you see above ground. If that tree is hanging over your house, you can almost bet it is under it as well.
For all of you folks the have cut trees down because the roots were damaging things that were built on top of them, here's another thing to worry about: You've cut the tree down, ground the stump below grade and repaired the damaged patio or wall. The root is still under the structure and is now going to decay. At some point in the future, that root is no longer going to be a viable support structure and a hollow spot will develop.
As a general rule, the root system of a tree is almost a mirror image of the branches you see above ground. If that tree is hanging over your house, you can almost bet it is under it as well.
For all of you folks the have cut trees down because the roots were damaging things that were built on top of them, here's another thing to worry about: You've cut the tree down, ground the stump below grade and repaired the damaged patio or wall. The root is still under the structure and is now going to decay. At some point in the future, that root is no longer going to be a viable support structure and a hollow spot will develop.
How long until this happens? We did not have the stump ground down. It has been 7 years now and there are few signs of decay with this stump so far, only mushrooms and other fungi growing on it. There is a patio all around the stump (patio needs extreme rehabilitation, but we've been reluctant because of the tree's roots.) What will happen to the ground above where the roots were?
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Nice tree, wrong place
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