£780 to cut down a tree?

stebiz

themull1 wrote: »

Surely the tree was there long before her conservatory and she would have known about the roots then? it might make it worse cutting it down, and saturate the soil where the roots were taking the water, causing further damage. Send a letter to her stating you have no problem cutting the tree down and give her the bill to pay. Why should you pay it?

I feel sorry for some of your neighbours. Thank God mine are decent and I hope I am a good neighbour too.

When do you let the bloody tree stop growing?? Have some thought of her light and think how you'd feel if your whole back garden was overshadowed by a tree.

bunberry

stebiz wrote: »

I feel sorry for some of your neighbours. Thank God mine are decent and I hope I am a good neighbour too.

When do you let the bloody tree stop growing?? Have some thought of her light and think how you'd feel if your whole back garden was overshadowed by a tree.

My original thread has photos of the trees taken by the woman - our neighbour's trees were the problem, not our single tree which wasn't the biggest.

She moved in approx 4 years ago and according to her letter, approached the previous occupants in 2011, so unless the trees experienced an exponential growth in a year's time, she was well aware of their existence when she purchased the house. AFAIK the trees are around 20 years old.

We are friendly with the neighbours around us, but this woman has completely rubbed us up the wrong way by 1) posting a formal letter and 2) not responding to our reply until this month via her solicitors. She's no neighbour.

bunberry

Mojisola wrote: »

In that case, I'd get two or three more reasonable quotes and send her back a letter saying that if they would like to pay for the tree's removal, you will let it happen.

If they agree, make sure they give you the money upfront.

The problem is if she doesn't agree, and if our tree's roots grow and actually cause damage, we'd have to pay for the repairs.

Besides, if she was willing to contribute, she would have responded to our letter instead of going through solicitors.

Mojisola

bunberry wrote: »

The problem is if she doesn't agree, and if our tree's roots grow and actually cause damage, we'd have to pay for the repairs.

Only if she could prove that it was your tree which would include tracing roots back to your tree by digging up a lot of her garden or having DNA tests and then proving that the roots actually caused the damage that she claims.

stebiz

bunberry wrote: »

The problem is if she doesn't agree, and if our tree's roots grow and actually cause damage, we'd have to pay for the repairs.

Besides, if she was willing to contribute, she would have responded to our letter instead of going through solicitors.

Exactly

Damage by tree roots—Law Lords ruling

Encroaching roots from a neighbouring property may cause damage to foundations, drains, or lightly loaded structures such as walls, drives and garages. However, if roots cause damage to built structures, an action for an injunction and damages against the owner or occupier will depend on the extent to which damage was foreseeable.
A high profile ruling by the House of Lords in 2001 against Westminster City Council made the situation clear in respect of tree damage from roots. The owners of a building took action
against Westminster City Council where a single plane tree owned by the Council had damaged the foundations. Westminster Council had refused to remove the tree and the claimant spent over £570,000 carrying out underpinning works which they then sought to claim from the council. The council lost its appeal to the House of Lords and the claimant recovered the cost of the repairs.
The Lords ruled that if it is clear that if there is a continuingnuisance, which a defendant knows about or ought to know about, the claimant is entitled to recover the reasonable costs of eliminating the nuisance if he has given notice of the problem to the defendant and a reasonable opportunity to deal with it.14 The unanimous opinion of the Law Lords summarises the major English case law relating to damage to property, particularly
foundations, caused by tree roots belonging to trees on a neighbouring property.

You are now fully aware that she says her house is experiencing damage and to be fair the roots from trees like that are likely to be doing just that.

Why not pop around and say that you both got off on the wrong foot. You accept no responsibility but would like to help address the issue and see if you can sort it out amicably.

Personally I'd lop in down from my side. Get her to sign a disclaimer removing you from any responsibility from the roots and plant a few nice small fruit trees in their place.

stebiz

I should add that I too had a tree that was at least 40 ft high and removed it myself by climbing a ladder and doing it myself. I cut it all up with a chain saw and took it down the tip - taking all necessary safety precautions. It kept me nice and fit and cost me nothing. My neighbour was very grateful as it was starting to be diseased. My other neighbour even helped get the roots up and it wasn't even anywhere near his house - whilst I fixed his pc. It's all about getting on.

stebiz

Mojisola wrote: »

Only if she could prove that it was your tree which would include tracing roots back to your tree by digging up a lot of her garden or having DNA tests and then proving that the roots actually caused the damage that she claims.

Well were do you think the roots of a 40 feet tree go?

Mojisola

stebiz wrote: »

Well were do you think the roots of a 40 feet tree go?

Considering that bunberry has only one tree in the garden and the other neighbour has several, why should it be just the one tree that's causing the problem? The neighbour would have to show whose tree was causing the problem - if there is actually a problem with the house and this isn't just an excuse to force bunberry to cut down their one tree.

bunberry - see what your council says about the issue. There should be advice on their website like this -
https://www.tameside.gov.uk/trees/faqs#10
I think the tree(s) in my garden/neighbours garden, is causing subsidence/cracks to my house wall(s), what should I do?
You must engage a qualified structural surveyor to carry out a comprehensive survey to provide you with clear evidence and proposals for remediation. There are many other reasons that can cause damage to property other than trees, and an independent appraisal is vital if the end result leads to insurance claims and/or litigation.

When you look at the costs she will need to spend out, it would be cheaper for her to contribute towards the removal of the tree.

stebiz

Mojisola wrote: »

When you look at the costs she will need to spend out, it would be cheaper for her to contribute towards the removal of the tree.

That I agree with.

fatpiggy

I had a larch taken out of my small garden a couple of months ago. It was about 25 feet high (I'd topped it out a few years ago) and the trunk at the base was about 12 inches across. I think it was about 16 years old. I asked my builder who he would recommend and then called the guy up to come and take a look. He did it for £180 - tree down, everything removed although I asked him to leave the stump at about 2 inches high. He was like lightening too, it was down and being shredded within an hour. Make sure they are insured, licenced etc. I'm in N Cheshire/Greater Manchester.

ps. It was £180 well spent - he was a bit of dish