What do I do about this tree’s roots in the plumbing lines?
Please do not say cut it down. I live in the desert and this tree is large and beautiful and shades the house. I replaced the toilet in the bath and took out roots that was in the plumbing lines. Is there a solution without destroying the tree?
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There is a product yu can buy at any hardware store or Lowes, Home Depot even Wal Mart; I think it*s call Root Kill or something like that. You pour it down the drain and it kills the roots in the plumbing line; Your best bet it replaceing the plumbing line you evidently have a break somewhere that the roots are getting into and it will only get worse.
Been there done that.
yes, you have to replace the line im afraid. if they arent too bad, as a stopgap, you can run a heavy duty snake through it to clean it out but thats a short term solutin as they replace the pipe there is a weed barrier produst that had encapsulated weed and riit killer embedded in the sheets. ive heard of people having some success with wrapping the new pipe in the material. it makes the roots grow away from it. good luck.
The only one I am aware of is to take a large sheet of metal and after digging a ditch between the tree and the house put the sheet on edge like a curtain to shield the roots from finding out what is on the otherside of the sheetmetal(water source, nutrients . You are putting up a wall between the tree and the plumbing. This will force the roots to go around your sheet metal or not at all. It is a big job and the sheet metal should be a 4×8 sheet if not 2 sheets…so a total wall of 8×8 ft.
Do you have septic in the same area as the tree? In otherwords on the same side of the house as the tree. If so, then the tree has to go, for once the roots get into the field, the entire field will get clogged with roots and you will have to redig it. Several thousand dollars-and you will lose the tree in the process. That is why trees get nuked. It is OK if the tree is in the front yard and the field in the backyard – you have a house in the way for distance and the chances of the roots finding the nutrient rich moist soil unlikely.