Mike Lyle wrote:
:: Phil L wrote:
::: Tom Bennett wrote:
::: snip
::::: However, I've also known of cases where movement of soil
::::: *after* a large well-established tree/shrub has been removed
::::: (and the soil then suddenly becomes more saturated where it has
::::: previously been largely dry) has caused expansion and movement
::::: of the foundations, where none had occurred when the tree was
::::: still there.
:::
::: This is more likely to be the roots rotting away and leaving voids
::: IME.
::
:: Does ivy have a root system likely to get underneath the footings?
:: (Genuine not rhetorical question; but expecting probable answer
:: "No".)

That all depends upon the footings...I once worked on some houses in
Manchester and the entire street's footings were less than a foot
underground! - four courses of bricks beneath the pavement, and they were
built up off the sand...they /were/ over a hundred yrs old, but
surprisingly, there was no subsidence at all.

Most modern footings (within the last 50 yrs or so) tend to be at least
12 -24 inches of brickwork on a strip of concrete at least 5 inches in
thickness...whether their tap roots go down so far I don't know but
certainly trees' roots will.