Some of your photos are a little too close-up which makes it hard to grasp the context. What's certain is that the excavation needs to be somewhat larger than the finished product and then backfilled. I wouldn't label this overzealous grading. It requires a little extra room to perform the construction. So you see the maximum extent of space you have to build a patio. But there's nothing to stop you from shrinking it if you desire. However, thinking that putting dirt back around a tree is somehow equivalent to putting roots back is just not accurate. An amputation cannot be undone. Putting dirt back will make no difference. In spite of that, the tree will re-grow some roots as that's what they do. The ultimate patio size is a factor of desire and space available, but as patios go, it certainly doesn't look too large. Neither does it look like the ret. wall will be abnormally tall. Its curved shape will add strength. It will be stepping or sloped down in some way to generally follow the earth so it's highest section will not extend for great width. Its height is a balancing act between the patio elevation and the surrounding soil levels. Calculate these out and adjust them as you see fit. Raise the patio too much and you will be filling the bottom end or shrinking the patio size. Lower it and you'll be creating a taller retaining wall. Balance and moderation are the key. As I look at the pictures, I don't see anything that can't be worked out to a decent conclusion... if the right design decisions are made along the way. If this were my yard, I'd prefer the appearance of a nicely detailed mortared stone wall, but that requires more skill and higher cost material than the kind of block you're proposing. Therefore, it would be more expensive. But it would look better, too. What you decide on is a factor of cost vs. benefits as you see it. At the end of it all, it will be imperative that you establish groundcover capable of holding soil in place. This is a key to preventing erosion.

As a 9 year old kid in Elk City, OK in 1950, I met Tim Holt, Fuzzy Knight & Randolph Scott who were some of my favorite cowboy movie stars that made personal appearances at a local movie theatre. And, during our town's 50th. anniversary in 1951 I met & shook hands with Jess Willard who had been the Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the World, 1915-1919. He lived in my hometown during the early days & helped lay the bricks that paved Broadway St. and are still there and "in use" now in 2006! Moving ahead several years and after I had moved to PA...my wife & I saw Richard M. Nixon as he arrived by helicopter and dined at the then-famous Bookbinder's Restaurant in Philadelphia one evening while we were eating dinner there also. Then later, during the mid-1970's, we saw "The Duke" John Wayne in New York City getting out of his limousine and greeting the gathering crowd at Rockefeller Center. Guess that's about it... LarryD

Glad this old thread was resurrected... After reading it i'm sticking with a drop-in sink. They're not in style but with doing all the work myself, I prefer how easy it is to replace top mount sinks. And since going with a granite composite sink, I can imagine my heavy iron pans causing cracks or chips. Now I can safely bang the sink up while washing heavy pans without too much worrying. Worst case scenario is buying a new sink and dropping it in. That's waaaay easier than ripping out an under-mount in my slightly undersized sink cabinet.

@Laura Hoefer seems like your situation is not as bad as ours in terms of exposure. We didn't know about the windows and my kid's bed was right by them. He got exposed a lot with all the opening and closing. Plus the age doesn't help - he still puts everything in his mouth. If you decide to strip them yourself, I would advise to take a class on lead safety. That being said seems like it's a very complicated process and it might make the situation worse. There are some sealing paints for lead, but you'll still have to scrape the peeling paint off, which is dangerous. I'm going to strip only the 1st floor windows as it gets warmer (they are 8 ft tall so super expensive to replace), but we decided to replace the rest. Restoring is even more expensive if a professional is hired. Have you tried using professional lead cleaning products for lead to mop the floors? Maybe this will help reduce the exposure for your kids. It's all so scary. I'm scared that my kid will be permanently brain-damaged due to all of this :(