How to Prevent Tree Roots Damaging Your Home

a large tree with green leaves and tree roots exposed

Providing natural shade, privacy, and helping to filter the air, there’s a lot to love when it comes to trees. As trees add beautiful shapes, colours and textures to your garden, they’re commonly planted in household gardens. However, trees aren’t perfect and strong, fast spreading roots can create a myriad of problems. From cracking house foundations, damaging plumbing and splintering pavement, tree roots can cause some serious damage to your home and property.

Are tree roots damaging your home?

So, how do you know if tree roots are causing damage to your home? As mentioned above, it can be quite obvious if your home and property is being disrupted by tree roots. 

You may find that:

  • Pipes and septic systems are blocked and slow to drain even after cleaning 
  • Your home is beginning to slant towards a home 
  • Cracks inside your home’s foundation floors and walls

How to treat and prevent tree root damage

If you’ve realised that your tree roots are causing damage, there’s a few strategies you can implement to avoid any further destruction to your home. The first step is to contact a professional tree removal company. While you may be tempted to have a go at handling the roots yourself, you can cause more damage to your home and potentially put yourself at risk. Calling in the experts will make the experience of removing the roots more efficient and effective, and you can get on to fixing the damage to sewerage, pipes, pavements, and foundations.  

Cut the tree roots

Depending on where the roots are located and the size of them, cutting the tree roots can be a quick way to minimise the existing damage. We’ll assess the tree to do so, we’ll excavate a trench and cut all roots that are causing damage or have the potential to. Removal of the roots is usually only recommended if they are more than 5 metres from the trunk. Otherwise we may resort to removing the tree entirely.

Remove the tree

If the tree is close to your home and causing damage, it’s usually best to remove it entirely. Not only will it prevent any future root damage, but it’s also recommended to not have any trees within ten metres of your home due to fire and fall hazards. At Jim’s, we can efficiently and effectively remove your tree and stump. Ensuring to remove the stump is important as the roots can still grow, even after the tree has been lopped. We offer stump grinding to completely remove your stump and even clean up all the green waste so your garden looks its best.

Install root barriers

Following the cutting of any roots, we’ll install root barriers on all trees surrounding your home. This will prevent any future growth so you don’t need to worry about roots causing issues again. It’s also recommended to install these barriers when planting new trees close to your home.

Avoid certain tree species

When choosing which tree species you’d like to plant in your backyard, it’s best to do some research on how large your tree will go and how invasive its roots system will be. 

We recommend avoiding:

  • Weeping Willows
  • White Poplar
  • Evergreen Figs
  • Palms
  • Gums (Eucalyptus)

Have questions about tree root damage?

If you have any questions about your tree roots and the possible damage they can cause, get in touch with our friendly team today! As trained arborists, we can assess your trees and provide you with professional advice. You can trust Jim’s Trees with all your tree removal and maintenance requirements.

 

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