Thanks again for your continuing thoughts. The lot in question is an acre in the city with an old house with much "deferred maintenance ". The old lady died in her late eighties and many of the trees were planted when she was a girl. The only thing holding up the house is the termite tubes. The project has not even left the CAD program. We are seeking out as much information as possible from as many sources as possible. Both arborists were professional and certified. The balloon analogy was an exaggeration but his view was extreme. I respect his opinions because he was obviously a true tree lover and I can relate to that, but he lacked practcality. He did suggest bringing material onto the property with a large crane to avoid driving over the roots. Every house in this area has driveways running within inches of large trees. Most of the would be arbutus but there are some redwoods as well. His contention was that such a driveway would kill the trees although local practice would tend to suggest otherwise. On our property we have several large arbutus by the street. Back from there are the old ornamental shrubs, many of which are so old they have been pruned into trees. There is a pittosporum well over thirty feet. Crepe myrtle, strawberry tree and others of the same vintage. There are New Zealand tea roses that have a trunk more than six inches in diameter. While I certainly concede that it is easier to cut down and then replant the beauty of this place is the mature trees and realistically I doubt we will be here more than ten years at the most. No where near enough time for planted trees to mature to anything approaching the beauty of what is here. The plan for the house at the moment is a kind of right angle z. At one time the design featured cut outs to accommodate the existing trees. That has since been modified as it seems most people are afraid to have trees close to there house. Personally i feel i can always build or repair a house. I can't build a tree. Much of the house will be on the same foot print as the old one but due to local design requirements the garage must be attached to the house which forces a very long hallway/ sunroom leading back to the garage area. It will probably end up as a kind of greenhouse. I did briefly consider designing it with an atrium around the biggest of the crepe myrtles but in addition to circumscribibg the roots I don't think it would get enough light. And just one more complicating factor 6 of these beautiful old trees are within 4 feet of the existing house. At the time this was built it seems that pouring the foundation on the ground was acceptable. That being said it seems to be surprisingly crack free even though the roots must criss cross the whole thing. Apparently to move them will require carefully tearing down the house and then trying to move them. I am not sure this is possible let alone practical. My current plan will be to sink metal posts roughly at the drip line of the most at risk trees, then fence them in. So a question after all this rambling. For the most part any roadway / driveway to be used by the crews will be constrained and I will cover it with a thick layer of chips (as suggested here) in areas where it is practical should I encourage vehicles to take different paths?

You're certainly right about the brittle stems, buyorsell. Of course, this is not what I WANT to do! I want to salvage the year. So, unless someone else has another idea, I'm off to clip those babies down -- as soon as it stops raining long enough for me to venture outside. Many thanks.

Sorry it took so long. I spend all week working on the house, come home an weekends: We think we'll like the stained concrete, but will still have to buy area rugs. Our main reason for going with it was our two dirty dogs. My advice is too research well who does the staining, see some of their work, and check them with the Better Business Bureau. Here, the field is still pretty new, and experienced guys are hard to find. You can get a feel in talking to them who knows what they are doing. The stainers will need two days with no one else inside the house. The best time to do it is before the drywall is done, that way they can get the stain all the way up to the walls with ease. Before they come out, get in there and clean the slab as best you can. Shop vac it, and try to clean water stains, etc, as they can show thru. The initial concrete work, condition of the slab all helps in the uniformity. Afterward, they will probably put the cardboard down. Its very important. Even though it has a hard finish, the abuse of dirt, sawdust, ladders, tools, would be just too much. After the drywall, get in there and shopvac again, or replace the cardboard. I shopvac'd then replaced it all when we finished with the closets, trim, etc because the dust and crap was unbelievable. Sadly, I'm too dumb to figure out how to add the picture, will try to contact you to email.

Some polyurethanes have minimums (all have minimums - you have to find the document that states what that is). I sell a "fast drying" polyurethane (full cure in 5 days....that's almost as fast as it gets). Rugs and FULL USE are allowed after 5 days. That's 23 days SOONER than the polyurethane mentioned above. And even with that, we tell EVERYONE: wait 5 FULL DAYS before covering up with Ram Board. Anything you put down over your fresh poly = potential to "dry into the finish". It's like paining your windows shut! Very annoying and can require COMPLETE REDO. Read the documents. Call the manufacturer if you are unsure. There are so many versions of "fast dry" that I could just choke. Each has their own requirements. I normally like to see the "wait" time for Ram Board to be the same amount of time as "furniture" or "rugs". Which could mean you are waiting MUCH longer than you could imagine. Find out from the manufacturer. And find how how to manage the covering (is it allowed to be taped down? With what? For how long? Do you need to remove the covering after X amount of hours to continue the cure process?).