Are norway spruce roots a problem for foundations or pipes?
Shallow and broadly spreading, which is why it wants mulch instead of turf mowed to the trunk, though those wide laterals are also why it is noted as unusually wind-firm. In a subdivision the practical consequence is that the root plate lifts and cracks an adjacent sidewalk or drive edge long before it ever bothers a sewer lateral, and the surface root mat makes growing grass underneath a lost cause.
Size drives root spread
60-100 ft tall by 25-40 ft wide is realistic in central Indiana, adding up to 3 ft a year when young, and it can pass 100 years in a windbreak. Big, tall, long-lived, and almost always planted too close to something — mature Norway spruce sits in the upper removal cost bracket, especially when the whole crown has to come down in pieces over a fence or roof.
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