Tree Too Close to the House: When It Has to Go

Almost every North Shore lot has at least one tree that someone planted too close to the house forty years ago, when it was eight feet tall and looked fine. Now it is sixty feet with limbs on the gutters, and you are wondering whether that is a problem or just what mature trees look like.

It is usually not as urgent as it feels, and occasionally it is more urgent than it looks. Here is how to tell the difference.

There is no single safe distance

You will find "plant large trees 20 feet from the house" advice everywhere, and it is reasonable guidance for planting. It is close to useless for a tree that is already there. A mature oak 15 feet from a foundation can be completely fine for another fifty years. A declining silver maple 30 feet away can be the bigger risk.

What matters is not the distance. It is three questions: can it reach the house, is it sound, and is it doing damage right now.

Question one: can it reach the house

Stand back and estimate the tree's height, then compare it to the distance from the trunk to the nearest part of the structure. If the height is greater than the distance, the top of the tree can land on your house. That is true of most mature trees on most suburban lots, and by itself it is not a reason to remove anything - it is a reason to care about the next question.

If you need help estimating height, the methods in our cost by height guide work fine.

Question two: is it sound

This is the question that decides it. A healthy, well-structured tree that can theoretically reach the house is normal. An unsound one that can reach the house is a hazard. The things that make a tree unsound:

• Dead or declining crown. Large deadwood, thinning canopy, bare limbs in summer. Start with is my tree dead.
• Trunk cracks, cavities, or seams, especially vertical cracks or an open cavity at a fork.
• A codominant fork with included bark - two trunks of similar size meeting in a tight V with bark pinched between them. These split, usually in a storm, usually at the worst moment.
• Mushrooms or conks at the base or on the trunk. Fruiting bodies mean internal decay is already advanced. See mushrooms at the base of your tree.
• A lean that is new, or soil cracked and lifting on the side opposite the lean.
• Species and history. An ash on the North Shore is presumed dead or dying unless it has been treated - that is what the emerald ash borer did. A dead ash close to the house is a removal, not a debate.

If several of these are present on a tree that can reach the house, that is the clear-cut removal case. The full checklist is in 7 signs a tree is dangerous.

Question three: is it actually doing damage

Proximity causes a handful of specific, visible problems. Note that several of them have fixes short of removal:

Most "too close" complaints are the top half of that table, and the top half is trimming work, not removal. A few hundred dollars of clearance pruning every several years keeps a good tree and a good roof coexisting indefinitely.

The foundation question, honestly

Homeowners worry most about roots cracking the foundation, and it is the least common of the real problems. Tree roots are opportunistic, not powerful enough to break sound concrete. They follow existing moisture and existing cracks. What actually happens near foundations:

• Roots exploit a crack that already existed and widen it over years
• Large roots under a slab, walk, or driveway lift it as they thicken
• In heavy clay soils, a large tree's water uptake can contribute to seasonal soil shrinkage and settlement - a real effect in Chicago-area clay, though rarely the sole cause of a problem

A trunk growing hard against the foundation, or large structural roots clearly displacing it, is a removal conversation. A tree 12 feet away with no visible foundation damage is a monitoring situation.

When removal is the right call

Taking the tree out is the answer when:

• It is dead or structurally failing and can reach the house
• The trunk is against or inside the structure, the walk, or the drive
• Pruning for clearance would have to remove so much of the crown that the tree would be disfigured or destabilized - a tree that needs half its canopy off to clear the roof is a tree that was planted in the wrong spot
• You are repairing or replacing the foundation, roof, or drive, and the tree is in the way of the work
• The tree is a species in decline locally with no treatment plan behind it

If the tree is valuable and the problem is a weak union rather than decline, ask about cabling and bracing before agreeing to a removal. Sometimes a good tree can be supported for another couple of decades.

Get a real opinion before you decide

The honest answer on a specific tree comes from someone standing under it who has no stake in talking you into the bigger job. That is what an arborist consultation is for, and a crew worth hiring will tell you when the answer is "prune it and leave it alone."

Trees too close to the house are a standing conversation in Wilmette, Winnetka, Evanston, Glenview, Skokie, and Park Ridge, where mature plantings and older homes grew up together. Use the online estimate tool for a quick range, or request a free on-site estimate for a straight read on whether yours needs to go.