Homeowner sues neighbour for cracked house

For the first time in Australia, a home owner has been awarded compensation for his cracked house due to a new legal precedent where the neighbour's tree has been seen as the culprit for cracking and damage to his house.

Interestingly, the roots had not reached the neighbour's house however the neighbour was still awarded damages in the NSW Land and Environment Court, due to what is known as 'matric suction'.

Matric suction is an engineering term that describes the pressure dry soil exerts on the surrounding soils to equalise the moisture content in the overall block of soil.

Since trees naturally seek moisture in the ground, they dry the ground out around themselves and the soil is neutralised by drawing moisture from the dampness underneath houses.

This can lead to a house cracking if precautions are not taken.

The home owner, who does not wish to be named, received $5500 in compensation due to matric suction caused from the neighbour's silver birch and cypress pine trees.

This included an order to install a deep flexible waterproof cut off wall along the perimeter of the house to protect it from further cracking and enabling the trees to remain where they are without being chopped down.

Root Barrier founder/ manager Alan Coulton said this court found in its judgement that roots no longer had to reach a house to cause damage.

"At least one house in every street in Australia has signs of cracking from movement, mostly caused by matric suction," Mr Coulton said.

He said sealed flexible waterproof cut off walls, produced by Root Barrier, were the middle ground and only solution to enable trees and buildings to cohabit happily together.

"Flexible waterproof cut off walls create an island effect and keep the change in moisture content in reactive soil (clay) to a minimum. They separate the tree from the moisture under the slab which, with movement, leads to cracked houses," he said.

"Every owner of a tree on reactive soil is potentially liable for damage caused by the tree living and drawing moisture out of the ground."

He said even though the NSW Land and Environment Court did not directly apply in other states, this judgement would be used as a guide and reference.

"Matric suction can affect a radius of 1.5 to 2 times the height of the tree," he said.

"New structures will need to be protected from existing trees and a 1.5 to 2 metre deep waterproof cut off wall may be installed at construction time or as a retrofit to existing buildings."

Root Barrier is a growing Australian-owned and operated company which has been leading the way in the development and manufacture of flexible waterproof cut off walls for Australian conditions since 1992.

With its head office in Brisbane, it has distribution and/ or installation outlets in each state.

MEDIA CONTACT ONLY: For more details, photos or interviews with people in your area affected by cracking houses, contact Aldwyn Altuney of AA Xposé Media on (07) 5571 0233, 0409 895 055 or email: aldwyn@aaxpose.com