Trees add beauty to your landscape and shade to keep you cool… But they can also be dangerous, to both lives and property. Whether you’re considering a new sapling or evaluating an older tree on your property, it’s important to remember that trees can and do damage homes.
Trouble for foundations. When trees are just young saplings, it’s hard to imagine them damaging your home. But whatever you plant today will grow much larger in the future. And that includes their root systems, which lie unseen underground. When a tree is planted too close to the home, roots can invade around the foundation and eventually cause cracks which compromise the integrity of the whole structure.
Complications for plumbing. Tree roots can invade underground plumbing and water lines, too. If you notice a sudden drop in your usual water pressure, a common culprit is a break in the line due to encroaching tree roots.
Swarms of pests. Okay, they usually won’t “swarm” dramatically, but trees growing too close to your home can serve as a helpful entry point for many types of pests. Squirrels, mice, and even raccoons can use nearby branches to access your attic. If the tree is unhealthy or dead, you could end up dealing with a large carpenter ant or termite nest near the home.
Fire hazard. As you might suspect, trees growing too close to your home or any other structure can increase the risk of fire. Fire prevention experts recommend that you keep encroaching branches trimmed way back away from the house, and that you remove any dead trees that could serve as easy kindling to wildfires.
Falling dangers. Finally, as you might have expected, there is always the danger of a tree falling onto your home. This is more likely to happen if the tree is damaged, diseased, or dead, but can happen with living trees as well. Since a falling tree can endanger your family and cause massive amounts of (expensive) damage to your home, it is wise to regularly assess any that are growing within “falling distance”.
If you have questions about tree trimming, give us a call. Taking action now can keep trees healthy and less prone to breakage or falls.
