Two trees have lifted the sidewalk alongside our house, angling the sidewalk toward the foundation. When it rains heavily (rare), water pools against the cinder block foundation and seeps into the storage area. I am planning some concrete work and figure I should deal with this simultaneously. Is there a way to address this issue without removing the trees? Are the tree roots a threat to the foundation?
The concrete itself is in really good shape. So really you have two options here.
(what I would do if it were my house)... take the rocks next to it and put them somewhere else. Dig a small 6" trench right along the right side of the walkway. You may have to get an axe/chainsaw to the roots of the trees to do this. With the trench and roots out of way the sidewalk will settle back down to the right a bit. It may take months but I have done this exact thing with concrete patios and porches.
Have the left side jacked up (mud jacked). Someone will come out and put a few holes into concrete and jack the left side up. Will solve issue short-term (which could be years if you are lucky).
Those two trees probably have to go. I wouldn't hesitate to chop them down. If your sidewalk is getting pushed up wait until the roots wreak havoc on the foundation. They are both leaning to the right a tad and that means they are going to yank that walkway out. We never leave leaning trees this close to houses/walkways. Very likely you chop them both down and cut the root when the root decay they will leave a void for the walkway to settle. Problem with mud jacking is it is very possible the roots hit the mud jacked parts and start pushing and then your walkway cracks.
