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How Trees Affect Your Homes Foundation

How Trees Affect Your Homes Foundation

If you have trees on your property, congratulations! They are beautiful, improve the environment, and increase the value of your home. There are some things you should know about how trees can affect your foundation. Both for the good and the bad.

How Trees Harm Your Foundation

Roots can spread quite a distance from the base of the tree in search of water and minerals. Thev most common problem you get from this situation is it causing cracking in the concrete in your foundation. Roots are amazingly strong and persistent. This allows them to break through almost anything, including concrete.

Another way that trees can affect your foundation in a negative way is by constantly changing the moisture levels of the soil surrounding your home. Going from drenched to parched too quickly can compromise your foundations’ integrity as it swells and shrinks in relation to moisture levels.

Even with these challenges, you should not run quickly to cut down the trees. You might do more harm than good. Rotting roots can destabilize your structure and endanger the residents. Therefore, consult a foundation expert who can assess the damage extent and devise a suitable solution.

Benefits of Trees to Your Foundation

Despite the above challenges, trees can also benefit your home’s foundation. For example, their roots prevent soil erosion, especially if you live on a slope. They do this by stabilizing the surrounding soil.

Another way trees can be of benefit to your foundation is after a heavy rainfall. Excess moisture is one of the leading reasons that contribute to foundation degradation. Tree roots can prevent that from happening to your home by absorbing all that excess rainwater.

However, for you to benefit from these perks, you need to employ a landscaping strategy. Since roots can spread up to three times the maximum tree height, research the full growth of the tree and multiply it by three. That is how far the tree should be from your house to avoid the roots damaging the foundation.

If you have old trees that seem too close to the structure, call a specialist to help you install a root barrier for each tree. This way, the roots will not continue growing into the structure, thus minimizing the risk of foundational failure.​

Conclusion

All in all, trees are valuable to any landscape. If you suspect that one of your trees might be encroaching on your foundation, call Park Range Construction. We can come out and inspect your foundation, identify any problems, and offer solutions for repairs.

Published on 12-15-2022