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The house will be located about 20-25 feet from the trunk. my wife is pretty adamant about saving it. We've rearranged our plans by shifting the house to accommodate it.
Cut the tree down NOW.
I just had to take down two dead trees that the septic field killed. One was about 28 inches on the stump and I think was a hickory. It died last year and a windstorm a few months back broke it in half about 20 feet up the trunk. We have other trees that impacted by our driveway. Some of them are doing ok. They others I am not so sure about.
20-25 feet is too close to the house. We have trees we saved that are 50-60 feet from the house. We should have cut them down when we built the house. Even the wife now agrees that we should cut down the trees. It would have been so much easier and cheaper if the trees had been brought down when we built the house.
How much is the tree worth if you sold it for lumber? If you were lucky in my area you would get $200 per 1,000 board feet for the tree. That would take a big tree. More likely the tree is forth no more than $100.
How much would it cost you to remove the tree in the future? How much damage will that tree do to your house? Would prevailing winds drop the tree on your house?
I like trees but they are dangerous. In our 10 years with our current land I have seen dozens of trees blown down by storms. Some very big trees up to 36 inch in diameter. The tree is not worth the damage it will cause if it walls on the house much less hurts or kills someone.
I slept through Hurricane Fran back in the 90's when a couple of large limbs broke off the trees within 20 feet of the house. I was danged lucky the limbs did not go through the roof or a window. They both hit the side of the house and if they had hit a few feet to one side they would have gone through a window. One limb hit between taking out a window and the heat pump.
When the winds blow I wake up now. I wish I had cut down the %^&* trees so I could sleep.....
Later,
Dan
