When Tree Roots Want to Join You in Your Swimming Pool
The trees around your swimming pool can be a mixed blessing. They provide shade, allowing you to swim on the hottest, sunniest days of the year without sweltering the moment your head emerges from the water. On the flipside, that shade comes with a cost, since the trees have an unfortunate habit of thoughtlessly dumping leaves and twigs into the water, which you then need to scoop up. But still, it's not as though the tree can actually damage the pool, is it? Sometimes the tree's root system might decide to join you in the water, and they make for a very unwelcome swimming buddy.
Concrete Pools
A tree root breaching a concrete inground pool is not the poor tree's fault, although it might end up paying for it. When tree roots encounter buried concrete, they simply splay outwards, instead of trying to worm their way through the solid barrier. If this were to actually happen, there would have to be a structural issue with the wall of the pool itself, which will have to have sufficiently weakened so that the tree root can find a way through. Your pool will need to be repaired, as it will be losing water, and dirt and other debris will be able to enter the water. Tree removal can be necessary if the pool cannot be repaired due to the proximity and potential density of the root growth. But if it's a choice of sacrificing a tree or having a broken swimming pool, it's unlikely to be a competition.
Vinyl Pools
Pools with vinyl sides are at risk of being breached by tree roots. The siding will bulge as the root grows behind it, before eventually being pierced. In this scenario, tree removal is mandatory, and the root system will also need to be excavated. It cannot be left as-is, since it has already begun to compromise the pool's structural integrity, and some trees with an aggressive root system can continue to sprout even once the trunk, branches and foliage have been cut and removed.
A Delicate Task
Given the complexity of removing a tree in such close proximity to a swimming pool (largely due to the necessary excavation of the root system), it's best to contact a professional tree removal contractor. Delicacy is the key so that the tree can be efficiently removed without any further damage to the swimming pool, and what might seem like a simple DIY project can rather quickly lead to some expensive damage to your pool. A professional is unlikely to make such an error, and in any event, they're insured.
You will only want to swim with family and friends in your pool, so it's important that any stray tree roots don't try to join you.