Hi,

Last year, a nice little native vine started to climb the brick of my house.

I thought it looked nice, so I let it grow on my house.

Based on the leaves, I am pretty sure it is Virginia Creeper.

This year, it has already reached the roof of my house (28ft), and it is growning vigourously, covering ~400sqft of the front of my house.

We think it looks pretty, but I am starting to be worried about the damage it can do to the brick and more importantly, the windows and the roof (just under roof line).

Should I be worried about such damage?

We kind of like the vine itself, but I don't want to damage the house.

Thanks,

Francois

PS Searching through this web site for Virginia Creeper, I found many posting from someone trying to kill it, but no posts on whether it might damage the house.

First congratulations on learning and practicing the art of the search. So many just post when a similar or identical thread lies just below theirs.

Second, I am one of the posters who is trying to irradicate Virginia Creeper from my lawn. I've not been too successful. OK, I've not been successful at all. When we moved to the house 10 years ago, the previous owner had allowed Virginia Creeper to cover most of the brick front of the house. Perhaps it was the ivy covered cottage look they were going for, or they had just given up on trying to keep it cut back. The vine had grown up the chimney and was growing inside the chimney, not a good situation. It is my opinion that left unchecked this vine is invasive enough that it would damage the physical structure.

As for specifically harming your brick, I don't think it will cause any harm. It attaches itself with sticky "feet" which do not all come off withough vigorous scrubbing with a wire brush. If your windows are mulit-paned, it is invasive enough to breach the stripping between the panes.