Fence Installation in Lake Oswego, OR
Cedar & Composite Fencing. Posts Set in Concrete. Protected Trees Mapped Before Digging. Free Estimates. Licensed OR #241979.
There is a Douglas fir on the lot line. Say its trunk is 30 inches across at chest height. Lake Oswego's tree code, Chapter 55, protects trees, and its definition of "removing a tree" is broader than cutting it down. Removal, the code says, includes "damage inflicted upon a root system by application of toxic substances, operation of equipment and vehicles, storage of materials, change of natural grade due to unapproved excavation or filling, or unapproved alteration of natural physical conditions." A post line bored through that fir's roots with an auger is equipment operating and excavation happening, and under that definition it can count as removal whether or not anyone meant it.
A fence in Lake Oswego, then, is designed around the trees on the line before anything else, and VResh Construction builds it that way.
What the code says, and what it does not
Chapter 55 reaches any tree 6 inches in diameter at breast height or larger; it "does not apply to the removal of trees less than six in. DBH." It defines removal as above. And where a tree protection plan is required, which happens when a building or development permit is pulled, it defines a tree protection zone as "the greater of: (i) the edge of the dripline... or (ii) one-ft. protection radius per inch of trunk DBH."
Two things the code does not do are worth saying plainly. A fence by itself does not require a tree permit, and a fence that needs no building permit does not trigger the protection-plan requirement. So the zone is not a rule a fence has to obey. It is the city's own measure of how far a tree's roots reach, and VResh borrows it as the design radius for a post line, because a root damaged by a post hole can be a removal under that definition whether or not a plan was ever required. For the 30-inch fir, that is a circle 60 feet wide, with the fence line through the middle.
Any city fence height or setback rule applies separately from Chapter 55, and VResh checks for the address.
What the circle does to a post line
Inside a protected tree's radius, VResh treats each post hole as a question.
Move the post: Post spacing can flex. Shifting a post along the line to miss a surface root is the simplest and most common solution.
Span the tree: Where a tree sits close to the line, the panel is lengthened to bridge the root flare with a post on either side, and the fence passes the trunk without a hole beside it.
Dig by hand where a hole has to go in: Not with an auger inside the radius. A hand-dug hole that meets a substantial root stop, and the post moves.
Keep the concrete in the hole, and carry the excess off rather than dump it beside the post.
Stage material on the driveway: The definition names storage of materials as a way roots get damaged; the cedar and the concrete bags stay off the root zone.
The estimate lists each protected tree on or near the line, its diameter, the radius drawn from it, and what the post line will do about it.
The tree inventory
Before VResh quotes a Lake Oswego fence, the line is walked, and every tree within reach of it is measured at chest height. Trees under 6 inches are noted and set aside. Trees at 6 inches and above get a radius from the larger of the dripline or the diameter rule, and the post line is laid over the radii. Where a tree on the line belongs to the neighbor, its roots cross onto your side, and its radius is drawn anyway, because damage to a neighbor's tree is a neighbor problem before it is a code problem.
Hedges get walked too. Many Lake Oswego lot lines carry a laurel or arborvitae hedge, and a fence set inside a hedge is set inside its roots. Hedge stems below the 6-inch threshold are not protected trees, but they are the other reason a post line here is walked before it is dug.
Serving Portland Metro Area
VResh Construction provides window replacement, siding installation, roofing, dry rot repair and full exterior renovation services throughout the Portland metro area and Southwest Washington.
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Southwest Washington
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Fence questions from Lake Oswego, OR
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We have a wealth of experience working as main building contractors on all kinds of projects, big and small, from home maintenance and improvements to extensions, refurbishments and new builds.
Five to 10 years, in writing
Every VResh fence carries a workmanship warranty of five to 10 years. A Lake Oswego fence designed around its trees also carries the inventory showing how, and both go in your file with the estimate in writing. Call or text (503) 272-6436.