My next door neighbor had sewer line backed up in her garage. She brought in a plumber to snake it out. The plumber told her this back up is...

Question

My next door neighbor had sewer line backed up in her garage. She brought in a plumber to snake it out. The plumber told her this back up is caused by tree roots, but she does not have any trees.

She is in a center house with one neighbor having a big tree and my house which has two juniper trees (30 feet away).

Since I was out of town, the neighbor told the neighbor with the big tree closest to her pipes that their roots are blocking her pipes. So the neighbors agreed to bring in the plumber to break down her sidewalk, change the pipes and recement. She signed the contract.

However, the plumber say that it is from the juniper trees from the front of my house.

Who is responsible for payment if both tree roots are in the neighbor's pipe without the trees? If it were one neighbor's roots in the pipes, are they responsible? Is there any responsibility upon the neighbor who has no trees?

I do not want to make my neighbor's upset, but if you can give advice it would be helpful

Answer

The neighbors of the property with the clogged pipe are not responsible at all, not you, nor the other neighbor with the big tree. And I've never heard of a plumber who can tell where the roots are coming from.