John Dirks Jr Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 This was across the street from an inspection yesterday. The branches had buds so the tree looked alive and well. The root system was not healthy enough to hold it with the weight of heavy wet snow. The entire thing uprooted. People were home at the time but luckily nobody was hurt. The upper branches impaled all the way into the living space and the garage was basically sliced in half. There's a car in the garage under the trunk of the tree. Click to Enlarge 59.68 KB Click to Enlarge 59.13 KB Click to Enlarge 51.05 KB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inspectorjoe Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 Holy crap! What kind of tree is that? I have a huge oak not more that 10 feet from my bed. Looking at those pictures doesn't give me a good feeling. I doubt the weight of the snow caused that in any way. Compared to the weight of the tree, the added snow load would be negligible. It's unusual for a deciduous tree to fall when it's dormant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dirks Jr Posted January 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 Like I siad, it was full of buds so before it fell I cant see what someone could suspect it might be weak. The exposed root system that came up with it looked way to small for a tree that size. I think its a red oak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Katen Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 Must have made a tree-mendous crash when it fell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inspectorjoe Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 Oh great! It's a red oak next to my bed. It's got a bigger diameter than that one and is only 7 feet from the house, so it's root system is even smaller. It'll be tossing and turning for me tonight fer sure. Why would the tree be full of buds in January? What zone are you in? I'm in Zone 6 and my Oaks don't start to bud out til early-mid April. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dirks Jr Posted January 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 Oh great! It's a red oak next to my bed. It's got a bigger diameter than that one and is only 7 feet from the house, so it's root system is even smaller. It'll be tossing and turning for me tonight fer sure. Why would the tree be full of buds in January? What zone are you in? I'm in Zone 6 and my Oaks don't start to bud out til early-mid April. Well, I might be stating it wrong by saying buds. You can look at the very tips and see the little knobs on the ends of the tiny branch tips. Aren't they dormant buds? Anyway, dead trees usually don't have the tiny knobs on the very tips of branches. Here's an example. Click to Enlarge 107.76 KB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dirks Jr Posted January 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 One problem with big trees close to houses is the trees tend to grow out more over the house. Without other trees on that side to compete with, they reach out for all the extra space. This makes them heavy on the side that overhangs the house. When they fall, its usually towards the heavy side. The tree in the picture had competition with other large trees on its other side. This made it grow heavy out over the house side. You can see from the picture by the direction of the branches that it was growing out primarily on one side. That's the side it fell to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randynavarro Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 Joe, With the tree so close to your house, it won't have much of a chance to gain momentum as it's falling. The damage to your house shouldn't be as severe as the pictures above. I hope you feel better now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inspectorjoe Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 I think it's time to change bedrooms. Having an attached bath is overrated. Come to think of it, I'll bet it can be nice and comfy down in the basement.[:-weepn] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon Whitmore Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 The garage door header appears to be under- sized....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.