Welcome to Baker Home Inspection and Consulting Blog!
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Link to Part 1 http://activerain.com/blogsview/315601/New-Construction-and-Trees
How to get started!
If you have already chosen your contractor, include them at this time. Be sure to communicate to them exactly what you want and expect to accomplish for your property and your new home.
Before your contractor has any equipment brought in to start any work, your going to need a map drawn to scale of your property. It's easier to move things around on paper than it is to move heavy equipment around on the site. On this map you should include all the property lines, the dimensions ( that is the footprint ) of any structure your going to have built and the driveway, the amount and location of any grading to be done, all of the utilities that are pre-existing and proposed. Remember that utilities also include water, electrical, sewer, septic system lateral lines ( if they are required ), cable, and in-ground irrigation.
In order to properly save trees, this is the time to ask lots of questions about the site work to be done by your contractor. If your on able to obtain answers to your questions, then it is not time to place any equipment on your ptoperty. Just continue to work on your paper plan. Once you are able to locate these items on your map, then and only then it's time to move on to the physical layout of these items on the ground.
On the site, lay out the footprint of the house and all of the items mentioned above. It's best to use bright-colored flagging or spray paint to mark all the lines. By identifying all of those areas, you should be able to see exactly which trees will be impacted by the construction.
At this time, inspect all the adjacent trees, those that are outside of the footprint and of the utilities corridor and identify which trees to save or which trees to remove when the heavy equipment is on site. You may be asking your self, how do I know which ones to remove? One thing to keep in mind is when making your decision about this: Tree roots grow horizontally in the soil with a length up to two times the height of the tree. Visualize the tree you are considering saving, lay it donw on it's side and flip it again in just about any direction, and you will probably be in the feeder roots of the tree. If the very large tree that you really want to save falls into any of the construction zones, then it really should be considered a candidate for removal. Look around, are there any younger and smaller trees in the same area? Younger trees are a better choice because younger tree roots don't have the horizontal length to them that larger tree roots have. Therefore, younger trees can acclimte easier to the ongoing constrution damage with a greater chance of survival. You improve your chances for success with these and all trees if proper protection is installed around the saved tree area before any equipment arrives.
Part 3 will be on Protection
Knowledge is the Power for Your Freedom to a Worry Free Home!
Link to my website: http://www.bakerhomeinspection.org
My e-mail: bakerhomeinspection@yahoo.com
Have a good one
Dale
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