Hi, was wondering if any can help, there is a jacaranda tree next door
its 4-5m heigh and 1m away from our sewerage pipe. We have been havong
plumbing issues for ages and have talked to the neighbours and they
just do not care. I was wondering how big the roots would be as afte a
$900 camera man came and he said that the roots are cracking the pipe,
then tried to charge $16,000 to replace the pipe. So I have no faith in
the camera plumber (sorry plumbers), can anyone tell me what I should
do? Contact council or start digging or can they trim the jacaranda to
make the roots grow slower? Please help.
Danako

"danako" <dana [at] loud.com.au> wrote in message
news:1143673142.844674.250990 [at] e56g2000cwe.googlegroups.com...
> Hi, was wondering if any can help, there is a jacaranda tree next door
> its 4-5m heigh and 1m away from our sewerage pipe. We have been havong
> plumbing issues for ages and have talked to the neighbours and they
> just do not care. I was wondering how big the roots would be as afte a
> $900 camera man came and he said that the roots are cracking the pipe,
> then tried to charge $16,000 to replace the pipe. So I have no faith in
> the camera plumber (sorry plumbers), can anyone tell me what I should
> do? Contact council or start digging or can they trim the jacaranda to
> make the roots grow slower? Please help.
> Danako

i'm thinking that if the neighbours don't really care & the tree is only a
metre from your pipes, that the most likely solution is going to be
re-routing the pipes away from the tree a bit, because otherwise it's always
going to be a problem, but this would be extremely expensive.

there's a facility which escapes me entirely atm, but they provide
assistance for disputes between neighbours along these lines, when just
talking to them hasn't helped. but i'm not sure if this is everywhere or
not - ring council & find out your & the neighbours' legal status on the
issue & if there's anything council can do or advice they can give. afaik,
legally, the roots on your property are in fact yours even though the tree
isn't. this would mean that if you had the pipes re-done & were able to
install, say, an underground wall or barrier to keep the roots away from the
pipe itself (assuming this is possible, which i don't know, and would work,
which again i don't know) you're entitled to do that, even if it affects the
tree negatively.

council would know your legal & other recourse, though. perhaps you can find
a plumber with lots of experience of tree root problems as well, once you
decide what the solution is. i'm just thinking that re-installing the pipe
in the same spot without doing anything else isn't really a good solution,
because it won't last. (never mind the expense, which sounds phenomenal!!)
kylie

I would suggest the plumber may be a bit keen for the money.
The tree is not a good choice where it is and I think your neighbours might
like a look at the tree roots as you dig them out of the hole. Get a
plumber in and get the tree out. Poison the tree parts that are in your
yard at least, Jaca's don't stop growing for any small reason - my parent's
garage floor was lifted up by one, the 2 stroke solution sorted that one
out.
Away from things that can be lifted, blocked, broken and showered with the
tiny leaves is the best place for them. Buy your neighbours a pot plant as
a replacement. I suspect their lack of concern is inversely proportional to
their fear of the cost of their tree being taken out at their expense.
Jock

"danako" <dana [at] loud.com.au> wrote in message
news:1143673142.844674.250990 [at] e56g2000cwe.googlegroups.com...
| Hi, was wondering if any can help, there is a jacaranda tree next door
| its 4-5m heigh and 1m away from our sewerage pipe. We have been havong
| plumbing issues for ages and have talked to the neighbours and they
| just do not care. I was wondering how big the roots would be as afte a
| $900 camera man came and he said that the roots are cracking the pipe,
| then tried to charge $16,000 to replace the pipe. So I have no faith in
| the camera plumber (sorry plumbers), can anyone tell me what I should
| do? Contact council or start digging or can they trim the jacaranda to
| make the roots grow slower? Please help.
| Danako
|

0tterbot wrote:
,
>>then tried to charge $16,000 to replace the pipe. So I have no faith in

Tried Rootox?

How much plastic pipe are we talking about here?
where does it run? and what does it affect?
Seriously, if it is all on your property, all you need is a walk behind
trencher, a few runs of 100mm plastic sewer pipe, some pipe glue and a
tenching shovel. Replace the pottery pipes with plastic and do not put
the joins near the tree. Maybe some abgle bends

Locate the drop off to the waterboard main, locate toilet or some piece
of existing pipe, then run a trench. Try to apply an even slope overthe
run of the trench, then just relay the pipe, flush loo, and check it
runs okay, then refill.

Of course, legality is another issue.

Your costs might be up because you are on a hill (hand digging) or you
have to enter neighbours property (restitution of their property), etc.


> there's a facility which escapes me entirely atm, but they provide
> assistance for disputes between neighbours along these lines, when just
> talking to them hasn't helped. but i'm not sure if this is everywhere or
> not - ring council

Neighbourhood dispute centres?
Phone book?

& find out your & the neighbours' legal status on the
> issue & if there's anything council can do or advice they can give. afaik,
> legally, the roots on your property are in fact yours even though the tree
> isn't. this would mean that if you had the pipes re-done & were able to
> install, say, an underground wall or barrier to keep the roots away from the
> pipe itself (assuming this is possible, which i don't know, and would work,
> which again i don't know) you're entitled to do that, even if it affects the
> tree negatively.

Aaah, nope, if your work adversely affects the tree and this causes tree
to fall and cause damage, then you could be liable.

I've suggested rootox. Seriously, it might be cheaper just to pop one of
these in the loo each night,

Try the legal remediation avenue first.

You are allowed to trim over hanging branches at your boundary on a
normal day, aka, don't pull the tree towards you and trim it. No, No.

If you get no success and it is still a nuisance, then you should trim
it at the boundary line religiously {:-).

g'day danako,

first up no amount of trimming/prunning/lopping will stop the spread of the
roots.

a root barriers might give some respite, probably depends on how experienced
the person who install it is. they are a rubber type barrier.

yes the neighbour can be held responsible through common law if you have the
desire to waste huge amounts of good money. if mediation won't work (have
you tried that avenue yet?), then you may have to do something on your own
behalf or continue to pay plumbers to repair the problem. the picture man
plumber may be right but for me i would rather have expended that cost into
a repair.

it sounds like you may have those older pipes the earthen ones? they are the
easiest ones for roots to broach? just go to and get the old pipes ripped up
and lay new heavy duty poly pipe that is glue sealed and the roots should
almost never cause any more problems. well to the plumbing maybe, they could
of course damage foundations and paths/driveways.

anyhow keep us informed as to what you do, $16k does sound a littel
excessive though.

len

http://www.users.bigpond.com/gardenlen1/

snipped>

good points terry,

i would consider doing the job myself first legal or not, if you dig down to
it and it looks too difficult then call a plumber.

they do have heavier duty poly pipe available might be better than the
standard 100mm stuff, remember though it does have to be 100mm. the extra
cost for thicker pipe will pay for iteself over the years.

the $900 already spent may ahve gone a long way toward doing that.

len

http://www.users.bigpond.com/gardenlen1/

"snipped

Thank you all for the advice, yes I know the $900 was a waste of money
but we did not know what was wrong with the plumbing or what kind of
pipes we had. So trimming not an option, neighbours ahhhh love the tree
and its soooo beautiful, but they do not have the plumbing issues or
the lets clean thousands of leaves and peel of the purple flowers off
the paving. The pipe is ceramic (old) and it runs for about 6 metres on
a guess, but removing all the paving and grass, is painful as its all
clay. Can we dig a trench and the put the plastic pipe within the
ceramic one? But will try the rootox first as well its, cheaper! BUT
THANK YOU ALL, for some well needed advice.
Danako

"danako" <dana [at] loud.com.au> writes:
>Hi, was wondering if any can help, there is a jacaranda tree next door
>its 4-5m heigh and 1m away from our sewerage pipe. We have been havong
>plumbing issues for ages and have talked to the neighbours and they
>just do not care. I was wondering how big the roots would be as afte a
>$900 camera man came and he said that the roots are cracking the pipe,
>then tried to charge $16,000 to replace the pipe. So I have no faith in
>the camera plumber (sorry plumbers), can anyone tell me what I should
>do? Contact council or start digging or can they trim the jacaranda to
>make the roots grow slower? Please help.

Your lack of faith in plumbers is well placed; and Jacarandas that close
to terra cotta pipes are guaranteed to cause endless grief.

You have a number of options. There is a chemical you can periodically
drop down the sink (or whatever feeds that pipe) and the chemical will
kill the small roots that have entered the pipe. I have no experience
with this. Second option: instead of the $16k you could twice annually
employ a plumber to drop his electric eel into the pipe and grind out
the roots. This may be worth considering, especially if you plan to sell
within a few years and you could leave the problem with the new owners.
Third option: get 5 or 6 quotes for the work; typically these will vary
over a 2:1 range, so think $8k at least.

But I think before any of this, you should ring your local council and
ask to speak to someone about a problem non-native tree. If you need to
present your indifferent neighbours with a letter of demand, employ a
solicitor to compose a letter they just can't ignore.
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)

John Savage wrote:

> But I think before any of this, you should ring your local council and
> ask to speak to someone about a problem non-native tree.

err, I think Jacarandas are a native tree.
Just not endemic (naturally occuring around Sydney)

danako wrote:
> Thank you all for the advice, yes I know the $900 was a waste of money
> but we did not know what was wrong with the plumbing or what kind of
> pipes we had. So trimming not an option, neighbours ahhhh love the tree
> and its soooo beautiful, but they do not have the plumbing issues or
> the lets clean thousands of leaves and peel of the purple flowers off
> the paving.

well, the leaves and flowers are still going to be there.

> The pipe is ceramic (old) and it runs for about 6 metres on
> a guess, but removing all the paving and grass, is painful as its all
> clay. Can we dig a trench and the put the plastic pipe within the
> ceramic one?

Yes, if you don't mind money (guess $300), then 4 hour hire of a walk
behind trencher should do it. Question, can you drive a 1metre wide
piece of machinery into place?

Otherwise, buy a trenching shovel or two (narrower = less clay) and a
mattock (wide pick) and start at the lower end. You can excavate over
time. If you want to dump or compost the clay, then backfill with sand
or gravel. I think 6.6 metres is the length of the sewer pipe (or is
that steel pipes). The only thing I am not sure of is the conversion
from pottery to plastic and back again. Perhaps a lump of concrete is
needed there.


if you need more that one length of plastic sewer pipe, then you need
the pipe-jointing glue. Clean, wipe glue over inside and out side, then
push hard from either end.

To dig out a trench in clay, I preferred to swing the mattock and lever
out a chunck or few, then use the trenching shovel to lift it out of the
trench. Also, if you are doing it by hand, look at playing with water
levels, i.e if your clay is dry atm, water well before starting and dig
down to dryness. Stop when it becomes hard. Worst case is too wet as the
clay is really claggy and hard to get out. I actually prefer swinging
the mattock into dry clay than wet, but I have a range from mattock
(2")_to fine pick to match condition of clay.

Have fun. I think everyone needs to do this once in their life {:-).

John Savage wrote:
> . Second option: instead of the $16k you could twice annually
> employ a plumber to drop his electric eel into the pipe and grind out
> the roots.

You can do this yourself (BTDT). Just visit the local hire places. All
you need to find is where the inspection access is (usually near house),
but after $900(?) you should know this. You did watch him didn't you?

P.S. refill with sand after you dig it out the first time. Makes it so
much easier.

danako wrote:
> Thank you all for the advice, yes I know the $900 was a waste of money
> but we did not know what was wrong with the plumbing or what kind of
> pipes we had. So trimming not an option, neighbours ahhhh love the tree
> and its soooo beautiful, but they do not have the plumbing issues or
> the lets clean thousands of leaves and peel of the purple flowers off
> the paving. The pipe is ceramic (old) and it runs for about 6 metres on
> a guess, but removing all the paving and grass, is painful as its all
> clay. Can we dig a trench and the put the plastic pipe within the
> ceramic one? But will try the rootox first as well its, cheaper! BUT
> THANK YOU ALL, for some well needed advice.
> Danako

Check with the local council or whom ever controls the sewage system
you may find that the work has to be done by or at least signed off on
by a licenced plumber.

thank you guys, and yes terry I did watch and know where all my outlets
are :), even though one is under my herb garden :), and they are filled
with sand, so I got something right.

Electric eel ummm no chance I am doing that ever again, painful, very
painful. But just in case someone else is reading this I have found a
product called MOFLOW and it disolves anything organic - toilet paper
etc. Highly toxic and you poor it in and the plumbing is beutiful.

And theres my mate the high pressure hose guy who will unblock a
plumbing issue in about 5 mins (rather than plumber [at] 4-5 hrs), and as
electic eels damage ceramic pipes, who knew...oopsi.

But I am worried that the pipe will collapse, instead of twice a year
problem is becoming more frequent. I will try the rootox promise.

"Terry Collins" <newsonespam-spam [at] woa.com.au> wrote in message
news:442c9634$0$1240$61c65585 [at] un-2park-reader-01.sydney.pipenetworks.com.au...

> err, I think Jacarandas are a native tree.
> Just not endemic (naturally occuring around Sydney)

Soz to bust the thought bubble but you will find the Jacaranda is a native
of Brazil.
http://www.hellohello.com.au/Jacaranda.html
there you go!

The Buzz wrote:

> Soz to bust the thought bubble but you will find the Jacaranda is a native
> of Brazil.

Okay, but I'll try other official sources to check.

Thanks.

Terry,

"the Buzz" is correct. Jacaranda is not native to australia. It's a tree
that this country has adopted as its own, but it actually never existed here
when the first fleet arrived.

All i can say is death to all non native plants!

Clint

"Terry Collins" <newsonespam-spam [at] woa.com.au> wrote in message
news:4430ffef$0$1231$61c65585 [at] un-2park-reader-01.sydney.pipenetworks.com.au...
> The Buzz wrote:
>
>> Soz to bust the thought bubble but you will find the Jacaranda is a
>> native
>> of Brazil.
>
> Okay, but I'll try other official sources to check.
>
> Thanks.

Terry Collins <newsonespam-spam [at] woa.com.au> writes:
>John Savage wrote:
>> But I think before any of this, you should ring your local council and
>> ask to speak to someone about a problem non-native tree.
>
>err, I think Jacarandas are a native tree.

True, the Jacaranda is a native -- but of Sth America, not Australia.

>Just not endemic (naturally occuring around Sydney)

Terry, have you ever seen a Jacaranda growing in any Ozzie national park??
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)