River Birch hugging House

[diggit]

Help!
I bought a home where the previous owners planted a River Birch tree, now about 20' tall, only 4 to 5 feet out from the foundation. It's a beautiful tree, but it's hugging our house tightly, and I'm concerned about it damaging the foundation and causing basement problems. I know very little about trees; will this type of tree's root system cause problems being this close to the house? Might it survive a professional uprooting, or is it too large for that? Help, I hate to chop down this beauty, but not sure what to do. Thank you!

 

[Tom Dunlap]

Tree roots are blamed for more damage than they will ever cause. Don't worry about the roots. this is especially true for river birch. They have a really fine root system. It would take a large, mature tree to ever have enough bulk to do anything to your house. In thirty years of tree work I've only seen one foundation damaged by roots. That was a four foot diameter burr oak about three feet from a house.

Tom