It looks like the root is far enough out that it would not be too difficult to remove, other than the obvious elbow grease. Judging from the size of the tree, and knowing that the root system of that tree is profuse and that removal of that one root is unlikely to do any major damage, I wouldn't hesitate to chop that puppy out. I would probably wait until the tree is dormant so that when it leafs out in the spring it can adapt to any root loss.

What do you other tree peeps think? Being a maple, I know what ken will say...

Looking at the size of the tree and age of the house, if the presence of roots near the house (that root in particular) was going to cause problems, you'd have noticed it ~15 years ago.

We have a healthy 130 year old Silver Maple a mere 10' from our 115 year old house. We worry about falling limbs but the roots have never been an issue and at this point, probably never will be.

It doesnôt seem to be any damage done to the house yet so I donôt know how much harm that root can do. Sometimes I think people overreact when it comes to tree roots. As long as it stay out of the septic pipes it should be fine.

Check the inside of your foundation. Tree roots can enter the smallest crack when they are small and thread-like. Threafter they gradually expand in diameter and can do serious damage. If your foundation is concrete with brick above grade, chances are good that no roots have been able to penetrate. Block or completely brick foundations are far more vulnerable to intrusion.

If you want to do something about the root in the photo, you do not need to remove the whole thing - a back breaking project with the potential to do damage as you wrest it out of the ground. Instead, cut the root in two places to leave a gap between the two cut ends. Both sides of your foot in the photo would be fine. Place copper impregnated fabric like that which is used in root control bags around the cut end on the tree side. This will keep the root from resprouting. There are also root control landscape fabrics and I don't see any reason why a piece of copper flashing or copper window screening wouldn't work as well.

Thank you all for your responses. It is a cinder block foundation and I haven't seen any roots in laundry room. The tree probably has been there as long as the house - 1970 - and has lifted the sidewalk a little bit and the driveway.

I suspect the root was drawn there due to the overflow from the gutters. Since I've moved in 8 years ago, I've replaced the gutters and they rarely overflow now. Maybe that will prevent the root from further growth, but I will probably do what akamainegrower has suggested and at least splice it.