Single hen

[kannie]

A few years ago we had serious subsidence, and ended up having the whole house underpinned. With a couple of breaks it took a whole year, and it was awful. Only good thing was that the whole house got redecorated in the process, and - most importantly - we won our fight to save our precious, much loved apple trees.

 

However today people in the tiny church next door to us told us they have subsidence. And their surveyor has advised them that our apple trees are to blame, and that they should be chopped down. And the letter says that they can claim against us, and we should contact our insurers.

 

We've always had good relations with them up till now, its not clear if their subsidence is covered by their insurance, and they're a small, friendly, group who don't appear to have much money (they're not a mainstream group and their church is a little converted factory).

 

Can I bear this: all the battles to save our trees again, workmen digging up our garden.....

[theherd123]

Oh heck!

 

Sounds like you need a stiff drink!

[Cate in NZ]

Oh, Christine, I have no idea what to say, what a pain in the proverbial

A stiff drink sounds like a good plan....

[Jools]

Nooo! Please do not just accept the suggestion that your apple trees are to blame. Insurance companies are always looking for a get out and trees are often the victim. My OH is an arboricultural consultant and regularly deals with this kind of thing - sometimes objecting it works, sometimes it doesn't. If you want to pm me with your location, I can put you in touch with a consultant who may be able to help you. It won't be cheap and it may not give you the result you want, but it depends now much your trees mean to you.

 

Jools

[Leanne]

I dont know if this will help - we recently moved and enclosed with our survey was a chart of tree types and the distances they should be from buildings to prevent damage. We were given this as we have a willow tree 10 metres from the house which needs to come out as the recommended distance is 40 metres-( they damage drains etc)

 

anyway- this information is provided by the Subsidence Claims Advisory Bureau and the recommended distances according to this is-

 

 

apple, pear or cherry- 10 metres from buildings

 

surprisingly pine, yew and holly were only 5 metres. a whole load of other trees are listed too, I can post other tree distances if anyone is interested.

[Karen & co.]

Yes please from me too

 

might come in handy when we have the building work done

 

karen x

[Lesley]

Co look into it Christine.

 

When we built our extension we had to have 2 metre footings to the garage because of a beech hedge. Because the list the council have only lists beech - which can, of course, be a very large tree - they couldn't allow for a beech hedge. It was cheaper for us to have deep footings than dispute this - and the neighbours might well have let their beech hedge grow into trees.

 

Insurers will try the first thing they find without necessarily checking the detail.

[Leanne]

okay- the list of trees (recommended distance from buildings) is....

 

magnolia, yew, laurel, holly, pine,spruce- 5 metres

 

apple, pear, cherry, laburnam, birch- 10 metres

 

walnut, rowan .hawthorn, sycamore, lime, plum- 15 metres

 

beech, cypress,ash- 20 metres

 

horse chestnut, maple, plane- 25 metres

 

oak, elm- 30 metres

 

poplar- 35 metres

 

willow- 40metres

 

 

hope this helps.

[Louise]

Crikey I have got about 6 oak trees on the ground next to the house and none of them is more than 10 meters away one is less than 5 They all have preservation orders too

 

I like the trees but they belong to someone else who doesn't take care of them at all and 3 years ago I had to pay £500 to get two of them pollarded because branches kept coming off close to my boundary and the owner refused to have any work done AND because they don't actually overhang the garden I had to get his permission

[Karen & co.]

Thank you

 

karen x

[Jools]

Just to say - don't panic about your Oak trees Louise as it's more complicated than the distance from your property. Soil type matters just as much and in your part of the world I doubt you have much of a clay soil?? The age of the house and tree matter too - if they have happily co-existed for years, then they will probably continue to do so. If the tree is older than the house, then building control should mean that the house was constructed with foundations to withstand any water demands of the tree.

 

Sorry, I'm going on a bit. It's a fascinating subject, but then I'm a bit of a tree hugger

[Louise]

Not sure how old the trees are but the tree surgeon did say in his opinion that a couple of them were coming to the end of their life based on the number of brancehes that needed attention I just wait fot the day one comes down and I can have the git that didn't look after them

 

House is about 150 years old I think

[Guest]

I would think that the fact that when you suffered subsidence it was decided that the trees were not to blame would help you here. It is an already documented fact. The church is further away from the trees than your house, so it couldn't possibly be the trees.

 

It is much more likely to be down to the very dry and hot summer which will have caused the soil to shrink. With all this rain it will get worse as the ground swells again - I think!

[Jools]

Spot on Ginette - we always get a rush of "subsidence reports" after long, hot, dry summers. The thing is, buildings do move because soils (particularly clay) shrink when dry and swell when wet. Yes, tree roots take up water from the soil, but sometimes if you take the trees out, you can actually cause more problems because of the water they now don't take up.

 

Now direct damage caused by trees - falling Oak branches on Louise's house - is something else completely. All tree owners have a duty of care to maintain their trees with health and safety in mind (boring I know, but very necessary). If you're particularly worried Louise (it isn't cheap!!), you could get a report done on their condition and serve it on the owner - they would be obliged to act or would find themselves uninsured for any future claims of damage (or worse).

 

There's a list of qualified consultants here: http://www.trees.org.uk/consultants.php

[Louise]

Might be worth it though

 

There is one in East Lothian listed about 30 miles from me I might have a word with the people up the road too as they have trees up the side of the road they have to travel and I know they wanted to have work done and he again refused I have also had to call BT when branches have nearly had the phone line down as well

 

It is one thing when it is in you garden but a right pain when it is someone elses land

[Jools]

Good luck - hope it works out!

[Paola]

I would think that the fact that when you suffered subsidence it was decided that the trees were not to blame would help you here. It is an already documented fact. The church is further away from the trees than your house, so it couldn't possibly be the trees.

 

It is much more likely to be down to the very dry and hot summer which will have caused the soil to shrink. With all this rain it will get worse as the ground swells again - I think!

 

Good point Ginette

[One Man Banned]

We have a huge pine tree at the front of the house - within 3.5 meters and the house is built on potting clay (not really but I'm sure someone could throw pots with it!)

 

I decided a while ago that I wanted it chopped down and when I put the caravan on the drive I invariably rub the caravn across the branches and cover it in sap - (or stab myself with the needles when working anywhere near it!)

 

Thinking about contacting the Village Hall to see if they want it for a Christmas Tree this year and then I'll have it back to go to my friend for his woodburner!

 

[MrsMurphy]

We live in a Grade II converted Forge so have a horse chestnut in our garden. This is intertwined with an oak tree and both are less than 10 meters from the house which, I believe, for the most part lacks foundations. We are on heavyish soil at the top of a hill.

 

Don't ask me how the building remains standing (probably all the cobwebs holding it together ) and of course the Insurance company makes us pay - just in case!

[AnnieP]

I've got 9 fully grown lime trees on my driveway. The nearest one is about 15 metres away from my house. If one fell, the whole house would be taken out: They're about 75 ft high!

We had an extension built last summer and "Ooops, word censored!"ody batted an eyelid about them.

It sounds to me like they are using your trees as an excuse. I would get someone in the know to do a proper report, so that you always have it to hand for now and the future. Might be worth having just in case you ever decide to move too....

Good luck!

[kannie]

Thanks everyone, for all your support and helpful information! I will be PMing you Jools! Unfortunately the closest apple tree is quite close to their building - well within 10 metres. And I'm not sure which has been there the longest.

 

Our trees are both well maintained: we have them professionally pruned every 3 years (they'll be due this winter).

 

I agree that the fact that our insurance company finally agreed to spend vast amounts of money underpinning our house instead of insisting the trees got the chop must be on our side. Also the fact that they have 5 lime trees along the front of their building, (within 15 feet, let alone 15 metres) and have had cracks elsewhere in their building. But it would be awful if they chopped down their lime trees too!

 

If all the trees in London within these distances of buildings got chopped down it would be a very grey city! And I want it greener not greyer!!

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