Trees planted too close to your house can cause major damage when the trees become large. Fallen trees can cause thousands of dollars in damage to a house … As a realtor working in Westchester and Putnam, with many properties graced with big, beautiful trees, I always point out to prospective buyers the risks that go with trees that are too close to the house. But hear us out: Many magnolias grow far too big for the average yard. Avoid planting redwood trees over any buried cables or piping or near any structures or other trees. I often get questions about the trees that grow right next to a house. Added to the trees’ development of those notorious and knotty surface roots, these factors point us to other—better—tree choices for our yards. Learn how big trees in the backyard save you money! The tree suffered no apparent harm as a result of construction and looks to be in perfect health, as is the house (so far). The house is built into a slope so the foundation is around 10 feet deep where it faces the tree. However, certain fast-growing tree species with shallow root systems can invade foundations, causing cracking, settling and other costly problems. Use this checklist before buying a house with big trees or dead trees. A tree-trimming expert has the experience to complete this step without harming the tree. While it is a sapling it won't cause a problem, but some trees can grow very quickly. I would worry about that every time a storm came through. Apparently there were sentimental reasons for this. Sometimes trees grow too quickly and extensively for you to control root growth. Leaf drop happens year-round, which means that the addition of a magnolia ups the messy-yard factor significantly. If you've got a tree that's stirring up problems for your home, you have some options: Remove the tree, which will rob you of shade and beauty but could protect life and limb (yours, not the tree… When a Tree Grows Too Close to a House Standard. Many trees self seed quite extensively and you may not even notice a sapling growing close to the house. We were looking at a great house a few weeks ago and there was a huge tree WAY too close to the house and your estimate confirms about what we thought it would take to get it removed. The house was built 7 years ago and is only 10 feet from the tree. Prevent damage by planting slow-growing trees, keeping the soil near your foundation dry and unfertilized and leaving adequate space between the house and trees. Before planting a redwood tree, choose your planting area carefully. In a pre-1950’s property the foundations are likely to be shallower than modern houses, many only about 50cm (20inches) deep and thus far more likely to be affected by smaller changes caused by moisture variation in the site (the ground in which they are supported) which is caused by tree root growth if the tree is too close to the building. That has to be a relief! Any large tree with vigorous growth has the potential to cause subsidence damage if it is close enough to a house. Prepare the planting area for the redwood tree. Cut down the entire tree and remove as much of the root system as possible. Obviously this would be of concern to any homeowner. There are a couple of nice, healthy-looking redwoods growing near the left front of my house (we bought it recently), probably about 8-10 feet from [pics] Redwood trees too close to the house? Buying a house with big, mature trees? Install root barriers and nourish the rest of the tree in the meantime while you wait for it to heal. First, use a garden hoe to eliminate all weeds and their roots. But there are risks of having a big tree near or too close to the house: it could fall or it could damage the house foundation. Popular opinion has it that this can cause cracks in the foundation and that the roots of the tree will actually penetrate the concrete, then expand and cause it to crack.