This was our first view of the tree, as we stood in front, on the side closest to the main road.
When we drove on down Village Loop and looked back up at All Decked Out, this is what we saw. The tree was estimated to be about 70 feet tall and probably weighed about 2 tons. Notice the light-colored board under the lower deck. This is part of the reinforcing we had done in April 2008. Our tree man said this is what saved the deck, the hot tub, and possibly the whole cabin.
After surveying the exterior, we went down to the lower deck to take a look.
There it is - up close and personal! It's about a foot in diameter.
So what to do! Fortunately, Darren (our neighbor) came to the rescue again. He told us he knew a tree guy who could take the tree off the deck. Within a few days, Jerry and Darren showed up. Jerry tied everything off, ran a rope up to another tree on our corner, then through a pulley system over to a tree across the street. Then he just winched it up off the deck so he could cut it up and drop it.
When they were finished, the tree was down the hill in pieces. Our drain pipe was still intact, and there was no additional damage.
A few days later, we had the deck guy (Ray) come back with his structural engineer. They checked everything over and found NO structural damage. God is good! So we just have to fix the privacy screen and a little corner of the gutter. Apparently, the tree just laid over on the side of the cabin, then slid down the eave, clipped the gutter, and came to rest gently on the lower deck railing.
Oh - one other piece. The same windstorm that brought down the tree also took a bunch of shingles off the roof. I'm meeting our insurance adjuster on Wednesday to see what they will cover. Then we'll proceed with repairs and All Decked Out will once again be not QUITE so "all decked out!"
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