31-10-2003, 01:12 AM
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oak tree roots and a plumbing nightmare
(juggler) wrote in message . com...
Hi. My first post here. I'm in the throes of a plumbing nightmare. We
have a lovely 50-year-old oak tree in our front yard that's wreaking
havoc on our 50-year-old terra cotta sewage pipes. The sewer line is
right under the tree. So with old pipes, we've had a recurrent problem
with roots clogging the line, and subsequently causing an overflow of
raw sewage into the basement. It hasn't been pretty. We've been
putting off the inevitable -- having the tree taken down, having the
old sewer dug up, and having a new sewer put in.
My concerns, and I have more than I can count, all keep coming down
to:
--Will roots continue to grow after the oak tree is taken down? Should
the stump be grinded to prevent this? Does anyone know the behavior of
oak trees in this regard? And how deep do oak-tree roots go? Is there
a concern for the landscape or foundation (the tree is terribly close
to the house) once the roots start to die?
Once the tree is cut, the roots should be of little or no concern,
especially if you have the stump ground up. Occasionally they can
sprout from the stump, but usually only if they are relatively young.
A 50 year old should probably not sprout, or if it does, not much.
But grounding up the stump (which is what most people would do anyway)
will guarantee complete death.
Oak tree roots do go rather deep for trees, but once its dead it
should be of little concern as far as anything it is close to.
--And would you trust a lumber company who might be willing to take
the tree down for free? I'm concerned that they don't have the
tree-sense of a licensed arborist. I've gotten estimates from $1200 to
$2100 from arborists to take the tree down. And the lumber company may
do it for free, so that's awfully tempting. Especially considering the
plumbing costs and cost to lay down a new driveway, partially.
Well just remember that the arborists will do it carefully, piece by
piece, making sure that no damage comes to other parts of your
property. I'd bet the lumber company will want the tree whole (or at
least the trunk whole), therefore not cutting in pieces and risking
property damage. I'd go with the arborist unless I was extremely
strapped for cash. Also I doubt the arborist will have a
stump-grounder (or whaterver the machine is called), you'd probably
end up calling an arborist (or whoever does that) anyway.
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Raymond C Martin Jr
http://www.njfreeways.com/weather/
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