Yet Another Project

Curtis writes:

Question: How do you eat an elephant?
Answer: One bite at a time!

Another multi-delay, over-budget project has been finished (at least, as soon as the grass starts growing).
From the day we moved in we knew we wanted a fence, check, and then a more functional back deck. It was a great size but basically served as a walkway from the garage to the back door. We couldn’t fit any patio furniture, as we would have to squeeze by it every time we came to/from the garage. The steps were also deteriorating and come to find out, not built correctly at all.

So as with most Cunningham projects we went from a simple “lets move the steps to the other side” to “might as well put in a walkway, retaining wall and stone steps to the side yard.” And since we live on a ever-sloping piece of land, all of that seemed to be twice the work.

Also in line with Cunningham projects, this was drawn out over eleven months as I had the end of a baseball season, an early freeze, a baby arrive and a new ball season begin.

So onto the pictures!

Before

July 2010 - New landing and steps - thanks Chris!

August 2010 - Demo and the start of excavating....all by hand, through clay and a nice surprise of a layer of gravel!

November 2010 - a big hole ready for the 8 ton of gravel

The pile - thanks Dean for helping move this pile into the hole! I was also lucky enough to be able to borrow multiple tools from work, including a plate compactor, which saved me a ton on tool rental fees. Thanks Tom and the Bats! You can also see my dad's truck that I stole for a couple months - thanks dad!

November 2010 - first course down (Redi-Scapes wall block). Each block was about 40 pounds each. By the end of everything I'm guessing I moved a small freight train in combined weight.

November 2010 - as far as I could get before the first freeze and subsequent snow. Note the drawing pad on the wall. I was basically going off of a sketch of Rachel's - not a to scale technical drawing but I guess I figured things out!

January 2011 - this little guy arrives and I don't think about decking, walkways, walls, work, anything for a while.

April 2011 - steps and caps are finished. Will pay someone else to do something like this next time - I am no good at angles, rise, run, etc.

May 2011 - Rachel and Abram went home to visit family while I had a long weekend of work. First, edging went down, then sand, then the paving stones (Mega Arbel from Belgardwhich weigh about 53 pounds each). I was beyond tired by the end of it. Word to the wise - go with a simple pattern, it will save you a lot of time and headache!

May 2011 - end day 1. It would take another two days to get all the cut pieces in.

May 2011 - all pieces in. Nice sunburn, constant ringing in my ears from the concrete saw and ready to clean up.

After

July 2011 - most recent picture. The grass is starting to grow back where I had to "re-slope" the yard and put in drainage tile. The first big rain we had after putting in the joint compound sand (and compacting again) deposited mud over a good portion of the walkway. The walkway was sloped correctly, but the yard wasn't.

So, next would be to stain the deck to match the original, build some planter boxes for the top of the wall, seal the walkway, maybe add some lighting and hopefully get some more grass to grow. While I complained throughout the project I did learn a lot and I'm glad I did it myself and more glad that it's over! I'll be happy to give anyone pointers but I believe my time hardscaping has come to a close.

Rachel writes:

...until we have enough money saved up to start on the front of the house! It's already been sketched!