House and tree roots? (Houston: new house, buying, live)

[texas7]

I am
Looking at buyin a 25 year old home. It has large oak trees all
Around it on a corner lot. Two oaks in front and 4 oaks along side. All
Have large roots visible above ground growing toward house. My boss at work said oh you can just have though those cut so they stop growing. Is that true -- is it really that simple? Would that deter you from
Buying? Saw a small crack on one of the ceilings but all the doors and drawers close properly. Didn't see any "obvious" settlement issues other than a crack or two.

[creekstone]

How close to the house are the oak trees?

Generally speaking, you can remove ONE large exposed root per year per tree.

A root barricade for your foundation is an option (if warranted).

[texas7]

The trees are fairly close 8-10 feet. Geez only one root per year -- will take me several years then. The root barricades are expensive aren't they?

[creekstone]

8-10' is too close to the foundation for oak trees. That would be a concern for me.

Root barricade is not cheap. But it's not as expensive as foundation work.

[Sugarlandbubba]

$10-15 per linear foot.

I would hire a Structural Engineer to measure elevations of the foundation.

Large trees need a lot of water so the soil will shrink substantially during period of dry spell and will expand quite a bit in the rainy season.

[Texyn]

Originally Posted by Sugarlandbubba

$10-15 per linear foot.

I would hire a Structural Engineer to measure elevations of the foundation.

Large trees need a lot of water so the soil will shrink substantially during period of dry spell and will expand quite a bit in the rainy season.

There is no strong wet or dry season in Houston.

[texas7]

Thanks for your input. Greatly appreciated.

[Dopo]

Seems to me like every new house has a live oak planted in front of it
Does that mean that every house I've seen is going to have problems with them in 20 years?

[txdemo]

Originally Posted by Dopo

Seems to me like every new house has a live oak planted in front of it
Does that mean that every house I've seen is going to have problems with them in 20 years?

If they're 8 feet away they'll probably have issues.

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by txdemo

If they're 8 feet away they'll probably have issues.

I think mine is ... 30 feet away and 20 feet away from the driveway and some roots about 1-2" in diameter are already showing right by the driveway.