Deck framed; tree saga part II

The deck is now framed! The posts are cedar, and the parts of frame that won't be seen are pressure-treated pine. The decking and railings will be cedar. The posts are a lot taller than they will be when the deck is done. That's primer on the French doors:


The Kiwis used the old 4-inch thick pavers from the front walk as the "pads" on which the deck is floated. They're really good about reusing materials. You can see the board just under the frame that delineates the 12' long staircase here:


Speaking of the front walk, the tree folks came on Friday to excavate around the tree so the foundation guys can get in legally to remove and replace the skirting on Monday. They used a powerful air "shovel" that does not cut the roots, and excavated around the tree the necessary distance for the foundation guys, but also went all the way around the tree to excavate its root crown for the tree's benefit.

First of all, here's a picture of what was up against the foundation skirting underground--a big mass of roots (the black paint is wound paint for all the cut roots). The tree guys' supervisor had to come by to give them permission to remove it. Double click on the picture to see it larger. Sorry about the glare:

After they removed that big mass of roots, the last piece of remaining asbestos was revealed! Hooray! As you can see, the tree has a beautiful base, which had been covered over decades with layer after layer of decomposing leaf matter that became soil. The root crown should be exposed like this for the long-term health of the tree:

You can really see the soil line in this next picture. I don't know if you can tell, but the root crown was buried about 12 inches underground!

The most important result of this all is that I'm going to have to put in a new front walk. The old one heads directly for what will now be exposed tree roots. I will also regrade the soil around the tree so it slopes gently to the new soil level at the base of the tree. This is the only unplanned expense so far in this project--the house has been blessedly on budget. This will be a very expensive project but worth it. The tree is a huge part of the house's value (more so even now that it has an elegant base!). I must graciously bow to the old tree and serve it well, for it's been around a lot longer than I have, and if I treat it well, hopefully it will outlive me too.