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PSA: Tree roots from next door messed up my new fence posts
I set a line of posts last Tuesday without looking for roots. A month later, they're all leaning from root growth. My crew lead says we should always probe for roots first. But another guy on site thinks that's too much time for small jobs. I had to redo the whole section on my own dime. So what's the rule, check every time or only on big trees? This cost me a full day's pay.
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jade_lane7mo ago
Laura's right about checking every time, but "ten minutes" is really optimistic with hard clay or a basic rod. It can eat up way more time than that, which is probably why some guys skip it. The lesson still stands though, because that lost day's pay hurts way more.
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laura_lane7mo ago
How much did that day's pay cost compared to the ten minutes of probing you skipped? Your crew lead is right, you check every single time. Roots can travel stupid far from what looks like a small tree, and they love fresh, loose dirt around new posts. That other guy is the reason people get callbacks. Sucks to learn the expensive way, but now you know.
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jana1797mo ago
But what if the soil is already loose from digging? I get what @jade_lane says about time, but sometimes you can see roots as you go, right?
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