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Recent house purchase - intentionally misled about garden

13

Comments

  • theoretica
    theoretica Posts: 12,691 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Intentionally misled, or just oblivious to the danger but not wanting to look at ugly bits?  If you didn't know they were dangerous for the first year you owned them, then how can you expect to prove the sellers knew they were dangerous?
    But a banker, engaged at enormous expense,
    Had the whole of their cash in his care.
    Lewis Carroll
  • martindow
    martindow Posts: 10,624 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 28 July 2022 at 1:40PM
    Does the timber have any value beyond firewood?  If these are substantial oaks, for instance, the trunk and major limbs could be quite valuable.  I've no idea how much damage would have been done to the timber after the garden fires damaging the bark.
    It could be worth a discussion with decent tree surgeons to see what value you can set off against the cost of cutting them down.
    It is sad when mature trees have to go, but you may find that after felling your garden and house are transformed for the better with more light being let in.
  • Woolsery
    Woolsery Posts: 1,535 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    edited 28 July 2022 at 11:44AM
    jimbog said:
    With more and more people already looking for logs to buy before the horrific prices for fuel this winter you may have just found yourself a number of money trees
    That will depend on what species they are. OP hasn't identified them to us, but there *could* be other value in them too.
    Like the poplars we had cut, even poorer quality wood has a value if the person using it knows how to ensure it's seasoned and then mixed in with other logs.

  • youth_leader
    youth_leader Posts: 2,984 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    I used to pay £95 for a dumpy bag of kiln dried beech.  If it's mountain ash you are laughing, best wood ever! 
    £216 saved 24 October 2014
  • Section62
    Section62 Posts: 10,225 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Fourth Anniversary Name Dropper
    Tiglet2 said:
    What sort of trees are they?  Oak trees might have TPO’s on them, but Lleylandii won’t.  
    There's no reason why a Leylandii can't have a TPO on it. The only reliable way of finding out is to ask the relevant local planning authority.
  • Section62
    Section62 Posts: 10,225 Forumite
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    Halmor said:

    .....Looking back, the trunks to these trees were always obscured behind bamboo, and it now seems this was a deliberate attempt to hide the problem. 

    It seems the issue was caused by fire damage, due to previous owners having multiple bonfires by the trees....
    If the bamboo was big enough to hide the damage, it must have been a while since the last bonfire was lit there?

    Was the cause of the damage confirmed by an arboriculturalist?
  • Section62
    Section62 Posts: 10,225 Forumite
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    martindow said:

    Does the timber have any value beyond firewood?  If these are substantial oaks, for instance, the trunk and major limbs could be quite valuable.  I've no idea how much damage would have been done to the timber after the garden fires damaging the bark.
    Diseased and dead trees often produce poor quality timber.  The species and details of what is wrong with the trees will be key to whether there is any value other than firewood.  E.g. Spalting can produce valuable timber.
  • macman
    macman Posts: 53,129 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    You weren't in any way 'intentionally misled', because you never asked about their condition, nor did a proper inspection.
    Disguising them in this manner is no different to the vendor repainting a room that is damp to cover up the damp patches temporarily. Devious, yes, but perfectly legitimate.
    All the vendor has to do is answer any questions truthfully and not make misrepresentations. Since they did not make any statements about the condition of the trees, nothing has been misrepresented.
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
  • Slithery
    Slithery Posts: 6,046 Forumite
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    tooldle said:
    If the trees are really dangerous as the OP implies, the tree surgeons are unlikely to climb and will bring the tree down with machinery. 
    If the trees are that bad then surely the OP can just push them over?
    Section62 said:
    If the bamboo was big enough to hide the damage, it must have been a while since the last bonfire was lit there?
    Depends on the species of bamboo. Some can grow 3 feet per day....

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