Japanese knotweed - ?????HELP! please

bubbles29

FOX_HOUND wrote: »

Obviously professional opinion should be sought in a house purchase. Its too big not to. Safety first on that one. But talk of 2 plants of knotweed destroying foundations imho is simply paranoia of the highest order. And I had well established knotweed almost taller than me 15 feet from my back door.

that is what i think in all honesty, but i am well aware the mortgage company wont see it that way!
:mad:

renovation_man

I have come accross this JK on two occasions once when I was bulding houses for a small company it was a patch of about 2m2. A so called specialist was called in together with an excavator and a lorry, the excavation was about 10ft deep and the guy had to keep on checking that there was no root left, it was loaded directly onto the lorry which had to be sheeted to stop any blowing off in transit, the cost was £6k.

The other time was on an old property that I purchased with a very high garden which was overgrown with jK. I saturated it with a fungacide that I use to treat dry rot and it killed it off above ground.

Months later I started reducing the garden taking strips off with an excavator and I was amazed how deep the roots were, they were about 18ft deep, that was taken by a licensed company but the law was different then.

Roots of well established JK have been known to be 50ft deep and just 1/7th of a rhizome can reproduce.

If I seen a small amount on a bargain property I would purchase it as it is less of a problem that dry rot for instance

bubbles29

i am all for purchasing it as its a nice house nice area..., and it really does seem to be a small amount with no evidence of damage to building or in neighbours gardens. i just doubt the lender will see it in the same way! lol

AlwaysSmiling

I would like to think that this picture is not "simply paranoia of the highest order":

https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/nonnativespecies/index.cfm?pageid=160

A quick google search and all the information is there.

warehouse

It's not difficult to get rid of with a little patience and time. You most certainly do not need to pay huge sums for a professional service. See this thread...

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3389896

Post 20.

renovation_man

The only reason a specialist was called in was because it was a planning condition which may also apply to a mortgage.

personally I don't think knotweed is a big problem

Elsewhere

You could always eat it

For instance

http://the3foragers.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/japanese-knotweed-recipe-knotweed_02.html

http://foragingfamily.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/recipe-sesame-stir-fried-japanese.html

charltonkeston

Its currently costing a friend of mine £4000 to clear it from his garden and the 3 gardens he has allowed it to spread to.
He tells me it will take 3 years to get rid of. Spraying twice yearly.
You can kill anything but this weed really is hardy.

rpc

I think I'd want to know more about the roof trusses that have been removed too. Building regs?

Snail368

It can be a big problem and is set to get worse, as mortgage companies will seek to protect their and your investment.

In my experience, 3 years is a minimum for small areas, for large infestations (and I've treated areas of up to 10000m2) it can take many years.

You need to find a professional knotweed company to survey the site and come up with costed options.