Re: Oak Tree Roots and Foudations
dlicks@aol.com
Tue, 23 Dec 1997 10:17:48 -0600
I recently had a white oak tree about 100 years old removed from my yard, the tree was healthy, tall and not more than 10 feet from the corner of my house. Although the tree was overhanging the house it was not a great concern to me as I loved the shade it provided. About 10 months prior to removing the tree I had my basement waterproofed. The basement had some minor water problems and the corner of the basement where the tree was was always damp. There was a hairline crack in the cinder block wall also. After the waterproofing I pushed a refridgerator against the wall covering the crack. Six months later I found the hairline crack opened to about 5/16" staircased from bottom to top. I dug outside to a depth of about four feet and found nothing else except some loose brick, open mortar joints. Then, at the location of another crack I discovered was a tree root about 3" in diameter. I cut the root, backfilled with dirt and bentonite, and had the tree removed. My theory, the
combination of Baltimore
's summer drought of 1997, the basement waterproofing further drying out the area caused the tree root to start looking for water. Also the clay soil probably dried out and settled.