Roots under the driveway: fix the concrete without dropping the tree.
The root that lifted your slab is doing two jobs — feeding the tree and holding it up against wind. The cheap fix, chopping it, quietly cancels the second job. There are better sequences.
The root under your slab is also a guy-wire. Structural roots near the trunk do two jobs: feed the canopy and anchor the tree against wind. The question is never just “can this root be cut?” — it’s “what does this tree hold onto afterward?” Distance and diameter decide: small roots far out are fair game; big roots close-in on the windward side are load-bearing members of the tree’s foundation.
The options, ranked honestly
Move or reshape the concrete — re-pour the affected panels (with root accommodation or a slight reroute), ramp the offset, or grind the trip lip as a stopgap. On a tree you love, this beats surgery every time; concrete doesn’t fall on houses. Root barriers — effective against FUTURE roots along a new pour, useless against the root already under the slab. Selective root cutting — legitimate when the root is modest and far enough out; we measure trunk distance and root diameter before committing, and we’ll decline cuts that turn a trip hazard into a windthrow risk. Removal — the honest answer when species and placement guarantee this fight forever (a big ficus six feet from a driveway isn’t going to negotiate).
Who does what
Concrete work is a hardscape contractor’s trade; the root decisions are ours; the best results come from doing them in the right order — tree assessment first, so the concrete plan works around what must stay. We’re happy to be the first call and to hand you a written read the concrete crew can build to.
What you can do today
Photos: the lifted panels, the trunk showing its distance from them, and the whole tree. Text (727) 761-8618. Worth doing sooner than later — a lifted slab is annoying, but the panicked version of this call is the one where someone already cut the root and the tree’s lean changed. Don’t be the second call.
Questions Cody hears every week.
Can you just cut the root that's under the slab?
Sometimes — size and distance decide. A small root far from the trunk is a fair cut. A structural root close-in on the side facing your house is load-bearing in a hurricane; cutting it trades a concrete problem for a falling-tree problem. We measure before anyone cuts, and we’ll refuse the cuts that aren’t safe.
What are the options besides cutting?
Re-pouring or ramping the affected panels, grinding the lip as a stopgap, root barriers ahead of NEW roots, and in some cases rerouting the path around the tree. On a tree you love, moving concrete beats moving roots — concrete doesn’t fall on houses.
Which trees cause this most in Pinellas?
Ficus is the champion, laurel oaks surface-root heavily as they age, and big pines lift the panels they predate. If you’re choosing a new tree near hardscape, that’s a two-minute conversation that saves a four-figure repair — ask before you plant.
Tell Cody about your tree.
Three fields. He answers his own phone — you’ll hear back fast.
Faster: text a photo of the tree to (727) 761-8618.