By
eHow Home & Garden Editor
Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Things You’ll Need:
- Deck design
- Joists
- Posts
- Deck flooring
- Guardrails
Step1
Design your deck with the native location of the tree in mind from the very beginning. This will help you lay out your joist and beam grid in a way that will not cross the location of the tree. Remember that certain codes, as well as the materials being used for the deck, may not allow you to skip an entire joist to provide for the tree. You may need to add in additional posts, allowing the joist to stop on one side of the tree and then to continue on the other side.
Step2
Build around the native tree, allowing it to penetrate the deck flooring. To keep your deck looking consistent, you will want to surround the tree with a flooring design as if the tree was not there. In other words, the boards will match up on all sides of the tree.
Step3
Stop fastening the deck flooring a few feet before the edge of the hole for the tree, just as if it was the final edge of the deck. This will help keep you from having to lay split boards on the edges. Measure the distance from the last boards and divide that number by the width of the flooring boards, plus the standard gap distance. You can adjust the gaps between the boards to make room for a whole board around the tree.
Step4
Consider that the native tree is a living thing and will continue to grow even after you surround it with your deck. Leave plenty of space around the tree to allow it to grow happily in girth for as long as the deck remains around its trunk.
Step5
Use the tree as a major design element in your deck by building benches around the opening for the tree or even adding a swing attached to the tree if it is strong enough.
Step6
Surround the opening of the tree with guardrails if you choose not to add other decorative elements. Leaving the surrounding space open creates a hazard for anyone who uses the deck, particularly children and pets.
Step7
Remove any birdhouses, birdfeeders or other features that may encourage wild animals to congregate over your deck flooring. The acids in bird droppings can strip away any protective coating you have on your deck and expose it to the weather.
