Tree root ball under new slab

[ddurrett896]

Got a 24” maple tree maybe 25’ y’all that needs to come down as it sits in the middle of my new garage slab. Cutting it down is no problem, However my question is with the roots.

Am I ok to have the stump grinder or should I use the machine to dig it all out then fill? My cocern is that it will eventually rot away, leaving a void.

 

[Ray-CA]

I'd dig it out then fill/compact-repeat until you get to the height of the bottom of the slab. That is unless you want to put a service pit in the garage.

Ray

 

[Red Voodoo]

My cocern is that it will eventually rot away, leaving a void.

It will. Get it out of there.

 

[James-W]

Pull out the roots rather than just grind down the stump. You should be able to do it with a decent sized backhoe. Depending on how big the roots are, you may be able to do it with a Bobcat.

 

[rburke65]

Dig it out.

 

[Zick]

Dig it out or else you'll have issues later.

 

[SwampCat]

ALL organic material must go, or it will come back to haunt you.

 

[Copymutt]

Dig it out or else you'll have issues later.

Not just a void, but possibly termites that would transition to the structure.
Jim

 

[spudley]

Remove the stump. Fill with stone and compact the hole. Then compact it again, and again, and again. Add some extra rebar where the stump was.

 

[James E]

Previous owners of my house removed several trees from the front yard in the mid nineties. They told me they ground the stumps down extra deep, covered the holes with topsoil and sodded over them.

We have sinkholes where every one of those root balls was. I fill them at least once a year and within a few months I’m Twisting my ankle in them again.

Imagine that under your slab.

 

[Jazz1]

I had a big hoe come dig out 3 willows that were on my garage site. My grade came up a couple feet and hoe stayed to spread the fill around. Only couple hours maybe

 

[ard]

Unbeknownst to me, there were 40-50 stumps buried in a ravine on my property.

20 years later, saw a sinkhole. Had a backhoe out doing some work, asked him to fill it. (Per the wife "what if a horse hurts themself?!?!") Found a stump. Pulled it out. Found another. and another. Saw a backhoe/excavator disappear below the ground....

$18,000 later they pulled them all out, disposed of at a cost of $200 per.



Agree with someone that said have a backhoe yank it out- you will get more of he roots out. Grinding leaves most of the soft roots intact.

 

[rlwhitetr3b]

I would think you need to fill the hole with gravel instead of dirt so it will pack solid.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Previous owners of my house removed several trees from the front yard in the mid nineties. They told me they ground the stumps down extra deep, covered the holes with topsoil and sodded over them.

We have sinkholes where every one of those root balls was. I fill them at least once a year and within a few months I’m Twisting my ankle in them again.

Imagine that under your slab.

Had a big willow that I cut down and ground the stump. I thought it was done after a few years. Two years ago, tilled the area and it still shows itself.

Dig all that **** out.

 

[JD3020]

Dig it out, get an excavator with a thumb so you can grab the roots and pull them out. Grinding stumps is a cheap/hack way to do it and causes nothing but problems. Stump grinders are the devil.

 

[strutaeng]

Dig it up. I cut a 11" diameter live oak, about 30 ft tall for an addition. I left it about 4' from the ground. I hand dug and took it out with a comealong...that was too much work! I dug about 6' wide and 24-30" deep.

You don't want the rootball under your building.

 

[JamesW84]

You need to look at building codes or ask an inspector about fill. Here, any fill must be Engineered fill (spec'd by a structural or soils engineer) and tested for compaction at whatever lift heights they say.

For example, mine was going to have me get it tested in 12" lifts. Even if you don't have building codes, you'd be very smart to compact the fill like crazy in small 4" lifts. A jumping jack compactor would work if you backfill with dirt, but be ready...the one I rented was 165 lbs and I had to drag it around a lot. I was sore for 4 days

 

[jhrodd]

You can dig it out with a little backhoe or excavator, it just takes more time. This Cedar stump took about half a day. My little Kubota can barely lift it.