Will these hedges grow roots that can crack my foundation or damage my pipes if planted to close to the house.
Them being kept pruned down and/or crowded into a hedge you do not get the same situation as with a large solitary (unrestricted) specimen pressing against a nearby foundation. Roots grow into pipes only when those pipes are leaky. Except maybe where pipes cross near the bottom of, again, a large tree and as its root flare enlarges over time the pipes are lifted by the increase in girth of the basal portions of the roots.
