tree is a bully

My husband has been sprucing up the screen porch. He has been re-staining the outside wood, and he has been shopping for a new grill for out there.

He also bought two new ceiling fans. The blades on the old ones were saggy and one of the light fixtures had gotten broken.

Eventually the whole structure will need to have some work done on it.  The concrete has heaved up inside - probably from the same tree root that has caused the pad to crumble here.

See how the two-by-four has been pushed forward?

There's the culprit. This big maple tree. When the porch was built the tree was much smaller. We never expected it to get so massive. 

Doesn't it look like the tree made a special effort to grow over to bump the deck railing?

You can see how the white vinyl strip that holds the screen has buckled out.

Here's how it looks at deck level. It is actually bending the gray metal floor...and nearly touching the railing.   

That's our new stain color there on the railing. Nice work, husband!

We definitely do not want to cut the tree down. It shades the house and the deck and screen porch in the broiling summer afternoon sun.

So, we aren't sure what to do except wait and see if it gets worse.

Maybe the tree has stopped growing? I hope so!