the term is TOPPING ...

and there arent many of us.. who approve of such ...basically you are opening huge wounds at height.. and eventually those wounds will lead to rot and trouble ... of course this all happens in tree time.. which is counted in decades ...

perhaps there are other solutions ....how about a few pix .. so we can see the situation ... and perhaps make some suggestions ...

ken

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=TOPPING+trees&t=ffcm&ia=web

ps: mom had a 50 year old maple 8 feet from the house.. that dad refused to deal with ... and at 80 years old.. after he was gone.. a huge branch fell on the house.. right above her bed ... and destroyed the roof ... and some interior plaster ... but she took it all in stride ... luckily the house was habitable ... so we didnt have to deal with moving her around ... it was the storm of storms ...

You can reduce the height somewhat without topping. I would consult a certified arborist (look for ISA certification on website) and see what can be done. The deadwood can certainly be removed. I have a couple of ancient oaks and this spring I had major work done on them to make them more attractive, safer and to reduce chances of breakage. It involved removing dead branches, shortening branches that had too much load on them and some cabling. Not cheap, but worth it.

I previously had someone chop down a huge maple tree that got damaged after a storm but didn't get the stump & roots removed. Well it has now grown back into a new healthy tree. The other smaller maple didn't grow back. Maybe it depends on the age and size/diameter?

Another option is to take them all out and replant better trees, but it is expensive and well, the current trees are pretty healthy.

Taking either some or a lot off the top just damages the trees without eliminating the problems they are causing. And adds the problems that will result from the shortening of "mature" trees. Including poorly attached re-growth breaking off later.

Which brings up another point - if you have them cut back and then allow them to grow back to their original height - as so many people do - what has been accomplished? Are you instead going to pay to have them re-topped over and over, into the future?

@Sara Malone Zone 9b do you mind me asking how much it cost?

@Embothrium the plan is to not allow them to grow back to their original height. From what I read, many trees won't grow back taller if their leader branch are gone. They'll only spread their branches wider.

I would estimate about $3000 for two enormous trees. Took a full day for a large crew, with the arborist on the ground, guiding them. For perspective, this is about 1/3 of the crown of one of the trees:

See what an arborist says