Personally, I'd forget about herbicide. An appropriately sized chain
saw is what you want. Either hire it done or do it yourself if you have
the skill. Once you cut the tree down get the stump ground about a foot
or so below grade.

After all, if you kill it with herbicide you are still going to have to
have the tree cut down (a dead tree is a hazard and most homeowners
policies will not pay for damage done by a dead tree left standing).
Why not just cut to the chase and do it all in one fell swoop. If there
are surface (or near surface) roots that are bursting the concrete get
yourself an axe and shovel and cut the roots and pull them out as best
as you can (or hire someone to do same).

It's pretty rare to have a tree come back after you grind the stump
down. If it does, you can always drill holes and and do the herbicide
thing as the other poster suggested. I've even drilled holes and poured
diesel fuel or kerosene on a stuborn stump. Never had one come back
from that treatment.



wrote:

How to deal with this ?

My aunt ( a very old person) has a house in California...

She has had the home over 18 years now.

There are 2 trees whose roots are lifting the concrete pretty high.

How does one deal with this problem ?

She has been told that she needs to get rid of the trees and that there
is a "special something" that needs to be applied on the cut trunk
...or something...

Would anyone know what needs to be applied to the cut trunk to
permanently kill the trees?

Can anyone suggest a better way to get rid of these 2 trees ?

What do people normally do when the roots of a tree lift the concrete ?
How does one rectify such a situation ?

Does one have to remove all the roots or can one just kill the tree
from the trunk ?

Thank you all in advance for your input,
Rita