Tree root damage

[Gibson39501]

Huge oak straddling property line 1/4 of trunk on our side. We need limbs trimmed to get them off our roof also the raccoons are using the limbs to travel on to roof
I know we can cut the limbs on our side
Buy if the neighbor won’t share the burden to have tree removed completely..can we get him to pay for damages the roots are doing to our concrete patio and drive ?

Where does the neighbors responsibilities lay?

• This topic was modified 1 year, 5 months ago by Gibson39501.

[Bassmaster]

There are plenty of cases on trees, tree limbs, and liability for known defects in a tree. However, I am not aware of any cases on tree roots -there may be, but I have not seen any.

Now, cases become law because they went through trial and then got appealed. If the case is not appealed, then it does not go down in the books for us to have a guideline. Tree cases generally don’t involve enough money to try in court and then appeal. The only time there might be enough money involved is where a limb or tree causes significant personal injury or property damage. In other words, the neighbor’s tree fall on your house or a limb hits you child playing in the yard.

With all that in mind, see if something can be worked out with your neighbor. That may not be easy since it usually costs $4 thousand or more to remove a large tree that is close to houses. If the tree is in any way a threat to him, then you may be able to convince him to help out.

I am aware of cases where someone just goes ahead and cuts away the roots on their side of the property -which led to the tree dying -which led to a suit when the tree fell on a house. Before doing anything regarding the tree, I would get an arborist look at the situation and give a written opinion on what can be done safely.

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