So last week I shared my top 5 hand tools that I couldn’t imagine doing what I do without having these tools
available.

And I promised a follow-up post highlighting my top 5 power tools.  Here you go.

Cordless Drills.  If I could only have one power tool, this would be it.  It seems like nearly every day, on nearly every job, this tool comes in handy for one task or another.  They’re relatively lightweight, easy to use without having to keep up with a power cord, can be used as a drill or a screwgun just by simply changing the bit, and hold a charge decently enough that you don’t need to worry too much about changing out the batteries.  Heck, I’ve even used it with a wire brush attachment to clean stone.  And I can’t possibly imagine building a deck or a fence without one of these bad boys.

Grinder.  While the cordless drill is perhaps the most used of all my power tools, the grinder is perhaps my favorite and perhaps most versatile.  Whether its cutting rebar, cutting stones, polishing stone, rounding edges on freshly cut pavers, or smoothing out unsightly or awkward bumps on stones, this is such a handy tool it’s ridiculous.  When we do irregular shaped flagstone patios, this guy inevitably gets a workout as we have to trim and cut stones to fit together.  And a whole lot of bang-for-the-buck too.  A decent DeWalt model runs about $70.  But be careful!  This is an exposed diamond blade designed for cutting stones. Imagine what it could do to your foot if you’re not careful.  And all the goggles/dust mask precautions should be taken as well.

Brick saw.  While the grinder is easy to use and carry around, the brick saw is a beast that takes two people to move around comfortably.  But the results for a bricksaw can’t be replicated, and if you’re cutting pavers you need one.  Unless you want to look like an amateur.  This is a wet saw designed to keep dust down and keep the blade cool for long durations of cutting.  The pump pulls water out of the attached tub and spits on the spinning diamond blade as it cuts.  When the day is done, the water in the tub is a mess of brick or paver slurry that needs to be cleaned thoroughly to avoid pumps or lines getting clogged with debris. Even the clean-up can take upwards of an hour.  But the results speak for themselves.  And when you’re enjoying your beautifully detailed paver patio, you’ll forget all about lugging the beast of a saw around or cleaning it up.

Plate Compactor.  Anybody who has ever installed a successful hardscape will tell you the money lays in the base prep. No matter how pretty all that stonework looks, be it manmade pavers or natural stone, it’s of little value if it can’t hold up over the test of time.  And the best way to ensure its longevity is to make sure the base prep is more than adequate.  A proper hardscape install will include a minimum of 4” compacted base rock.  And by compacted, I mean REALLY compacted.  That hand tamper may do fine for a few household DIY projects, but if you don’t get your base prep completely compacted, nature and time will take care of it for you.  Which means your patio will settle.  Not good.  
 
Every single hardscape job we do includes a base layer compacted with our handy plate compactor. I once described this to a client as a lead weight with a lawnmower engine attached.  It’s a little more than that, but run a plate compactor over loose gravel, add a little moisture, and you’ll see exactly how much gravel can compact. And if you still think your hand tamper is doing the job, try running the plate compactor over your handtamped gravel.  What do you know, it still had some more settling to go.  A valuable tool indeed.

Skill Saw.  If the grinder is the go-to tool for masonry, than certainly the skill saw wins the award for carpentry.  And even though any carpenter worth his weight in nails will have one in their arsenal, it’s not just for cutting wood.  Swap out the wood-cutting blade for a diamond blade, and you’re right in business for cutting bricks or stone.  A must-have for anybody in the trades.  Period.

So there you have it -- 5 must-have power tools if you're working in the hardscaping trades.  And like last week's hand tools, there are certainly some omissions on this list; Reciprocating saw (sawzall) and cut-off saw come to mind quickly off the top of my head.

What tools could you not get by without?

I don’t have to tell you that I have a lot of tools.  13-plus years of running my own landscape construction business will do that.  Over the years I’ve accumulated quite the collection.

Some tools are used on a near-daily basis; others sit idly like the 25th man on the bench waiting for his all-important pinch hit appearance.

But regardless of how much the tools get used, there is always a certain job that requires just the right tool for just the right job.  That one shining moment, at least as far as the tool is concerned.

A few months back, a stoneworking colleague of mine (Hi Matt!) wrote on his blog about the various types of trowels he uses on a regular basis, and how they are used.  I commented that if he were stranded on a dessert island and could only have one tool, what would it be?  (You’ll have to check his blog for the answer)  Which got me to thinking, what are my go-to tools?

In otherwords, if the tool police came and confiscated all my tools but a few, what would I really need? 
 
To simplify the list, I’ll break it into a two-part series.  This week I’ll focus on basic handtools, next week we’ll look at my power tools …

Shovels.  How could I not start the list with THE basic staple of the landscaping
business.  On any given job, no matter what we’re doing, we’ll have at least one round and one flat shovel on site per worker.  The round shovels are better for actual digging, the flat shovels better for scooping gravel or loose soil.  These things get used daily.  And the average lifespan in our industry is about two years.  When picking your shovels, I like the old school wood handles. Spend the extra few bucks for the higher quality.  It’s worth it.

Margin trowel.  This was my answer for my deserted island trowel.  This handy little 5” x 2” trowel is quite versatile, and works great for nearly any phase of mortar work.  And it fits quite nicely into my side pocket, which makes it all the more handier.  Another one of those tools where we pretty much have one for every worker.

Chisel hammer.  If you’re doing stonework, you need one of these. Period.  This is your basic regular-sized hammer, but instead of the crowbar claws on the back side of the hammer, there’s a 1” stone chisel.  Great for roughing up a freshly cut piece of stone, or splitting a piece of flagstone that’s been scored.  Save your carpentry hammers for what they’re intended for – carpentry.  If you’re doing masonry, this is your tool.

Wheelbarrow.  If you’re moving large quantities of, well, anything pretty much, you need one of these.  Or a few of these.  With a few caveats.  Like the shovels, buy the higher end ones.  The cheap-o’s will fall apart the first time you load them with stone or anything heavy.  I used to be able to get really nice solid metal-framed wheelbarrows when we lived in CA. That was 10+ years ago, and I still have one of my originals that is a key part of my fleet.  A few years ago I bought another one online that I thought was the same as my originals.  The design was the same, but the quality was greatly diminished.  It lasted maybe a year.  Maybe.

Most of the ones I see available today, even the so-called “heavy-duty” ones are wood framed.  Not bad for moving soil around, but if you plan on moving stone, mixing your mortar and/or concrete in the wheelbarrows, or using them to schlep loads of concrete during a pour, you can’t just keep your fingers crossed and hope for the best.  You need to know they’ll hold up.  Get the strongest ones you can find.  And don’t rely on the inflatable tires that come with most wheelbarrows.  Pay the extra $30 for a “flat-free” solid rubber tire. Even then, the bearings may eventually go, but you can’t be worried about flat tires when you're mid-concrete pour.

Digging bar.  Another really versatile tool that gets used almost daily.  Whether it’s prying up stone or chunks of concrete, loosening up compacted soil when digging a post hole, or chopping roots well below the surface, these solid steel bars are about 6’ long, and come with a point on one end and a chisel on the other.  Beefy tools, no doubt, and not for lightweights.  But effective all the way.

So there’s my Big Five for handtools.  I know some of you may have some feedback to my omissions, or comment on my inclusions. And to be fair, there’s a whole bunch more that I use regularly that didn’t make the list.  But I’m limited to just five, thanks to those pesky tool police, so something was bound to be left off the list.

What are your Big 5 for handtools?
 

As a landscape contractor who blogs, I have tendency to focus my writings on either industry trends, seasonal information, or some of the many large projects we undertake.

Lost in the shuffle of my writings and ramblings however, are some of the many small projects we undertake on a regular basis.

A few weeks ago we had a short week as we prepared for the long Fourth of July weekend.  We had just finished a large patio project, the Thursday and Friday extended Holiday weekend was looming, and our next project wasn’t due to start until the following week because the homeowners were out of town.  
 
Thankfully this provided us with the opportunity to fill the schedule with a small dryset flagstone walkway project.

The existing layout of the yard included a driveway that ended about 20’ short of an existing flagstone patio.  The homeowners had placed a series of stepping stones connecting the driveway to the patio, but the stones would inevitably get buried beneath the encroaching grass or get covered in mud due to some suspect grading.

So they enlisted our services to fix the problem.

The existing patio was a wet-set PA graystone patio, set in a linear pattern of squares and rectangles. The homeowners really liked the look of the natural stone, however their personal tastes ranged more on the rustic irregular side of things.  And they didn’t want to spend a lot of money on a small walkway.

So we decided upon a dryset walkway using irregular-shaped PA graystones.

The project began by excavating out the footprint for the new walkway, digging approximately 6” down where the new walkway was to be installed.  The footprint was then filled with crushed modified gravel and compacted to give a firm foundation to the new walkway.  

We then covered the compacted gravel with a thin (approximately 1” +/-) layer of sand. The sand helps to give a softer bed in which to place the flagstones, and also helps to accommodate for the slight difference in stone thickness without affecting the finish grade.

Random-shaped irregular flagstones were purchased, averaging approximately 1.5” in thickness.  Each stone is carefully placed in the
bed of sand, making sure we have a firm placement with no rocking or wobbling of the stones.  For a dryset application such as this, we like to use thicker stones to help keep them in place and avoid them “floating” on top of the sand.

For a professional look, it is important to keep the joint widths between each stone to a minimum.  As a result there is certainly some “puzzle-building” that needs to occur.

I like to lay out all the stones in advance so I can get a true sense of the sizes and shapes we’ll be working with.  Maybe it’s just the geography geek in me, but I tend to envision each stone as a shape of a state.  As the pieces start to fit together, it’s not uncommon for me to think to myself “we need a South Carolina to fit over here”, or “if only we had an Ohio to fit against the curve of that last one”.  (Editor’s note:  some states just don’t work – stay away from the skinny panhandles of Florida and Oklahoma, West Virginia just doesn’t look natural, and Michigan, well forget about that whole Upper Peninsula thing …)

Sometimes we will have to do some minor cutting of the stones to help get a clean fit, but we try to avoid it as much as possible.  The less cutting you do, the more natural it will look.

Once all the stones are placed and fit together nicely, the last step is to sweep the walkway to fill in the joints.  We usually sweep the joints with “screenings” – a by-product of the quarrying process consisting of small crumbs of stone that lock together nicely and avoid washing out.

And that’s it.  Start-to-finish in this case the project took about 2 and a half days.  The perfect filler between some of our larger projects.  The homeowner is happy with their new walkway, and we get to keep working despite an awkward calendar and a short week.

Do you have a small hardscaping project that you’ve been putting off, or just assume a contractor won’t want to handle?  If so, give us a call.  I’ll be happy to come take a look.

Every single meeting I’ve ever had with a client or prospect to discuss a new hardscaping project always ends up with one question.

“So how much is it going to cost?”

Well that’s kind of the million dollar question, isn’t it?  And hopefully, it’s not a million dollar answer.

Rest assured, unless you have the biggest, grandest dreams for a patio I’ve ever seen, your patio is not going to cost a million dollars.

But the question is certainly a legitimate one, and one which we’re asked all the time.

And of course, the answer varies based on a number of factors.  Size and materials are probably the two biggest factors, but other site-specific factors can also come into play, which is why most contractors are always a bit hesitant to mention even a ballpark price without seeing the site first.

But I’m going to buck the trend.  Right here. Right now.

No wait, I will tease you a bit more.  It’s important to note that the costs I’m about to share are BALLPARK COSTS.  Every site is different.  Conditions.  Access.  Soil.  Trees.  Roots.  Can we fit a dumpster in the driveway?  Can we stage the pallets next to where we’re working?  Is there easy-to-access power?  Easy-to-access water?  Will the yard drain properly?  Do we need a pump truck for concrete?  Do we need to build up the grade with a wall?  Etc.  You get the idea.  
 
So no, those “We install Flagstone Patios for $12/square foot” signs I’ve seen around probably aren’t telling you everything.  And to be honest, I’d be a little scared to trust their work.

Here’s more of what prices should look like here in Delaware County, PA, suburban Philadelphia.

Finished Concrete:  $10-$13 / square foot
Dryset Bricks:  $18-$21 / square foot
Dryset Paver Stones:  $19-$22/ square foot
Dryset Flagstone (PA Gray Full Color Natural Cleft):  $23-$24 / square foot
Wetset Bricks:  $24-$27 square foot
Wetset Flagstone (PA Gray Full color Natural Cleft):  $27-$29 / square foot

Again, these are BALLPARK costs.  And in addition to the site conditions listed above, economy of scale plays into it too. So a 4x4 sidewalk square replacement certainly isn’t going to be priced at the same rate as a 700 sf patio project.

It’s also important to note that costs can vary based on who is doing the work.  
 
If you hire a weekend warrior who found you driving around the neighborhood, you may be paying a bit less than a reputable, referred, licensed contractor.  But what is his experience?  Is he licensed?  Insured? Are his workers on payroll?  These sort of things can certainly offer peace of mind.  But guess what – they also cost money for us contractors.  So if you’re willing to take a risk – sure, maybe you can save a few bucks.  But if you want to be sure of what your money is being spent on, going the licensed route is the way to go.

A properly built patio or walkway will last at least as long as you stay in your house, and most likely well beyond the time when you decide to move on.  It will provide years of enjoyment and most likely add value to your home.  But the key phrase to that sentence is “properly built.”

When I provide estimates to prospects, they are usually well prepared for the numbers that accompany the estimate.  They know they’re hiring us because of our level of expertise, our ability to not only do the heavy lifting and digging, but to construct something that is beautiful and will last, and that we have the experience to offer suggestions and make sure the job not only gets done right, but meets their goals in terms of how it will get used.  All while taking the necessary site conditions into account.

Not to say that the occasional client doesn’t suffer a bit of sticker shock on occasion when they see the price, but once they swallow that lump in their throat they are usually on board with the project.  You get what you pay for.

So there you go. Ballpark pricing.  Hopefully this will help define your budget.  And once that’s defined, the next step is to nail down the specifics.  If you’d like a free site consultation and cost estimate give us a call.  We’d love to see what we can do for you!

**  Editors Note:  The CKC blog will not appear next week, as the author takes a little mid-season R&R.  We'll be back in July with more weekly posts.  Have a great 4th of July everybody!

Last week I posted some follow-up pictures to a recent flagstone patio we completed.  Part of that project included a simple set of steps leading from the back door down to the patio grade.

I've talked about building steps before -- in fact there's a stand-alone page here on the site dedicated to starting a step project from scratch.

But I did want to spend a bit of time this week talking about building forms for concrete steps.

For flatwork such as patios and walkways, setting concrete forms really isn't that difficult.  As long as you pay attention to the grades and ID your footprint, it's actually kind of simple.  But steps get a bit trickier, mostly because of the amount of weight that the forms are expected to hold while the concrete is being poured.

The step project that I'm highlighting here included three steps, each measuring about 18" d x 6' w.  Including the necessary footer, the whole pour took about two yards of concrete.  That's about 8,000 lbs!!  And if you think a few simple nails will hold that kind of weight, well think again.  And if you don't believe me, feel free to try it yourself on your own dime.

The key to building forms for steps is to think like the concrete.  Where will the pressure build?  Where is the weak link that the concrete will try to escape?  What is likely to pop or bow?  All while keeping in mind that the forms need to be easily removed once the concrete sets.

For flatwork forms, we typically use Duplex nails to connect the stakes to the forms -- easy to install, easy to remove.  But for steps?  I'm not a big fan of nails for step forms.  If they're not in solidly they can pop pretty easily.  If you've ever been involved with a concrete pour when a form blows, you know it's not a fun experience.

So to avoid the forms blowing mid-pour, I usually use screws for the step forms -- a much stronger connection.  But there are a few precautions that need to be taken.  First, make sure you don't over sink the screws into the wood.  I usually leave about an 1/8" sticking out so I can easily find the screws when it comes time to remove the forms.  Secondly, it's not a bad idea to cover the screw heads to avoid concrete clogging up the screw heads.  A simple extra 10 seconds with some duct tape over the screws can save hours of banging your head against the newly formed concrete when all is said and done.

Additionally, if you think all that is required is just forming out the treads and risers, think again.  The picture on the right below shows a good illustration of the front bracing.  This helps keep the tread widths uniform, as the tendency is for the risers to bow out as the concrete is being poured.

I also tend to avoid pouring directly from the concrete truck right into the hole.  Sometimes it is tempting as it can save some labor having to wheel and/or shovel the concrete in, but as mentioned above we're talking about 8,000 lbs of concrete, and that's just for three simple steps.  Imagine that 8,000 pounds being dumped forcefully from the truck into the hole.  If you want to put added pressure on your forms, that's a good way to do it.

This pour was somewhat interesting, because as documented in last week's post, we poured the steps about a week after the surrounding patio was poured.  As a result, we didn't have a whole lot of soft ground in which to stake in our forms.

To address that, I needed to come up with a good way of securing the side walls so they wouldn't blow out or pull apart.  The answer -- chain.

Yup, there's a series of imbedded chains inside those completed steps, running the full width of the steps.  Since nobody is going to see the inside of the concrete, and since the exterior was slated to get veneered, I wasn't really concerned about leaving the chains in.

If you look at the two pictures on the left in the above sequence of three, you'll see the chain running across the width of the steps.  I drilled holes just wide enough for the chain in the forms, and secured the chain on the outside using a simple nail through one of the links.  As the pressure from the concrete intensified during the pour, the outside walls wanted to push out, but were prevented in doing so by the nail holding the chain and forms in place.  The end result was two perfectly plumb sidewalls, with no bowing or blowouts.

When the pour was done we simply pulled the nails (which had imbedded themselves slightly into the wood thanks to the force of the concrete), unscrewed our forms, removed the wood, and BAM -- concrete step foundation ready to go!

As mentioned above, the most important thing is to make sure every board is braced and secured in every direction, with attention to making sure the access is on the outside of the concrete so the forms can be removed easily.

A few days later we began veneering the sides and risers, mortared the treads, and we were done!

Steps are key in any landscaping project, and knowing how to build the forms for a concrete pour is an important (brace yourself for this one folks) step! 

Think you may need a set of steps for your next project?  Give us a call and we'll see what we can do for you!

A few weeks back I wrote about a patio project we were just beginning, specifically about the excavation in which we discovered the old patio was built upon 18" of sand.  And I promised a future post in which I would share the finished patio pictures.

Well, as promised, here are the finished pictures.  And a few pictures of the project in progress.

Overall, the project was a complete success.  We began with the demolition of the old patio, as documented in my post from a few weeks back.  Once the demo was complete, we set the forms for the new patio foundation.  The layout was approved by the homeowner, forms were set, grades were established, and we prepared for the concrete pour.

A base layer of gravel was applied and the rebar reinforcement was set.  We were ready for the pour. 

The overall design included a set of steps leading from the back doors to the main patio surface.  Because of the amount of concrete involved and the logistics of getting the concrete installed, we decided to pour the steps separately from the main patio surface. The main patio took about 8 yards of concrete to pour the foundation.  Once the patio was poured and had time to set, we built the forms for the steps.  A few days later we poured an additional 2 yards to build the step foundation.  (I'll get into the details of forming the steps in a future post sometime soon).

The finished patio specifications called for irregular shaped PA graystone flagstones set in mortar atop the concrete footing.  Irregular shaped flagstone can be intricate to install.  It's basically a giant puzzle which we have to piece together, keeping an eye to keep joint dimensions to a minimum.  It involves laying out a large quantity of flagstone pieces in the lawn, figuring out which pieces fit together best, and more often than not cutting the stones so they end up fitting together cleanly.  It's a time-consuming process, no doubt, and in this case it took us about 9 days to set approximately 500 square feet of flagstone.

Additionally we set flagstones on the steps,,measuring about 6' w, with three treads each measuring about 18" d.  The step risers and sides were covered with a mica schist stone veneer to match the existing stone on the home foundation.

From start to finish the project took just under four weeks, including a few rain delays and time to allow the concrete to set after the pours.

It was a great project, for great clients -- the type of project that I love to get involved with, love to create, and take great pride in delivering an awesome product for great people.

What's next?  Well we already knocked out a fence project about a block away from Merion Country Club -- just in time before the chaos of golf's US Open begins next week.  A paver patio, a flagstone walkway, another fence project, a stone wall project, and a deck rebuild await.

Sound like something that you might be interested in?  I'd love a chance to meet with you and discuss.  Call us for a free consultation.  Maybe I'll be blogging about your project sometime soon!

I’m putting on my technical hat this week to discuss mortar.  Admittedly this may not be the most exciting topic for many of my readers out there, but before you click away, I think its worth noting that it is important to understand the different types of mortar and what they’re used for, whether you’re tackling a DIY project yourself, or hiring a contractor to undertake some improvements.
 
But before we begin, I need to offer a real quick lesson in terminology.  
 
I hear clients and prospects throw around a lot of incorrect terminology when it comes to masonry. Just as I would most likely butcher terminology if talking about insurance or quilt-making, its understandable. But important nonetheless.  So lets get a few terms straight.

Cement is, at its most basic level, simply a binder which sets and hardens independently.  There are a number of different types of cement mixes out there, but the most commonly used ones are Portland cement blends which are derived primarily from limestone and sulfate (gypsum).  Cement by itself is quite brittle and not used as a building material, but rather as an ingredient for concrete and mortar. To say a sidewalk or patio is made of “cement” is technically incorrect (and quite frankly, a nails-on-the-blackboard pet peeve of mine).

Concrete is a construction material made from mixing cement with aggregate (small stones or gravel) along with sand.  There are a number of “recipes” for concrete depending on the desired strength and application.  The aggregates and sand add additional strength to the mix and help to eliminate some of the “brittle” and “shrinkage” qualities of cement.  Fibers and manmade materials can also be added to the mix to help increase strength.  When you see a sidewalk or patio being poured, this is concrete.

Mortar is a separate construction material used to adhere stone, brick, or blocks.  Historically there have been a number of different recipes for mortar, but the most commonly used mortars used for our purposes today consist of
various ratios of Portland cement, lime, and sand.  Portland cement offers compression strength, lime offers flexibility and bonding qualities, and sand works to minimize shrinkage during curing. And that is where I want to get into a bit more detail.

There are five generally accepted classifications of mortar types used in the trades;  M, S, N, O and K.

Type M mortar consists of 3 parts Portland cement, 1 part lime, and 12 parts sand.  This is the strongest mortar in terms of compression strength, but may not offer the flexibility of forgiveness that some “softer” mortars offer.  It is commonly used for applications where some load-bearing capabilities are required, such as stone foundations.  In many cases the high compression strength results in the mortar being stronger than the materials they are binding, resulting in cracked bricks or blocks.

Type S mortar is the mortar that we typically use for our wet-set flatwork applications.  The generally accepted recipe is two parts Portland cement, one part lime, and nine parts sand.  It offers high compression strength with increased bonding qualities and flexibility.  For this reason it is recommended for exterior applications at or below grade, or when high compression strength is needed in conjunction with softer stones or bricks.

Type N mortar is perhaps the most commonly sold “all-purpose” mortar, consisting of one part Portland, one part lime, and six parts sand.  It offers medium compression strength, and is commonly used for non-load-bearing applications above grade, such as walls or chimneys (not exposed to direct heat).

The remaining two classifications of mortar, O and K, are the softest of the mortars, and are generally used for tuckpointing or repair work above grade, when compression strength is not necessary and flexibility/forgiveness are more important. Type O mortar generally is made up of one part Portland, two parts lime, and nine parts sand.  Type K is the weakest of the mortar types, with a one-three-ten ratio, and is most commonly used in historical preservation repair work.
 
And just as a good creative cook may tweak a few recipes to achieve desired results in the kitchen, these recipes can be tweaked a bit too depending on the application.  Additional factors such as the coarseness of the sand being used and amount of water used to mix the mortar can also have an effect on how the mortar will behave.
 
It’s also important to note that when it comes to mortar, stronger does not necessarily mean better. The strength of the mortar itself would be of little value if it doesn’t effectively bond to the materials that are meant to be held in place.  And as mentioned earlier, some degree of flexibility may be desired to work with temperature contractions or lateral load.

Additionally there are also a number of “specialty” mortar mixes available such as refractory mortar for use in ovens or chimney interiors where heat is a concern, and specialty additives are also available for enhanced bonding or durability qualities in certain applications.

So there you go. Mortar 101.  Even if you’re not going to use this information on a regular basis, it never hurts to have a basic understanding of materials and how they’re used.  Keep it handy if you never need it as a reference.

Gotta love hardscaping.  Just when you think you've seen it all in this line of work -- Boom!  Another surprise.

We started a new patio project this week.  Part of the job includes demolishing the old patio that was in need of some serious repair.  I suppose a little background is in order before we begin.

This was a house that had been sitting vacant for some time before the current homeowners moved in last year.  There was a variety of repairs and improvements that needed to be addressed both inside and out.  Somewhere down the list was the hardscaping which included the rear patio.

The patio sat about 18" above grade, with a stone retaining wall bordering the rear edge of the patio with a set of steps leading down to the yard.

Not entirely uncommon so far.  Pretty straight forward in fact.  After meeting with the homeowners this past winter, we designed a new patio to replace the existing one, which was, quite frankly, beyond repair.  And the old size and shape didn't really fit the needs of the homeowners.  Sayonara old patio!

So as we approached the start of the job this week, I began lining up my services.  My excavator and I met at the site, and after we poked around a bit at the existing patio, we both agreed we needed some serious heavy equipment to remove the 18" thick patio.  We discovered a concrete shelf directly below a few of the loose perimeter stones, leading us to believe we were looking at an 18" thick concrete pad.  Some serious demo work no doubt.  And of course, some serious demo fees to go with it.

This past Monday was a rainy mess, and as a result our schedules got pushed back and reshuffled.  My original Wednesday demo got bumped back to Thursday, and because of some other necessary schedule shuffling, we found ourselves with one of those days where we can finally address a billion little things that had been cluttering up my to-do list. 

We started the day over at the patio site.  I figured we could salvage what we could off the patio, and stage some of the flagstones off to the side for the homeowner.  Old flagstones make great garden stepping stones you know.

So we began lifting the flagstones.  We started where I had done my prior investigative work.  Sure enough, there was that concrete shelf right behind the stone wall.  We continued lifting stones. The half inch mortar pad was crumbling beneath the stones as we lifted them.  After getting a few more up I wanted to see if that concrete could be broken up easily, and whether or not it was indeed 18" thick.

So I brushed aside the crumbly mortar, and discovered it was set atop a sand bed.  Interesting.  I brushed aside the sand, and discovered ... more sand.  I grabbed my shovel and started digging.  And kept digging.  And kept digging.  18" of pure sand!!!  I checked a few more spots, and same thing.  There's enough sand here to rebuild the Jersey Shore!

Needless to say, we discovered why the old patio was in such a state of disrepair.  The patio had been framed around the outer perimeter with a solid mortared stone wall, and then the interior grade had been beefed up 18" with pure sand.

There are many things wrong with this approach to building a patio, too many to mention in fact.  But I will mention a few.

The obvious one is that 18" of sand is not an acceptable base.  Heck, 4" of sand is not an acceptable base.  A little bit of sand atop compacted crushed gravel is great.  A lot of sand on top of more sand is not.  That sand washes out, the patio settles, and what you're left with is a mess.

And framing the sand out with solid walls?  You've basically just built a pool that will fill up with water as it seeps into the sand.  No wonder the mortar (what little of it there was) was failing.

As for the demo?  Well it went smoothly and quickly.  But it did serve as another reminder why foundations are perhaps the most important aspect to quality hardscaping.  And a reminder that when it comes to demo, you never really know what's there until you get started ripping her out.

I'll follow up with a recap post once our project is complete.

One of the benefits of my job is that I get to meet a wide range of really interesting people.  Whether its clients or prospects, suppliers and vendors, designers, delivery personnel, or even other contractors and their crews.

And whether its on the job or unwinding over the weekend, when people hear what I do for a living I can almost see them salivating.  “Your yard must be gorgeous!!”

“Ahh, well, ummm, you see …”  I’m sure they just think I’m being humble.

But no.  Really, it’s a mess.  The shoemaker’s son has no shoes.  Or in this case, the hardscaper’s sons have no hardscaping.  At least not that is fully completed.

And its not that I wouldn’t WANT some of the features that we install.  To the contrary, I would absolutely LOVE some of the features that we install.

It’s really more of a time thing.  Anybody who works in the outdoor trades will tell you that we have a somewhat limited season.  Once you cross out the Holiday break and the winter break, we’re left with about nine, maybe even ten if we’re lucky, months to earn our keep.

And with a decent patio project taking roughly 2 to 3 weeks to complete, that’s about seven percent of our season. 
OK, so it’s not a huge portion, but its sizeable enough to put a decent dent in our income.

People hire us because they know we know what we’re doing and we do a good job. But they also hire us because they have their own lives and are just too busy to do it themselves.  Well guess what.  We’re a little busy too.  And if you think I’m going to pay somebody else to install my yard??? … Yeah, right.

As a result my yard is a hodge-podge of assorted projects in various states of completion.

The front yard has gotten better.  (That whole curb appeal thing – gotta keep the neighbors happy).  The original brick walkway was a mess and a constant source of irritation everytime I stepped foot on it.  It had to go.  But for reasons I won’t get into here in full detail, there was a small garden wall that needed to be built first.  And a front patio that needed to get installed in conjunction with the path. (If a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, then a lot of knowledge and skill is downright AK-47 lethal).  As a result, a simple project turned into a bigger one.

Even with the increased project scope in the front yard, had we been doing this for a client we probably would have knocked it all out in about 2 weeks. At my house, start to finish? About 4 years.

And the backyard?  Well this is where it gets really funny.  First of all the back end of my driveway has become a staging area for materials.  I have two pallets that were placed there “temporarily” in about ’07.  Strictly flagstone.  I’ll pull off a few pieces here and there and just when one’s just about clear – boom!  A bunch of leftover pieces from a project get dumped back on to it.  I have a similar situation with paver stones in my garage.

But the pavers, ahh yes, the pavers.  This is my grandiose plan.

Because pavers come in a wide range of colors and styles and sizes, it’s nearly impossible to ever have enough leftovers of just one type for a client project. So I rarely draw from these piles like I do with the flagstones.

So I thought it would be kind of cool to put this potpourri of pavers to use. I’m never opposed to a little funk in my life – keeps things interesting.

So as a result in my backyard I currently have a patio that’s about a third of the way completed.  I’ve been doing it in small segments, so the section connecting the back door with the gate is done in its entirety, but the section furthest from the door is just an excavated hole in the ground.  Mud and all. My wife loves me for that one. But my five-year-old REALLY loves for me that one.  I mean what five-year-old wouldn’t want their own mudpit?

I was going to post a picture of my patio in its current state of un-finished-ocity.  But I thought better of it when I decided that potential clients didn’t really need to see my mess of a yard.  Not exactly sales material.

But once I’m done, probably in about ’14 or ’15 at its current pace, I’ll be sure to post the pics.  It will be nice.  But not yet. And with the spring slam in full effect right now, I can say quite confidently that nothing will be happening in my yard until at least summer, if then.

So anyway, that’s my personal landscaping status.  Not quite the award-winning specimen you had in mind, eh?

But as my wife says, it’s a good thing the projects aren’t completed because it means I’m busy.  Busy doing projects the proper way of course.  It's the clients who get the REALLY nice yards.

There's no doubt that adding a water feature to your landscape automatically triggers a bit of a "wow" factor from your friends and neighbors.

Additionally it can add a nice tranquill place to relax, and add a peaceful sound to help drown out any nearby ambient noise.

Oftentimes when I'm meeting with clients to discuss their landscaping plans, I'll mention the possibility of incorporating a water feature into the final design.  And as I say this I can see the look of skepticism in their eyes as they picture me with visions of dollar signs surrounding my head.

But the addition of a water feature to your landscape doesn't have to mean budget-busting expenses.  True, an in-ground koi pond with a stream cascading down a hillside can be a big ticket item.  (And one that we've love to install, quite frankly!)  But there are also plenty of ways to incorporate a water feature into your landscape at a very affordable level.

And even if your little slice of paradise is just a small urban courtyard, a fountain can add that "wow" factor and still leave room for a table, chairs and grill.

Landscape fountains can go as small as 18" in diameter, and some "wall" fountains don't even have to take up that much space.  And there's really no additional filter equipment or accessories needed.  And since they require very little water to achieve the desired effect, you don't even need a nearby water spigot, as long as you have a bucket that can be filled and access to any faucet.  All you really need is a nearby GFI outlet to plug in the pump, and you're good to go.

The pictures above are just a few examples of the many fountain styles out there, with hundreds of styles to choose from ranging from classic Versailles styles to rustic natural to contemporary.  And to give you an idea of cost, fountains such as the ones pictured above start at around $300 plus installation.  Certainly not budget-busting numbers.

And contrary to popular belief, fountains and water features don't have to be high maintenance intensive.  Once they're up and running, simply fill with water, and plug in.  Depending on the sun exposure and strength of the fountain, you may lose a bit of water over time due to evaporation and splash-out.  But that's a problem easily remedied with a simple fill-up.

And yes, for the larger ponds and water features, there are a number of additional filtration systems or purifiers that can be added to help maintain a healthy aquascape.  But for a simple fountain like the ones pictured, there's really not much to it.

If you think you might be interested in incorporating a water feature into your upcoming project, let us know.  We'll be happy to show you what's out there.