Man, if this will tip anyone off ahead of concrete replacement I’ll be glad - if I’d had any inkling 4 years ago I could’ve trenched between the driveway and trees in question and saved ourselves a bundle! (Of course, there are electric and irrigation lines down there somewhere so, more on that idea later*)
In a nutshell we “thought” our concrete driveway beginning to crack was either a chronic issue (I.e., drainage, etc) or acute occurrence (I.e., many many ton propane truck deliveries, etc)
Even a local arborist was shocked we found Virginia pine roots as thick as 5” under the concrete and weirdest part of all is the roots are (well, WERE) only 1-1/2” at the point they went from a few inches below the soil to just under the edge of the 4+” thick concrete pad. (Once under the concrete the roots expand in diameter the farther they advance under the pad. Kinda weird seeing roots “fatten” the farther they get from the trunk.
On the bright side (we live in a “planned community” under NC law with rules about getting approval before felling trees in excess of a certain girth) the POA was swift in saying, “Take ‘em down!”
NOTE: Please do not derail - start discussion of the obvious - the pros and ills of HOA/POA’s and sidetrack the point of this - IF YOU HAVE TREES WITHIN 15-FEET OF YOUR DRIVEWAY LET OUR EXPEN$IVE EXPERIENCE HELP YOU AVOID REPAIR$!!!!
* - Just. Take. Them. Out. The sooner the better (cheaper)
What a pia - some of the remaining trees are IN EXCESS OF 110- feet TALL! which I have a chance to get ahead of (there is another spot further down the driveway where cracking is starting and I found the root coming off the tall pine is OVER NINE INCHES in diameter where the root leaves the trunk at soil level and heads straight down, UNDER a massive brick retaining wall and up under the adjacent concrete pad!
I am in the process of excavating that / those roots now in order to chainsaw them but not ruin my blade (I’ll probably mark a storage bag and relegate this blade to such chores for future and go with a new chain for regular timber sectioning)
Did I mention what an expensive PIA this all is?
Hope this helps save someone else a similar headache / expense …
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In a nutshell we “thought” our concrete driveway beginning to crack was either a chronic issue (I.e., drainage, etc) or acute occurrence (I.e., many many ton propane truck deliveries, etc)
Even a local arborist was shocked we found Virginia pine roots as thick as 5” under the concrete and weirdest part of all is the roots are (well, WERE) only 1-1/2” at the point they went from a few inches below the soil to just under the edge of the 4+” thick concrete pad. (Once under the concrete the roots expand in diameter the farther they advance under the pad. Kinda weird seeing roots “fatten” the farther they get from the trunk.
On the bright side (we live in a “planned community” under NC law with rules about getting approval before felling trees in excess of a certain girth) the POA was swift in saying, “Take ‘em down!”
NOTE: Please do not derail - start discussion of the obvious - the pros and ills of HOA/POA’s and sidetrack the point of this - IF YOU HAVE TREES WITHIN 15-FEET OF YOUR DRIVEWAY LET OUR EXPEN$IVE EXPERIENCE HELP YOU AVOID REPAIR$!!!!
* - Just. Take. Them. Out. The sooner the better (cheaper)
What a pia - some of the remaining trees are IN EXCESS OF 110- feet TALL! which I have a chance to get ahead of (there is another spot further down the driveway where cracking is starting and I found the root coming off the tall pine is OVER NINE INCHES in diameter where the root leaves the trunk at soil level and heads straight down, UNDER a massive brick retaining wall and up under the adjacent concrete pad!
I am in the process of excavating that / those roots now in order to chainsaw them but not ruin my blade (I’ll probably mark a storage bag and relegate this blade to such chores for future and go with a new chain for regular timber sectioning)
Did I mention what an expensive PIA this all is?
Hope this helps save someone else a similar headache / expense …
