[pushkins]

Yep, sure is a thing called "girder root"....I found this for you
Re: Maple Trees
Thanks for all the help I received on line. I had an arborist come out this week and he showed me what he called a "girder" root that had wrapped around the base of the tree. Also he said that the tree would be dying because of this and I should have it removed. He came back the next day and took it out. I hated to lose it but we saved the other maple by deep root fertilizing it and trying to get the roots to go deeper into the ground. He said that maple trees have shallow roots and will extend out 3 times the circumference of the tree. Since the first tree was so close to the house it was probably better to get rid of it since the roots had almost reached the brick footing.

Hope this helps someone else who needs info on sugar maples!