Biobarrier® Protects Building Foundations

Trees are valued for their beauty, shade and pollution-fighting characteristics.  However, when they’re close to a building, whether it’s a home, office, medical, industrial or another commercial facility, they can cause problems.

In their search for water, tree roots grow underneath foundations.  This water consumption causes subsidence and soil heaving. The problem is pronounced in soils with a high clay content. As trees drain the water from the soil, the soil contracts, which can cause strain on the foundation. This often leads to cracks and splits.

The product that has proven effective for preventing tree root damage to sidewalks, parking lots, foundations and roadways is Biobarrier®.

Biobarrier is designed to be placed between tree roots and the building’s foundation. Guaranteed for 15 years, Biobarrier is made of a geotextile fabric with permanently attached nodules containing trifluralin. The nodules are engineered to slowly release the trifluralin, which creates a two-inch vapor zone on either side of the fabric.

Because trifluralin prevents root tip cell division, when a root reaches the zone, it will cease to grow or grow away from the zone.  Trifluralin is not systemic, so it is not taken into roots.  Used in agriculture for more than 30 years, trifluralin does not migrate, decomposes in the soil quickly and has a toxicity less than that of table salt or aspirin.

Biobarrier has a number of advantages that make it the optimum choice for foundation protection:

• Porous fabric allows water, air and nutrient movement in the soil and doesn’t interfere with soil hydrology.
• Water solubility is 0.3 ppm, so it is very unlikely to leach.
• Geotextile fabric means that it is easy to install no matter what the configuration.
• Reduces maintenance and saves money in the long-run.
• Easy to install in new construction or retrofit around existing facility.