Tree Roots Lifting Concrete
Although you may not have known, tree roots can be hugely detrimental to your home’s concrete. What should you know about making them work together?
Tree Roots Can Cause Concrete Lifting
Having a big, beautiful tree in your front yard is something many people dream of. However, that big, beautiful tree doesn’t necessarily have your best interests at heart. What do you know about this tree’s roots? Unfortunately, many people don’t know a lot about tree roots, which means it might surprise them when they realize their beautiful tree’s roots are growing up through concrete on the property. Here’s what you need to know about having tree roots in and around your home.
How Do Tree Roots Impact Home Concrete?
Tree roots have a measurable impact on the concrete all around your home. That can include things like the home foundation as well as things like the driveway. Here’s how tree roots can have an impact on different types of home concrete.
- General Concrete Slabs
First are the general concrete slabs you might have throughout the home. The reason this is the top indication is that concrete slabs can come in all shapes and sizes, and they’re all aligned by one thing: They’re essentially open to a variety of concerns that may come from any side of your home’s concrete slabs.
Most of the time, a general concrete slab is something that can have a variety of problems. Although it’s possible for you to have a general concrete slab that has few or no problems, it’s not very common. If you have general concrete slabs, make sure you’re always looking to see whether tree roots are growing underneath the concrete slabs.
- Patio and Backyard
The patio and backyard area of a home tends to have a variety of areas that are truly ripe for issues with tree roots. That’s because patio and backyard areas almost always have serious amounts of concrete. When you have a patio and backyard area that’s overrun by tree roots, instead of trying to deal with it on your own, you may be able to do it with the help of another person.
Although it’s more common for a tree to grow up through pieces of the patio and backyard that are very close to the tree, it doesn’t have to be right next to the tree to make it an important element of the fix. Keep this case in mind. Even if the tree is near the front of the home, you should still feel careful about concrete in the back of the home because they can seem to move very much anyway.
- Home Foundation
Possibly the scariest and most dangerous choice here is if the tree roots move toward the home foundation. Home foundations tend to just be a slab of concrete. There are many other options available for some home foundations, but it’s common for home foundations to just be a concrete slab, which can be dangerous if you have tree roots moving around the home.
When you get tree roots into your home foundation, you might end up completely moving around your home’s foundation. It’s common for this to cause serious concerns with cracking as well. If at all possible, you want to keep tree roots away from a home foundation directly, especially when the tree roots belong to a large tree.
Common Causes of Concrete Problems
Common Concrete Problem Signs
What Can I Do to Fix Home Concrete With Tree Root Problems?
When you’re experiencing tree root problems, there are many potential solutions. Not all of these solutions may be those you want to pursue, but they’re at least solutions that could be open to anyone who wants to handle their home a little more easily.
- Remove the Tree
This is certainly the most dramatic solution, but it’s also the one with the highest chance of working. If you completely remove the tree, it’s true that you’re no longer going to have issues with the tree roots. That means removing the tree entirely might be the most beneficial step if you’re experiencing truly damaging problems from the tree in your yard.
However, this is also an option many people just don’t want to take. If you’ve spent years tending a tree out in the front of your home, for example, you want to avoid throwing all that care and comfort away. This is especially true if you already enjoy the home you have and don’t want to change it into something else entirely.
- Ensure the Tree Has Good Watering and Proper Placement
Another possible option is just to make sure you’re keeping the tree well watered and you’re avoiding putting a beautiful tree in a bad place on the property. For example, if you want to avoid having tree roots dig up through your home foundation, your best bet is going to be to put the tree pretty far away from the main home.
Good watering is another important element. You need to make sure the tree has enough water. If it doesn’t have enough water, that’s typically why the tree will reach out with its roots and create problems with the concrete around your home. Watering the tree regularly can help you avoid issues with your foundation concerns.
- Protect and Lift the Concrete
If you’re already experiencing some concrete shifting issues from the large tree that’s currently on your property, your best option is going to be to protect and lift the concrete. There are many ways to protect your home’s concrete, especially when you’re trying to protect that concrete from customers who probably wouldn’t understand it.
For the most part, this includes things like polyurethane foam injections and other concrete fixes. Sure, it may not seem that serious at first, but it’s a serious problem you need to think about. Protecting and lifting concrete can make it easier for you to end up with healthy concrete in the future.
FAQs About Tree Roots and Concrete Damage
Trees tend to cause concrete damage in most homes. Although it’s true that not every tree you plant around your home will cause concrete damage, it’s true that every tree you plant has the possibility to cause concrete damage. Here’s what you should know about the concrete issues that may arise with trees.
- Trees Without Large Roots
Even if it doesn’t seem like the trees in question have particularly large roots, you can still end up with concrete damage because of the roots seeking out additional water. Trees don’t have to have especially large or hardy roots to break through your concrete; over time, even relatively small roots can have a major impact.
- The Biggest Problem With Trees
All trees can cause concrete damage, even seemingly small and gentle ones, because the main problem is that plants are extremely resourceful. Plants need water to survive, which means they’re extremely good at finding methods of working their way into the current ecosystem. All trees will eventually grow toward your concrete and try to burrow through it unless you take measures to avoid it.
If you’ve started to wonder whether your tree will inevitably cause concrete damage, don’t worry. It is possible to have a huge tree on a property without having to worry about concrete damage. You just need to take a few measures to ensure that your tree won’t cause concrete damage in your home.
- Placing the Tree Appropriately
One important element of this is that you have to place the tree appropriately. You can’t place a tree with large roots extremely close to your house, for example. Different trees require different berths, which means you should do some research into whatever tree you’re interested in so you can place the tree far enough away.
- Taking Extra Measures
You will have to take some extra measures to make sure the large tree really doesn’t cause any additional concrete damage. However, as long as you care for the tree and make sure you’re avoiding any concrete lifting problems that might come up otherwise, you can go all in with the large tree and anything else you’re looking for.
There are a number of preemptive measures you may be able to take so you can protect against concrete damage from the large trees you might have around your home. This is especially important if you didn’t place the trees yourself, which means you can’t place the tree properly. These preemptive measures can be immensely helpful.
- The Damage With Trees
Concrete damage is one of the things that can be most influential and most dangerous and large trees tend to be great at doing it. If you start noticing your concrete cracking, especially if it seems to be cracking upward, you’re probably experiencing concrete damage from trees. Keeping an eye out is immensely important in this situation.
- How to Take Preemptive Measures
Most people don’t know how to take preemptive measures against tree-related concrete damage. This is why talking to a concrete lifting expert can be so beneficial. They’ll be able to help you understand both preemptive measures and general fixes if something does happen. Taking preemptive measures can be complicated, but an expert can help you do it.
Tree root concrete damage is never something anyone wants to deal with. Although a homeowner doesn’t really want to have to deal with the fact that they have concrete damage, you might want to think about your own concrete, especially if you really love the trees around your home. Developing a plan to deal with the potential concrete damage is crucial.
- Managing Your Trees Yourself
It’s true that you can often manage trees on your own. In some situations, it’s possible to handle it all yourself. If you’ve just planted the tree, you might be able to replant it farther away from your home. You can also water the tree daily so it doesn’t feel the need to grow through your concrete. However, in some cases, you need to fix the concrete itself, which can be much more difficult.
- Getting an Expert’s Help
Once the concrete damage has already manifested, it’s time to get an expert’s help. A concrete repair expert can be extremely beneficial for you and may even save you a bunch of money. Dealing with tree root problems that have expanded past a very slight concern isn’t something most people will be able to manage, which is why an expert from Groundworks can be helpful.
Get an Answer to Your Tree Root Concrete Problems From an Expert
Tree root concrete problems are very confusing. It’s common for people to have tree root problems they didn’t know they had. However, knowledge is power. The more you know about something, the more you’ll be able to talk about all sorts of things related to that knowledge, and concrete repair is no different.
The best way you’re going to be able to maintain your tree root concrete problems is if you get a local expert in to help. Many people have issues with their trees for one reason or another. If you’re looking for a way to mitigate those tree problems, you can talk to a concrete repair expert, who can give you a bit more information about your concrete problems and help you along the path to fixing it for good.
Disclaimer: “Concrete leveling” means the process by which cracked, uneven concrete is stabilized, and in many cases lifted, by means of PolyRenewal™ polyurethane foam. Groundworks does not guarantee that PolyRenewal™ can make your concrete perfectly level.