Howdy!

We have a beautiful Live Oak tree in our front yard (in College Station). Unfortunately, I am worried that this tree is going to cause damage to the plumbing and foundation of the house.

Here is a picture from a couple of years ago, but it's even bigger now. Some branches are just short of the house. Does anyone have any recommendations on the type of business I should contact for opinions on this? Arborists? Foundation specialists? Bonus points for recommendations in BCS.

Thank you!

Time to cut it down and use for live edge furniture.

/outdoors board

Forgot to add - Give Jeff a call. He's great.

http://www.myplantpeople.com/

leave it alone. It will push up the driveway eventually, but people love big trees. you could have them put in a root barrier a few feet down around the foundation, to keep the root growing lower.

Also, around the drip line, dig some holes to allow water to reach roots and keep them from growing up toward surface. this would be beneficial. I usually use a hand drill auger and drill a foot or 1.5 feet down and backfill with mulch and organic fertilizer.

Oops nevemind.

We have been able to "train"/prune our live oaks away from the roof with pole saws.
That said, after 30 years, only the pros can reach/prune that high up if roof is threatened or killed by the Hypoxylon Canker.

While you can prune live oak trees in Texas any time of year, the best time is between July and January when fungal spores are less likely to infect the tree. The safest time to prune is during the coldest winter months of November, December, and early January. However, some say that July and August are also great months to prune because of the high summer temperatures

IF you replace it, remember Live Oak grows ala a horizontal oval, so bad choice for that location that will need lots of managment .... while Water Oak will grow ala a vertical oval & have been wiser. A Chinese Pistache would grow faster & still make the quality tree list but give it more than 25ft clearance if protecting roof and mitigating squirrel jumps that wear on shingles.

Water Oak is deciduous in the North, semi-evergreen in the Deep South, and trees reach 60 to 80 feet in height (shorter when grown in the open) with a 50 to 70-foot spread. Some trees put on a wonderful yellow fall color show for about a week.

Thanks for the replies, everyone. To be clear, in no way do I want to cut down this beautiful live oak tree. However, I have heard of them causing substantial damage to foundations and plumbing. I had to cut down a rather large branch last weekend because it broke during the hurricane. The tips of the branches are reaching the roof line. As much as I love the tree, I'm also not interested it potentially damaging the house. But I'm also not a professional. I'll call around to a few arborists and a few plumbers to get opinions from both.

Thanks!

Are they bad about that? I recently had to take a big one down because it was leaning over the house. I'd love to have some justification for it. I started with 5 in my backyard and between the freezes and droughts I'm now down to 1.

WHY do I have that same concern after Feb '21, droughts since, except this July 4"+ when SOP = 0.67"?
So many clients turn a blind eye to house-tree crushes but then ... ANYbody can Drive & Vote, which explains a lot ....

Water Oaks for BCS = Neil Sperry fav but .... enough said ...

I'll thrown in to remove the flower bed. The trunk bark and trunk flare shouldn't be buried. I'd keep the tree for sure.

Water Oaks are okay if you have the financial means to maintain them and remove them when they get old or disease presents itself. Far from the ideal tree, but they do grow fast and can look nice.

Start hacking at the roots of a mature water oak to put in sidewalk, patio, etc there's a good chance you'll run into problems eventually. Let the canopy of a mature water oak get too thick and when a windstorm comes along, you'll probably have a mess. Have a good arborist check them out annually as they mature and perform his recommended maintenance and you'll probably be okay.

I've seen it happen three times in my neighborhood in the last couple of years. Though a post oak in my yard was also taken down by winds, so maybe these last two years are oddities. But, if it is leaning towards your house and open to wind gusts, I'd take it down at some point.