Advice on a big oak tree next to house

[3Ds]

We have a big white oak tree next to my house. The tree is about 7-8 feet away from my house. It's a healthy tree with a trunk of approximately 4 feet in diameter and is about 200-250 years old. It's super tall, probably 40-50 feet tall.

The problem is its limb is directly over my kids' bedrooms. If the tree or a limb should fall, the impact would be devastating to us.

Obviously, when we bought the house five years ago, this tree was there. We don't know what to do with it. On one hand, it's a lovely, healthy tree and have held-up against the recent hurricane Sandy. It is also not causing any foundation issues that I know of. So, there's no immediate threat to us or our house. So, you could say that you should not disturb the symbiotic relationship with the house and tree.

On the flip side, it does make me worry about a branch or the tree falling since it's so close to us and it's a massive tree. So, I thought about cutting down the tree. However, after doing much research into this, I'm concerned that if I cut down the tree, the roots will decay thus, destabilizing the foundation of my house (my house was built in the 1960s, so the tree was there first). Given how big the tree is, the root structure is probably large too.

It seems I'm in a lose-lose situation here. No matter what I decide to do, the outcome will not be good for us. I'd appreciate your thoughts on whether my assessment is correct. In particular, if anyone has experience with root decays leading to foundation disturbances, I would appreciate it if you could share it with me.

Thanks you in advance for sharing your insights on this difficult situation! Have a great week everyone.

 

[Ash_403]

Can you post some pictures so the experts can see how big of a branch you are talking about?

 

[3Ds]

Here are some pics of the tree and branches overhanging the house. I haven't seen the branches up close but the branches look about 1 foot in diameter. Please ignore the Japanese maple next to the house. I appreciate your advice Ash_403.

Lily

 

[lone wolf]

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Here are some pics of the tree and branches overhanging the house. I haven't seen the branches up close but the branches look about 1 foot in diameter. Please ignore the Japanese maple next to the house. I appreciate your advice Ash_403.

Lily

You really dont want anything hanging over your house.

 

[Del_]

You really dont want anything hanging over your house.

I'm guessing the Certified Arborist test was a bit too much for you.

 

[3Ds]

Del_, What is a certified arborist test? How much is it?

 

[3Ds]

Lone wolf, you are right - I don't want anything hanging over my house. However, I'm afraid that if I cut down the tree, the resulting root decay will unsettle my foundation causing even worse damage to my house. Any thoughts?

 

[Del_]

Del_, What is a certified arborist test? How much is it?

It is a knowledge test for people who practice arboriculture.

I can tell you it's a lot cheaper than taking advice from arborphobes who preach fear of every tree that overhangs a house.

What is the point of your opening question if you have already made up your mind that anything that hangs over the house has to go?

 

[MzHopsing]

I think you might be over-worrying about this. I have a feeling some of the guys here are going to give you the old saying, 'Don't fix what ain't broken.' There are many threads here posted by people with perfectly healthy trees, some of them even leaning ones, that have been told that. With a tree as old as yours, I have a feeling that your kids may be grown and in college and all of us may be long in the ground before something happens to your tree. I see other trees in the background of one of your pics, and were I in your place and decided to take out that old oak, the next year one of those OTHER trees would fall on my house. Everybody's familiar with Murphy.

My vote is to leave it alone.

 

[BC WetCoast]

I would recommend you hire a Certified Arborist from a reputable company to climb the tree in the winter, remove any deadwood and lightly thin out the canopy, especially leaning over the house.

Option 2 - Move.

 

[Jed1124]

Certified Arb, weight reduction/dead wood pruning and possibly a few cables if needed. 3-5 year rotation for pruning and if cables go in, cable inspection. Do not hire someone who only offers the service of removal.

 

[3Ds]

Del_, It is a beautiful tree that is over two centuries old. Who am I to come along and take it down? My preference is to not be in this situation. With that said, my top priority is to keep my family and house safe. So, I need to assess which one of these options has the biggest risk to us. I would rather not cut it down. So, some days, I lean to keeping it. Other days, I lean to cutting it down. Since I don't really know much about trees or houses, I am very happy to have found this website to ask some expert opinions on what to do. I truly appreciate the feedback from the experts. Have a great week.

 

[3Ds]

Thanks so much MzHopsing!

 

[3Ds]

BC WetCoast and Jed1124, I've had a tree expert come and inspect/prune the tree since I moved in. I still remain worried about it since its branches are over my kid's rooms. Thank you for your honest opinion!

 

[Ted Jenkins]

From my point of view take it down without question. It is your tree and your call. If you need more things to worry about you can have some of mine. No body has pointed out some of the facts concerning oak. I grew up in Washington state where most everybody hated trees in general so what do I know? Oak roots do not rot away like Fir or Pine. So if you really are the type to worry then do not kill the tree once it is cut down. Let the tree live for another 300 years. Within a few months of cutting the top down there will be new shoots telling you all is well. So if the tree is not destroyed after the top is taken away then the roots will never rot away. If the tree is completely destroyed the roots could take 20 plus years to be completely decayed. Since the roots decay slowly it is unlikely to cause damage to the foundation, but your concern as to the stability of the house is worthy. Where will you be in 20 years? The root structure would have moved away from the house because the roots only grow towards ground that has good moisture and nutrients. The other thing is that you have a lawn so the roots are going to be fairly shallow thus the tree probably would not be as stable as it could be. The most obvious to me is Oak rots from the inside not the outside. Or you could just move the neighbors are not that nice. I have taken many large Oak tree off of houses and have seen many Oak branches crush parts of houses. If you see any sign of piss ants on your tree then you have your answer. More than not I have been eaten alive try to remove branches or whole trees from houses. Or dramatically thin down the tree so there is not much of a threat to the house. Thinning the tree could be a bit pricey though. Now go do the right thing. Thanks

 

[BC WetCoast]

Why don't we just call this forum, homeowners looking to hacks for advice.

 

[BC WetCoast]

The likelihood of hurting your kids in a traffic accident driving them to school than have that tree fall on their bedroom is so much greater, there really is no comparison. Does this mean you aren't going to drive them anywhere anymore?????

You're more likely to eat bad food produced in China (check the labels) than have that tree fall, gonna stop eating?

There are about 100 people killed every year in the US by falling trees. Most of which are in the bigger storms, tornados etc; whereas; in 2010 there were ~5.5 million auto accidents with 33,000 people killed and 2.3 milllion injured.

In 2013, there were 85,000 non-fatal gun injuries and 11,000 deaths. Not to mention teenage drug use and overdoses. Hell, we've had over 200 fentanyl overdose deaths in the past 3 months.

You've got a more important things in this world to worry about than that tree. Just trying to put things into perspective.

 

[Section VIII]

Del_, It is a beautiful tree that is over two centuries old. Who am I to come along and take it down? My preference is to not be in this situation. With that said, my top priority is to keep my family and house safe. So, I need to assess which one of these options has the biggest risk to us. I would rather not cut it down. So, some days, I lean to keeping it. Other days, I lean to cutting it down. Since I don't really know much about trees or houses, I am very happy to have found this website to ask some expert opinions on what to do. I truly appreciate the feedback from the experts. Have a great week.

I'm in a similar situation with several oaks close to the house and overhanging branches. However, my decision to have them scheduled for removal was easier since two were showing signs of decay (fungus growth at base of trunk, rotten hole at the base of the trunk, and vertical multi-feet long splits along the trunk). It was obvious to me that the previous homeowner had screwed in bolts and hammered nails into the trunk to support a hammock. Additionally, two of our neighbor's trees uprooted and fell into our backyard during Hurricane Irene. Since our two backyards are similar when it rains heavily, I'm worried the same may happen to the ones closest to the house eventually.

Not being a professional, I had three different tree service companies evaluate the trees and although they didn't agree that ALL the trees needed to come down right away, they agreed that the trees are a hazard based on what THEY saw and observed from physically being there and not just looking at a few photos.

Ultimately, it's your decision and if it helps you sleep at night and gives you a little more piece of mind, then have the tree removed. It looks like a nice specimen from the outside so I would see about having it milled to repurpose...maybe use some of it to make a playset/house for your kids.

 

[ropensaddle]

While I agree with most about it not being eminent danger, a proper reduction in fall wouldn't be out of question. Here in tornado alley; its the big uns that uproot but then I inform my customers if a tornado hits your home the tree will not be the problem, keeping the house on its foundation will! In the last seven years I have watched 3 tornados here at my farm. I have some larger oaks surrounding my trailer home and I reduced them all but as with most proper reductions, you can't really tell the tree has been trimmed. A reduction of many inch to 1-1/2 diameter limbs over the upper crown can help in strong winds and Ice storms to enough of a degree to keep my beloved shade.

 

[unclemoustache]

Wow - come on, guys, be a little nicer to the new guy (and to each other).

If the tree is nice and healthy, no need to take it down, and little need to trim it up. Sure, a storm could drop it on the house, or a storm could just as easily drop it away from the house. Life is a risk, but I'd advise you to clean out the dead stuff, and keep an eye on the tree throughout the years. You'll most likely never have any problems unless something unusual happens. But I'm not a real arborist.