Building a house near mature trees

docker_rob

Hi there,

We have just purchased land that has 2 mature Gum Trees on it growing near the fence line in a sandy well draining soil.

My dilemma is that the block is restricted as to where I can build a house as it is only 350 m2 and has a width of only 14 metres meaning if I had to build much more than 2 metres form the tree base I would lose too much Building area to make it feasible to retain them.

Ideally I would like to keep at least one of the trees as they would provide great afternoon shade in summer but to do that I would need to build relatively close to it.

My main concerns are Root damage of foundations and also from an engineering or building code stand point if I would even be allowed to build so to an existing tree like this without damaging it, and without it damaging the house in future years.

Does anyone have any ideas on -

1 - How close you can (or should) build to an existing mature tree?
I believe one is a gumtree and one is a Rivergum. At a guess they would be 30 or 40 years old with a height of about 15 - 20 metres and a circumference of about 1.5 metres) I havent measured this though so this is a very rough guestimate

2 - Any engineering work than can be incorporated to stop future tree root damage to foundations of the house


Thanks

Eric Frei

In this post a draft of AS4970 is attached, you can view that for free.

About the only difference between the draft and the official version is the TPZ is 12 x DBH in the Official release not 9 X DBH as in the draft.

AS4970 Draft| Australian Development Tree Protection

Also in this thread you can see what an arborist can do and looks for.

The Project Arborist| Australia|AS4970-2009

If you want to encroach closer than the TPZ and even further up to the SRZ you'll need to do some homework.

Soil cores, ground water, redesign of foundations (suspended slab perhaps) to prevent not only root damage but also to be considered is watering of the covered soil often overlooked with pole homes etc.

The threads and documents will explain enough that you understand what the tree needs are, then you'll need to work with a decent consulting arborist and engineer to design an outcome where the tree will not decline, not cause damage and accommodate future growth.

__________________

kieren

House are to big in perth and trees are to few, leave the trees and buy a different house with out trees!