To cut a tree or not cut a tree, that is the question!

[Royk]

I'm planning on building a large, new garage with a second story. Directly behind the garage is woods. I've already cut two large oaks that would have leaned over it. I have one more relaatively young oak, about 50-60 feet tall and about 18" diameter that leans ever so slightly toward where the garage will be. I'm a bit nervous about the possibility of the tree someday falling on the garage. I also hate to cut down a healthy tree, and my wife would prefer not to cut it down if it's not neccessary. What would you do?



Roy

 

[fox]

Me, I'd cut it. No trees with-in 50 ft of a building is my policy. Plant 3-6 new ones for shade in the future.

 

[TowPro]

I agree with Fox. My lot was wooded when I started; I cleared just the building envelope far enough back that if a tree did fall, only the top branches could hit the house or garage. Plus I had to clear the septic field.
I left 2 large oaks (2') within 20 foot of the house, wish I had taken them out, now they want $1K each to remove them.
When I built the garage, I left one Beachwood around 20' off the one corner, but it is leaning the other way.

Some times I feel like taking them all down. I can't have a garden because of all the shade. I would love to plant a small orchard.

Trees are nice, but if there is a chance of them falling on your building, pay little now or a lot later.

My Dad also built his house in the woods in the early 70's. We left every tree we could, as that was the "looks" back then with contempary homes. Over the years he has had 3 trees fall on the house, one get hit by lightning 4 times which follows the cable TV wire into the house and destroys everything attached to it. He has spent thousands of dollars having trees removed. The insurance company has spent thousands of dollars fixing the roof. In addition, there are other disadvantages; the roof never really gets a chance to dry at times because of all the shade. I can remember growing up how much yard work we had to do just so we could throw money away trying to grow grass. We even had to get rid of the above ground pool, it would never get warm enough to use

 

[WCPoe]

Cut the oak

I would cut the oak. I had a large oak a good distance from my new Morton 48 by 30 building which I thought would never fall. Big mistake, when hurricane Ivan, (Sept 2004), moved inland from the Gulf Coast area it became a real rain maker and the winds pushed a big oak right on my shop.

My saving grace was the two shipping containers behind the shop took the load of the upper limbs and I sustained only some cosmetic damage. Just my 2 cents. Bill

 

[RandyHamilton]

You fellas have convinced me

I have a 40' sycamore about 15' from my garage and maybe 25' from the corner of my house that has worried me for some time now. The shade is nice by if that tree ever comes down it's gonna tear some stuff up. And it is on the west side of the buildings and guess where most of our weather comes from around here? yea,, from the west. .



Looks like it's gonna have to go. .

 

[Royk]

Looks like I'll be adding to the firewood pile! At least if I drop it now I won't have all those leaves to clean up.



Roy

 

[Alphacowboy]

Call me wierd, but I would leave it. If it did fall on the garage, its insured right? So why cut down a healthy tree? So what if it falls and damages the home some? I guess I really like trees, and the closer to the house the better. I am actually looking at adding a 3 stall garage to my home as well, and am trying to find a way to construct it to save a ~20" Diameter Maple Tree. It will end up probably no further than 5 feet from the garage wall. It may kill the tree eventually, but its worth it to me to try and save it. Trees dont just grow to 30' over night.



Anyway, thats my view on it.

 

[TowPro]

My grandmother had planted some kind of pine tree a couple feet off the foundation. The house is around 50 years old. I couple years ago she had a buddy of mine look at her basement since it started leaking water. he pulled the paneling and found a root had worked through the block wall, expanded and broke the wall allowing water to run in.

I have been out hiking and seen rocks split where a tree had grown in a crack and expanded enough to brake the rock.

I rented an older house when i was younger. We had a large party and the sewer backed up (septic system). After the party I discovered where the previous owner had broken the concrete basement floor and busted into the sewer line as a clean out. I found a vine that was growing outside had run a root down through the ground around 8' to get under the footer, then under the floor about 2' and had found this broken pipe, and went into it. Inside we found a knot of roots the size of a football that had blocked the pipe! how did this plant know how to find water? I guess devining rods really do work!

Anyway, something to keep in mine is the power of roots.

 

[Sled Puller]

Yea, roots of anything wreak havoc on foundations, french drains etc. I wouldn't be as concerned of an oak falling, as I would I would poplar, beech, maple, and some others.

I think I'd whack it.

 

[jeepit]

I would hack it down. Good source of firewood that you could sell or use for your own heat. I would heat my house with it. You don't want it to land on your new building and have the headaches some referred to above... insured or not... .

 

[The patriot]

Chop that sucker down. It's too close!

 

[barbwire]

I left 2 large oaks (2') within 20 foot of the house, wish I had taken them out, now they want $1K each to remove them.

Around here, we do not have the luxury of too many trees. So, I do not have the answer for my own question. But here goes.

Oak being a valuable wood, wouldn't a logging company be willing to buy the tree from you for use as lumber? This would offset the cost of removal , wouldn't it? Maybe in your area, there arn't any logging companies either. They would surely starve in this area:-laf

 

[The patriot]

short answer....

A logging co aint gong to drive out for one or two trees.

They want to rent your land (if you have several hundred/thousand acres)then bomb it.

 

[Sled Puller]

Bomb it, hehehehe thats the truth!!!Oo. :{



Unless its a 6 foot veneer tree, they wont waste the effort.

 

[AMatsonIII]

Call a certified arborist. They can inspect the tree and tell you whether or not You should take it down. Being that close the roots might become involved when you start the excavation process that is when I would get worried. The company I worked for was called to take down a few trees but on inspections we ended up just pruning them up and cabling them. Now they are healthier and the branches no longer touch the roof.

 

[fest3er]

I'm planning on building a large, new garage with a second story. Directly behind the garage is woods. I've already cut two large oaks that would have leaned over it. I have one more relaatively young oak, about 50-60 feet tall and about 18" diameter that leans ever so slightly toward where the garage will be. I'm a bit nervous about the possibility of the tree someday falling on the garage. I also hate to cut down a healthy tree, and my wife would prefer not to cut it down if it's not neccessary. What would you do?



Roy

In the immortal words of Mr T. , "Dey got bugs! Chop 'em down!" (Anyone remember his exploit(s) in/around Lake Forest, IL?)



It sounds like a volunteer. Chop it down. Besides, 50-60 foot tall with an 18" trunk sounds a little too skinny; I'd want a 60' oak to have a 3-4 foot trunk.



Now's the time to remove all the volunteers and plant new trees. As those trees grow, cut down older trees to make room for the younger ones. Done right, you can retain shade, make firewood or lumber, and maintain a healthy copse of trees.

 

[Royk]

I figure I'll probably drop it, even though it would probably remain upright longer than me! But if for some reason it needed to come down in the future, it would be a whole lot easier to drop it in the currently open area than to try to remove it when a big garage is less than 20' from it. A couple years ago I was wondering if it was going to survive the brutal gypsy moth devastation it was subjected to, but it bounced right back. But who knows how many times that can happen.



Ironically, it's one of four trees that form the corners of my big ol' wood pile. At least I won't have to haul it too far!



Roy