Tree Roots Lifting Your Driveway or Pool Deck? Your Options

Central Florida's sandy soil and high water table keep most tree roots shallow, so big oaks spread their roots wide just under the surface. Over the years, those roots thicken and lift driveways, sidewalks, pavers, and pool decks. You have more options than you might think, but one of them, cutting roots yourself, can turn a cracked driveway into a fallen tree.

Why you shouldn't just cut the roots

Large roots near the trunk are what hold the tree up. Cut too many, or cut them too close to the trunk, and the tree can become unstable and more likely to fall in a storm, even though it looks fine. Root damage can also let decay in. Any root work near a big tree should start with a look at how large the root is, how close it is to the trunk, and how much of the root system it represents.

Your options, from least to most drastic

• Repair around the roots: re-set pavers or re-pour a section with extra room, or bridge over a root instead of cutting it.
• Selective root pruning: cleanly cutting smaller roots at a safe distance from the trunk, then installing a root barrier so they don't come back the same way.
• Switch materials: pavers and flexible surfaces handle root movement better than a solid slab and are easier to repair.
• Remove the tree: when the roots that need cutting are too large or too close to the trunk to cut safely, or the tree has other problems, removal and stump grinding is the honest answer.

Which trees cause this most around Orlando

Live oaks, laurel oaks, and water oaks planted close to driveways and pools are the usual culprits. Palms are rarely the problem: their roots are fibrous and don't thicken the way oak roots do.