Are you sure they are sugar maples? Not that common a species here in the PNW. If they are sugar maples, 20 years old is just barely out of their teens for a tree that can live into the 100's, and not a valid reason to have them removed.

As to a close proximity to a structure, as long as the trees are structurally sound and the canopy high enough not to interfere with the siding or the roof, there is really not a pressing issue nor any immediate need for removal. The PNW is home to many very large growing native tree species - Doug firs, western red cedars, bigleaf maples, madrones, etc. - and in more suburban/rural settings, these are sometimes sited very close to structures, either intentionally or because the house was built to accommodate their existing placement. Again, if the tree is in sound health, there is generally no issue. I have a 60'+ Doug fir growing within 15 feet of my house and it's been there longer than the house has!

The other issue is that if you have these trees removed, it will be many years - possibly even decades - before replacements grow sufficiently tall enough to provide the shade you are looking for.

Thanks for your insight. According to two arborist, they are sugar maples. I'm going to attach a few pics to show you (the first is the sugar maple to the left of our house and the second is the view of the maples on the side). I see lots of homes in the area with large trees planted close to the home, even gigantic cedars right up against a house. I love trees and I love the look of trees surrounding a home, my concern is roots damaging the foundation over time.

"my concern is roots damaging the foundation over time."

And that seems to be a concern of many with trees planted in close proximity :-) But it is rarely a reality. As long as your foundation is structurally sound - no cracks, no crumbing, no subsidence - tree roots do not damage the foundation. When they hit a solid obstruction, they just change direction.

The only concern I see from these photos are the tree canopies coming in contact with the siding and the roof. And that is really more of a concern for the trees than it is the house.......

at the end of the day, large trees overhanging a house boils down to your tolerance of risk...the PNW is not a part of the country particularly beset by stormy weather compared to a lot of other geographic areas.

However I would question what aesthetic or functional purpose are these trees serving? Is this the south side of the house and the assumption is that they would provide shade on hot days, a benefit for often non-air conditioned houses in the PNW? Quite frankly I find them ugly, myself. There's no artistry whatsoever to their form and branch structure. At best I suppose they will give some fall color...gardengal is far better able to discuss whether this species is suitable for that purpose in your climate. If they are sugar maples, they will eventually overgrow the side yard and be towering over the house. A single Japanese maple would have been more attractive and suitably scaled - again, in my very humble opinion.

Idk which roots found a way under our house, but they did.

Oops it would help if I read the entire original poster's post, wouldn't it? LOL. Time is tight these days.

So if they are for cooling and they serve in that purpose, well, they are what they are. Someone planting something relatively fast growing to provide that shading effect as quickly as possible. Such decisions can have consequences.

While I am one of the first to object to removing health trees, this is going to be an exception. While the trees are close to the house the biggest problem is not the house but the power lines. The power company has an easement for the lines that runs under the wires and beside your house. As your trees grow they will cut the trees to pieces to keep them out of the power lines. (From the second picture that will not be in too many years) You are eventually going to have some very misshaped trees that provide little shade that you want.

You definitely have a problem. Any thing that will provide shade on your house is going to be in the power lines, and you can not go out further from the house, because of the Street.

As I see it your only options are either to cut them down now, or later after they are trimmed to death by the power company.

I guess there is a third option. It is going to cost you several thousand dollars to remove the trees and keep them from hitting the power lines when they come down. If you talked to the power company it may serve you both better it you could pay them to bury the lines past your house.

good catch kr, I didn't even take note of the power lines

It looks like you are on an alley. I agree with the power line statement, not just the utility poles that will not ever move, but the feed to your meter. Going underground (for maybe $3K) would only pertain to your feed, the power poles will remain in the alley. You also have the rock retaining wall which the roots will eventually be pushing out.

AFAIK, Sugar Maples grow to ~60' tall with a ~40' spread. You cannot trim the understory canopy to 30' to clear your roof. Wrong tree, wrong space. Your pictures confirm what the arborist who visited said.

My first thought was that here in Missouri, I’d be lucky to have trees grown that far without the utility company butchering them. In fact, just last week the city came down my street slicing willy-nilly anything within 5 feet of a power line.

Maples have wide shallow roots ... for a tree that size, I would say if they were going to damage your foundation, they'd have already done it, and likewise with the stone retaining wall ... those roots are already under the pavement.

Those trees could certainly use some pruning, to help with shape/form, but the roots aren't an issue.

I do agree the biggest concern is the wires ... trees bumping electrical wires are potentially dangerous and even if there's isn't much threat, it will cause power fluctuation in your house (will seem like a brown out). We had to have some branches trimmed from our neighbor's tree because we had noticed our lights seemed to get dimmer when the branches would brush the line in heavy rain (just the tips, not going to bring the line down or anything). We called the power company, and they sent a tree company out to do a trim. ... no more dimming lights. This tree was not hacked, as it was just the ends of some branches on a very large, mature sugar maple, as it happens, but I have seen some horrible hack jobs on trees to let wires goes through the crown ...

The branches near the lines going to your house could use pruning ... ideally as part of regular pruning, which the tree needs, though not all tree companies may like working that close to the lines. How close are the trees getting to the overhead lines? It may be prudent to start thinking about that during regular pruning now if they haven't gotten to them, as you'll be able to plan for pruning in a way that doesn't result in a frankentree later when they are bigger and potentially closer to the lines.

We actually just got the trees pruned by a company a few months ago. The photos I put up were taken before they had been pruned. We make sure to keep the branches off the house and the tree company cleaned up branches that were by the powerlines.

It seems like there are varied opinions coming in. As I mentioned, they aren't the trees I would have chosen, but they do serve a purpose when it comes to privacy and shade. I'm hesitant to remove them because of this and I'm not sure what to replace them with. I know any thing we plant will take years to make an impact.

I think they're pretty. If you're willing to get them pruned yearly to keep them off the roof and safe from the utility company, keep 'em.