Leylandi 30cm from House problems?

[minermick]

This subject may be covered elsewhere on this site but after trawling gardens and buildings I cant find anything specific.
My wife and I are thinking of buying a house which we both like but it has one possibly nasty problem. There is a 15 ft plus tall leylandi conifer tree with the base some 30cms away from one of the corners of the building. There are no obvious visible cracks/problems with the walls.
I presume the pre-purchase survey would pick this up as a potential problem.

I raised my concern with the seller and they have said they will remove it before they sell the property, and if I agree to this what is the best way to remove it?
Should it be done gradually over years or what is the normal process with these?

Any comments appreciated.

 

[geraldthehamster]

This subject may be covered elsewhere on this site but after trawling gardens and buildings I cant find anything specific.
My wife and I are thinking of buying a house which we both like but it has one possibly nasty problem. There is a 15 ft plus tall leylandi conifer tree with the base some 30cms away from one of the corners of the building. There are no obvious visible cracks/problems with the walls.
I presume the pre-purchase survey would pick this up as a potential problem.

I raised my concern with the seller and they have said they will remove it before they sell the property, and if I agree to this what is the best way to remove it?
Should it be done gradually over years or what is the normal process with these?

Any comments appreciated.

Why would it need doing gradually? Any reason why it can't just be cut down?

The one and only redeeming feature of Leylandii is that when you cut them down, they don't grow back.

Cheers
Richard

 

[minermick]

Thanks for the reply.

Without going to a "professional" for advice which the seller (or me) may have to do after the survey by which time I`ve obviously incurred costs, the limited info I can find online seems to say sometimes taking the whole tree out in go can in itself cause problems to the building walls or foundations and it may be better to reduce the height gradually over 2-4 years. ??

Anyone got any experience of this kind of problem?

 

[geraldthehamster]

Thanks for the reply.

Without going to a "professional" for advice which the seller (or me) may have to do after the survey by which time I`ve obviously incurred costs, the limited info I can find online seems to say sometimes taking the whole tree out in go can in itself cause problems to the building walls or foundations and it may be better to reduce the height gradually over 2-4 years. ??

Anyone got any experience of this kind of problem?

Our neighbours had to remove a row of trees one at a time, because each removal affects the water table as the tree is no longer drawing moisture from it, and there is the potential for movment of the house. However, I would be surprised if this was the case with one 15 tall Leyland. They are thirsty trees but 15 feet isn't very big.

Cheers
Richard

 

[munchingB]

about 16 metres of 10ft leylandii were removed a year ago from 5 metre away from the front of a house we've just bought and the ground is lawn, no paving, with only a muddy single track stone road outside and there is no sign of heave or swelling and the house barely has foundations-definitely no concrete here-nor any incriminating cracks. i just removed another 10 last week..i'll let you know when the ground caves in or a water spout appears.etc : )