Is it true if you cut down a large old tree in the garden, will it affect the foundations of the house? Its about 35 feet away but its a big old walnut tree

Thank you

MrCass

In article ,
says...

Is it true if you cut down a large old tree in the garden, will it
affect the foundations of the house? Its about 35 feet away but its a
big old walnut tree

Thank you

MrCass




--
MrCass

Depends on the soil type and even then it can vary from garden to garden,
clay is the worst offender but it is by no means a common thing to
happen.
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

"MrCass" wrote in message
...

Is it true if you cut down a large old tree in the garden, will it
affect the foundations of the house? Its about 35 feet away but its a
big old walnut tree


It depends on whether your house's foundations rest on a shrinkable
sub-soil, mainly meaning clay.

A sub-soil such as clay expands if wet and contracts if dry. A large old
tree's root system will probably be extracting significant quantities of
moisture from the sub-soil. Hence, if the tree is felled, it will cease
drying out the subsoil, and moisture content may rise. If the subsoil is
clay, it will then tend to expand, and, if foundations are resting on it, it
could lift the foundations, a process known as 'heave'. If 'heave' occurs
under part of a building's foundations, this could result in structural
damage, e.g. cracking of foundations and walls.

If the trees roots go under your foundations and the sub-soil is clay, their
may be a risk of 'heave' if the tree is felled.

Thanks for the reply

I have heard that if you cut some of the overhanging branches away, making the tree smaller, the roots will retract?

Any thought?

Thank you

Mrcass

"MrCass" wrote in message
...

Is it true if you cut down a large old tree in the garden, will it
affect the foundations of the house? Its about 35 feet away but its a
big old walnut tree

Thank you

Yes it can.

It varies depending on the species, the soil type, size of tree, distance
and the design of the foundations.

Generally it's not a problem if the house is further away than the height of
the tree. Some trees half the height is ok.

This page has a table of safe distances for building a new house near trees
but much the same applies to removing a tree. They actually say to include
mature trees removed in last 10 years.

http://www.horsham.gov.uk/council_se...vices_3823.asp

On Nov 10, 8:14 am, MrCass wrote:
Is it true if you cut down a large old tree in the garden, will it
affect the foundations of the house? Its about 35 feet away but its a
big old walnut tree

Thank you

MrCass

--
MrCass

I don't think so. If the foundation hasn't been damaged by the tree's
growth, it's non-growth is hardly going to be a problem. I grew up on
a farm w/ a largish black walnut about 20 feet from the garage/
workshop, and maybe 30-40 feet from the main house, and neither
building ever had any foundation damage over the 20 years before my
father died. However both were subsequently destroyed by other closer
trees and an incompetent "caretaker":
The garage by a peach tree only 2 inches in diameter (when I saw it
and killed it) that grew right against the uphill side thereby
allowing water to collect and freeze and refreeze every winter and
ultimately split the 8-12 inch solid concrete wall so it caved right
into the garage;
And the main house by a coffee-nut mahogany about 15 feet away which
made numerous hairline cracks in the mortar of extended-basement brick
foundation wall, causing the wall to spurt water and the entire
basement to flood to at least 3 inches every time it rained.

"Don H3" wrote in message
ups.com...
On Nov 10, 8:14 am, MrCass wrote:
Is it true if you cut down a large old tree in the garden, will it
affect the foundations of the house? Its about 35 feet away but its a
big old walnut tree

Thank you

MrCass

--
MrCass

I don't think so. If the foundation hasn't been damaged by the tree's
growth, it's non-growth is hardly going to be a problem.

Not true it depends on the soil type and a bunch of other factors. If you
build next to a big tree on clay soil then cut the tree down the soil can
heave because the tree no longer removes water from the soil. If building a
house on a site that has had mature trees removed you have to design the
foundations accordingly. It can take ten years for the ground to stabilise.

Lots of good advice on here

Thanks to everyone who contributed their knowledge

Mrcass

On Nov 13, 12:47 am, "CWatters"
wrote:
"Don H3" wrote in message

ups.com...

On Nov 10, 8:14 am, MrCass wrote:
Is it true if you cut down a large old tree in the garden, will it
affect the foundations of the house? Its about 35 feet away but its a
big old walnut tree

Thank you

MrCass

--
MrCass

I don't think so. If the foundation hasn't been damaged by the tree's
growth, it's non-growth is hardly going to be a problem.

Not true it depends on the soil type and a bunch of other factors. If you
build next to a big tree on clay soil then cut the tree down the soil can
heave because the tree no longer removes water from the soil. If building a
house on a site that has had mature trees removed you have to design the
foundations accordingly. It can take ten years for the ground to stabilise.

I dunno. The house I discussed (I grew up in) pre-dated the walnut
tree (on the UPhill side), but a later (closer) remodel-addition post-
dated the tree. There was also a small apple orchard another 20-30
feet uphill. (Leveled-out and replaced with a swimming pool while I
was overseas in the military.)
The ground was so sticky/clayey I sometimes had 6 inch thick clay
"soles" on the bottoms of my shoes, as a 10 year old.

But it was the DOWNhill side of the house foundation (remodel-
addition) which was breached by a *different* tree: very elderly and
somewhat decrepit, but still producing viable seed.
But even that I'm not sure of: It may have just been shoddy
brickwork instead of tree roots or ground heaving: My parents were
really good at ****ing-off workmen to the point they would stomp off
and refuse to finish a job.
Whatever.

CWatters wrote:
"MrCass" wrote in message
...

Is it true if you cut down a large old tree in the garden, will it
affect the foundations of the house? Its about 35 feet away but its a
big old walnut tree

Thank you

Yes it can.

It varies depending on the species, the soil type, size of tree,
distance and the design of the foundations.

Generally it's not a problem if the house is further away than the
height of the tree. Some trees half the height is ok.

This page has a table of safe distances for building a new house near
trees but much the same applies to removing a tree. They actually say
to include mature trees removed in last 10 years.

http://www.horsham.gov.uk/council_se...vices_3823.asp

I emailed HDC to find out where they got this table from, as it seemed to me
not quite correct in that willow is generally thought to be the worst tree
to put near a house.

They replied by return (impressive efficiency!) that "The guidance you refer
to has been taken from a variety of sources and is intended to provide very
general advice about the impact of trees on foundations. Willow is
considered to be a high water demand tree along with other trees such as Oak
and Poplar. The safe distance relates to the potential height of the tree
and the underlying ground conditions as much as the water demand
requirements of the tree species.

More detailed guidance and foundation design requirements can be obtained
from other sources such as NHBC..."

Now the NHBC does have some guidance (eg see
http://www.nhbc.co.uk/NHBCpublicatio...,15901,en.pdf).
Quote:

"On clay soils it is best to avoid planting trees nearer to your home than a
distance equal to three-quarters of the mature height of the tree. However
high water demand trees should be planted no closer to the home than one
and-a-quarter times the mature height. High water demand trees include elm,
eucalyptus, oak, poplar, willow and some common cypress species. On clay
soils it is best to avoid planting shrubs such as cotoneaster, ivy, virginia
creeper and wisteria closer than 3m to your home."

I am not sure about the guidance for reasons of water demand - but I would
be concerned about planting any tree closer to a house than its mature
height in case it fell on the house! And I really cannot see the reasoning
behind the list of shrub/climbers. How many times have you seen one of
those mentioned plants at least 3m from a house? Most of the time they are
planted against the wall!

--
Jeff
(cut "thetape" to reply)