The Holiday season is upon us!  And while my crew and I are feverishly working to complete our 2012 projects before winter settles in for good, I thought this might be a good time to address all of you who may be thinking about moving forward on a landscape construction project for 2013.

Having run a business for more than 12 years now, I’ve seen new leads and clients of all types.  Some people have a firm idea of what they want.  Maybe they’ve even already had a plan drawn up by an outside landscape designer or architect.

Others have a rough idea of what they’re looking for.  “We want a new patio to expand our outdoor living space,” they begin, “but we’re really not sure of where it should go or how big it should be.”

Others still have no idea where to begin.  “We need to do something with this mess of a yard, but what?”

For the folks that already have a plan in place, great.  Kudos to you for having gotten this far.  But for the second two groups, I’d like to offer a few ideas to help get your project off the ground.

These are questions that I always like to ask and get clients to consider during the planning phases. Remember, your yard is a personal retreat, and everybody’s needs and desires are going to be different.  But each of these ideas is at least something that needs to be considered before moving forward.
 
With no further ado, 10 things to think about when planning your new yard:

1.  How do you use your yard?  What about your current yard works for you?  What doesn't?

2.  Do you have kids?  Do your kids play in the yard or are they more apt to play at the neighbors' or the neighborhood park?

3.  Do you have pets?  Do your pets need a contained space for them to play freely?

4.  Do you entertain?  If so, are we talking small family or neighborly get-togethers, or larger blowout parties?
 
5.  Do you like to garden?  Have you considered a vegetable garden?  Are you a hobby gardener who likes to get dirty and work with plants, or would you just prefer you had something low-maintenance and pretty to look at?

6.  Is privacy important?  Do you want to keep the outside world out, or would you prefer your yard blended seamlessly with the surrounding neighborhood?
 
 7.  Do you have a good sense of the sun/shade patterns of your yard?  Many new homeowners in particular are eager to get that new yard in, but what's sunny in February may be in full shade come August.  It's a good idea to get a full sense of the seasonal patterns of sun/shade before planning that dream yard.
 
 8.  Does the term "high-maintenance" scare you?  Do you mind getting dirty and pulling some weeds from that new walkway, or would you rather be hands-off and not have to deal with maintenance issues.
 
 9.  What is your ballpark budget?  It's unfortunate, but sometimes budget can get in the way of your ultimate objectives.  Be clear as to what you're willing to spend, and don't be afraid to make some revisions if it means a more realistic project.
 
 10.  Would you be opposed to breaking the project into phases?  Maybe you'll never be able to have that $50,000 landscape installed, but if you have an ultimate long-term goal, at least you can work towards your goals without having to rip things out as you move forward.  A small patio that can be expanded down the road is certainly better than nothing at all.

Just a few things to think about as you start to brainstorm.  Happy planning!

Like any successful home improvement project, there are many steps to a successful hardscaping project.  As documented in my recent hardscaping series, those steps begin with the planning and product selection and run through the entire installation procedure, ending with the final clean-up.

One of the final steps in any wet-set project is the final acid wash-down, which is what I’d like to focus on for this week’s post.

I won’t get into details on the entire wet-set installation process, as I’ve documented that process in previous posts.  But once the bulk of the installation is complete, there is one final step to achieve the final desired results, and that is the final acid wash.

The wet-set procedure, as previously stated, involves setting the stones atop a concrete slab in a bed of mortar.  And if you’ve ever worked with mortar before you know it can be messy and involves a fair amount of clean-up as the process unfolds.  The stones are set in the mortar bed and the joints between the stones are “pointed”, or filled in with mortar to achieve a continuous surface.

But as the stonework is pointed, a chalky white residue is left behind even after the bulk of the mortar has been cleaned up and finished.  And that chalky residue can seriously detract from the true look and color of the natural stones.

So how does that white residue get cleaned up?  That is where the acid wash-down comes in.

Once the entire patio or walkway is complete, and all the mortar has had time to set for at least a few days we wash down the entire surface of the new installation with a very mild acid wash.  There are a number of acid wash products available, however we like to use Prosoco Sure Kleen 600 Wash.  This is an easy-to-use, relatively mild acid wash that lifts the white chalky residue off the stones and brings out the true look and color of the stones.  

Simply wet down the surface, dilute the solution with water – usually about a 6-to-1 ratio of water to acid, but sometimes slightly stronger depending on the degree of residue – and lightly scrub off the residue.

As the acid solution is applied to the surface you will see some minor bubbling and sudsing as the acid wash reacts with the alkaline film.  As it reacts it lifts the white stains off the stones and can be rinsed off quite easily with one final rinse-down.  Some light scrubbing assists the process along and helps to clean some of the small nooks and crannies of textured stones. But fear not – this is not heavy elbow grease, just some light scrubbing to assist the process along.  Once the entire surface is cleaned and rinsed, and the surface has time to dry you will see a noticeable difference as the true look of the natural stones returns.

A few quick other notes --  the acid wash should not be in lieu of cleaning up the mortar as the stones are installed.  As stated, the 600 wash is a mild cleaner, designed to be environmentally friendly and relatively harmless to adjacent plants or lawns.  But because of its mild formula it won’t remove large mortar chunks that have adhered to the stones or were left uncleaned while the mortar was still soft.  Joints and stones should still be finished appropriately during the installation and sponged off as much as possible.  The wash is simply designed to lift the remaining chalky film.

And yes, other cleaners are available.  For those of you familiar with masonry installation, you may be familiar with the traditional muriatic acid cleaner.  And if you’re familiar with muriatic, then you know it can be nasty stuff.  Many safety precautions need to be taken with muriatic, as it can burn through skin, clothing, and even buckets if not mixed properly.  And the fumes can be quite harmful if not used in a well-ventilated space.

And while some basic safety precautions should still be taken even with the 600 wash, particularly if not diluted properly, it is quite mild and not nearly as hazardous to work with.  And if due diligence was adhered to during the main bulk of the installation, the 600 wash will achieve the desired results.  And you will be ready to enjoy your new hardscaping at its full beauty for years to come!

If you’re like me, then you’ll find it hard to believe that Thanksgiving is upon us.

Personally, it seems like only yesterday that we were gearing up for the 2012 season, preparing estimates, setting the project calendar for the year and preparing to knock out some really nice projects.

It’s still a bit too early to recap the entire season – we’re still hard at work on some remaining projects before the winter arrives.

But Thanksgiving is a welcome opportunity to pause, take one deep breath before the final push of the season, and spend some quality time with friends and loved ones.

There’s a number of things that I really like about Thanksgiving as a Holiday, mostly centered around the four F’s– Food, Family, Friends and Football.  With the possible exception of the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving is perhaps the most American of Holidays, a holiday in which all Americans, regardless of age, religion, political leanings, or any other personal differences can all relax, enjoy quality time with loved ones and give thanks for what we have.  All with little pressure or financial expectations.

For our family personally, we celebrate the Holiday at home with my parents who live nearby.  The food preparation typically starts this weekend, culminating in an all-day gluttony of food on Thanksgiving Day.  In addition to the traditional turkey and fixings, we also supplement the food frenzy with my homemade crabcakes, mussels, fine fruits and cheeses, and of course the necessary assortment of pies.  Usually with some good wine and local craftbrews for those who care to partake. (Side note:  For craft beer lovers out there, I strongly recommend Dogfish Head’s Punkin Ale – an excellent seasonal brew from our brewing friends down in Delaware!)

And of course, no Thanksgiving weekend would ever be complete, at least not for us University of Michigan alumni, without the annual rivalry game between UM and Ohio State.  Go Blue!! (Another side note – we did a really nice patio project for a couple of OSU alums this summer.  So if you guys are reading this – you know who you are – I really enjoyed working with you and getting to know you better this summer, but I’m going to have to do some OSU bashing this weekend!  It’s in my DNA and I wouldn’t be true to myself if I didn’t. But we can still be friends once the game is over! – Just not this weekend!)

Anyway, whatever your traditions, and whatever college team you root for (even OSU, I guess…) I hope everybody has a great Turkey Day.  Happy Thanksgiving!

So you’re thinking about a hardscaping project, eh?  Well you’ve come to the right place.

Over the past several weeks, I’ve highlighted many of the choices and options that need to be made in conjunction with planning your hardscaping projects. And to wrap things up on my hardscaping series this week, I’d like to summarize the basic choices that need to be made in an easy reference list format.  

Are these all the choices that need to be made?  Of course not – there are always plenty of options on any home improvement project.  But this will serve as a quick overview of the basics and will hopefully get you thinking in the right mindframe.  
 
So here goes:  Five basic things to consider when planning your hardscaping project:

1.  Size.  So if you’ve made it to the point where you’re surfing the web looking for ideas, then you most likely have a rough idea of what you want, or at least why you need something done.  The first question I always ask my clients is how do you intend on using your new outdoor living space?  Are you simply looking for a nice quiet  spot to read the Sunday paper and drink some coffee?  Maybe a table for two and a couple of chairs?  Then a small 100 to 150 square foot area will do the trick.  Family dinners and small get-togethers?  Then you probably want something in the 300 to 400 square foot range.  Larger blow-out parties?  Then you’re probably looking for something in the 600 square foot range or even bigger.

2.  Location.  If grilling and entertaining are on your to-do list, then you’ll probably want that patio to be in close proximity to the house/kitchen.  If a shady refuge is your goal, then you’ll probably want the new space in the shade (duh?).  If it’s a walkway you’re  looking for, then just what are you looking to access.  Don’t fight the natural traffic patterns.  If you find yourself always walking in the same spot, then why build a walkway in another spot where it won’t get used much.

3.  Materials.  This is where things can get tricky.  First, there’s the deck vs. patio question.    Assuming you go the patio route, then there’s flagstone, pavers,  brick, or concrete to consider.  For  a deck there’s wood vs. composite vs. PVC to consider.  If you go the flagstone route, there’s  irregular vs linear patterns to consider.  There’s also dryset vs. wetset to consider.  Or natural cleft vs. thermal finish.  And for pavers, which style, color or pattern are you considering?  Does the man-made paver option look kind of out of place next to your natural stone home?  Does the introduction of bricks to the design clash with the stucco and wood design of the house?  Does the bluestone patio look out of place next to a Mica Schist foundation?  Perhaps these aren’t issues for you, but it’s at least worth looking into.  
 
4.  Drainage and Grading.  While the water runoff, stormwater management, and grading alone shouldn’t dictate your  decision on some of the earlier choices listed above, the grading plan should at least be taken into consideration, as it could affect  costs.  Make sure the new space doesn’t create new problems with your existing drainage plan.  If accommodations need to be made for drain lines, downspout pipes, or French drains, now’s the time to make sure your whole hardscaping plan will work together.

5.  Softscaping.  The installation of your outdoor living space should take place at least with you having a rough idea of what you want when it comes to plantings.  If  you’re thinking about planting some trees with the intention of them growing into nice size shade trees, then the hardscaping layout should account for root growth.  If you want to soften the appearance of your hardscaping, then make sure your hardscaping design allows for some bedding areas up against the house.  If your prize rose or holly collection is important to you, then leave enough space off of walkways and traffic areas where people won’t be continuously snagging their nice clothes on rose thorns.  The  plantings don’t necessarily need to happen in conjunction with the hardscaping install, but at the very least a plan should be in place.

These are just a few of the many decisions that you’ll need to think about before you start that hardscaping project.  Indeed, there are a number of other more detailed choices that will need to be made based on some of the basic choices listed above.

For a free consultation (it never costs anything just to talk), give us a call and we can started.  And honestly, once the conversation begins the choices usually become pretty straight-forward.

I know I promised everybody that I would post my summary conclusion to my recent hardscaping series this week, but sometimes life throws you a curveball or two, and ol' Mother Nature certainly threw a mean Barry Zito-esque curveball this week with the arrival of Hurricane Sandy.  To my loyal readers who were eagerly awaiting the conclusion post, fear not -- I'll post it for sure next week -- but I needed to step away this week to address the recent devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy.

According to the stormtracker maps I've seen, the eye of the storm passed a mere five miles from our home, right through the heart of Delaware County.  Thankfully, we're far enough inland that the storm had lost some of its gusto by the time it arrived in ol' Delco, but that's certainly not to say that its impact wasn't felt.

The eye technically hit around 8 pm on Monday evening, but the storm started rolling through Sunday afternoon.  By Sunday evening we knew we were in for a doozy, school had been called off for Monday and Tuesday, the stores were cleared out of the basic essentials, and everybody was prepared to hunker down.

Wind gusts reached about 70 mph as the eye rolled through Delco.  Strong, sure, but not nearly as bad as it could have been.  As the eye approached we watched the excitement from our front windows, occasionally even braving it by stepping out briefly on our front porch.  As bright greenish hue lights flashed in the sky, we at first thought it was lightning accompanying the storm, only later to find out that it was explosions of electric power transformers as people's power went out.

Thankfully, somehow or other our power never went out.  The same can't be said for everybody in our area.  We were a minority for sure.  PECO is reporting some 800,000 customers in the Delaware Valley alone who went without power for some period of time -- my parents who live a few miles from us were without power from Monday evening until Wednesday afternoon.

That picture up above?  That's about a block from my son's school, and that would be the reason school was also called off for Wednesday.  No power = No school.  The picture was actually taken on Thursday evening, and as you can see the tree that originally fell and took out the telephone pole had been cleaned up, but PECO was still monitoring the safety of downed wires as they awaited the crews to restore power.  (The school ended up cranking up the emergency generators for Thursday, limited power but better than nothing.  I guess they realized those kids needed to get out of the house!!)

From a work perspective, we're currently working on a retaining wall project with modular block units.  I made a point on Friday as the storm approached to make sure we were at a point where our work wouldn't be washed out.  Lower courses had been installed in advance of the storm and backfilled with gravel, but still I was a little nervous about just how much clean-up would be necessary after the storm.

Thankfully once again, the damage was minimal.  Sure the site was strewn with sticks and leaves, but no mudslides or washouts -- everything held up just fine. 

The biggest impact that I felt work-wise was the loss of one of my employees who is an Army Reservist.  Last Friday Russ was texted and alerted me that he was being deployed in advance of the storm to help with clean-up and emergency rescue as necessary.  When I texted him on Tuesday he told me that he would be out the remainder of the week and he wouldn't be home until this weekend.  I don't have details as to exactly what he has been doing, but I know there is plenty of opportunity for him to help out across the state.

And Halloween?  Well its relatively minor in the grand scheme of things, but as my kids heard the storm was approaching, they began chanting "Go away Sandy, we want candy!!"  Our town ended up having Halloween as usual, but many local municipalities ended up pushing back the trick-or-treating until the weekend, helping to keep police and fire personnel available for clean-up and rescue.

All things considered, we got lucky.  Personally, no power outages, property damage, or any other losses.  Across Delaware County... ? Sure there were plenty of downed trees, power outages, and even some small creek flooding.  But nothing too devastating.

No the real devastation was along the coastal areas, particularly the Jersey Shore.  The storm first made landfall right at Atlantic City.  And while the storm was technically listed as either a Category 1 or a "Post-tropical" storm (whatever that means), the real impact was felt not by the winds or the rainfall, but rather by the tidal surge in conjunction with the strong full moon tides.  Parts of the Jersey shore were completely wiped out -- boardwalks, fishing piers, homes, and businesses wiped away to nothing.

We've spoken with a few friends and neighbors who have Shore houses, and some don't have any clue as of yet as to the state of their properties.  And they're hearing it will be at least a week until they will be allowed to check them out. 

Our thoughts and best wishes are with everybody who has been impacted by the storm.  The best and most important news is that everybody stayed safe and human injuries were few.  And a special thanks and shout-out to all of our emergency personnel, whether you're a fireman, police officer, EMT, Reservist, National Guard, power crew, municipal worker, or any other professional working to keep us safe and as comfortable as possible.  Thank you!

We'll be back next week with the conclusion to my hardscaping series.