As a general contractor, we are able to work with just about any thing you can think of needing fixed around you house. This includes concrete flat work such as driveways, patios and sidewalks. Other site work such as retaining walls, site grading, sod installation and clean up after major projects are often the less glamorous parts of the job, but they are critical pieces that need just as much attention as any other part of the project.
We have chronicled a recent project that included extensive flat and site work. Please take our tour of this project to see what we can do for you too.
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This project fits under the headings of "Everything Happens For A Reason", "We Will Do No Project Before Its Time", and "Dumb Luck".
We start off with a plan to install a concrete patio. Simple enough, but the plans called for a stamped surface, dyed concrete and some complex detail in the concrete designs, so there was a bit more involved than just a simple flat slab patio. The project was scheduled for late summer / early fall and then life happened and the project was delayed. About the time we started looking at scheduling this project the following spring, the home's sewer line broke and you guessed it, it runs right under where the patio was supposed to have been poured the previous fall. Needless to say, everyone involved was quite happy the patio hadn't been installed as planned in the fall. These things always seem to work out no matter how frustrating it is at the time.
In these pictures you will be able to follow the project from the excavation of the sewer line through the yard and down the hill some 200' out and 40' down hill. Under ground irrigation and some utilities were installed, the retaining walls were built, the forms were set, the concrete poured, and the sod was installed. There is still some more work to do, but that is the way it is with most construction. We will be back latter when the owner is ready for the bar-b-que and fire pit stone work.
Enjoy the tour!
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| Back Yard Disaster - Sewer Trench |
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| A broken sewer line is not optional to fix. The replacement line will run in this trench which is 10' deep by the house, and yes, the dirt piles are as high as the eve of the house.
The back hoe is digging the trench as the new sewer line is being set. The piles in the trench hold the centers of the pipe sections while allowing the joints to be visible for the inspector.
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| Back Yard Disaster - Excavating The Trench |
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| Back Yard Disaster - Connecting To The House |
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| The depth of the trench can be deceptive, but here the top of the clean out stack is 10' above the connection of the sewer line to the house. That is a big and deep hole.
The pressure test rig at the top of the clean out stack completes the perspective on the depth and size of the trench. The rig is about just above grade and the pile of dirt rises in the back ground to the height of the eve. There is another pile behind the camera too.
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| Back Yard Disaster - Above Grade |
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| Back Yard Disaster - Forms For A Patio |
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| The patio forms are placed after the trench is filled and compacted and the retaining wall is built so the grade of the yard is established.
The forms are set so that a compass rose will have a fire pit in the middle of the patio. The main patio will be poured fist. Then the outer compass rose forms will be stripped leaving the inner round ring form. The compass rose is poured last in a different color concrete.
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| Back Yard Disaster - A Fire Pit In A Compass |
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| Back Yard Disaster - Getting Ready For Instant Lawn |
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| The final layer of black dirt is graded just prior to installing sod. After this much work, patients are wearing thin and waiting for grass to grow just seems like too much to ask.
The yard in put back together enough to call it a yard. There are still some finishing touches to add such as the Bar-B-Que and stone work around the fire pit, but the sand has stopped blowing into the house.
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| Back Yard Disaster - The Finished Product Almost |
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| Back Yard Disaster - A Secluded Patio Surprise |
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| The retaining wall was needed to keep the grade of the back yard about 6' above the next terrace down the hill, but with dry stacked blocks the walls are more stable at a shorter height, so small secluded patio was added part way down to the next terrace.
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| Back Yard Disaster - The Big Picture |
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| From the roof you can see the two sections of patio in the back yard, the raised vegetable garden, the fire pit and compass rose (which does point north), and in the back ground there is the secluded patio on the next terrace down the hill created by the retaining wall.
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| Back Yard Disaster - The Patio |
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| The two sections of patio will create separate spaces for dining and gathering around a bond fire. This project included lots of hidden details too. In addition to the drainage troth at the step, there is a chase under the patio to allow for future additions of underground utilities.
The concrete used in the patio is dyed to a darker gray than normal concrete and the red of the compass rose is also dyed concrete. If it were to chip, the color would remain the same since the color is in the concrete, not on it.
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| Back Yard Disaster - The Fire Pit & Compass Rose |
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| Back Yard Disaster - Details, Details, Details |
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| There is a brass strip in between the compass rose and the patio. Eventually, this will turn green and create a sharper boundary between the two features. Some red flecking is also visible in the grey concrete. This was added to the surface to further create the appearance of a granite stone.
Not just another concrete slab patio. The stone appearance of this patio is created using a concrete with color additives to make it darker than normal. A charcoal release agent is put to use during the stamping process to create the patina on the surface giving the weather look from day one.
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| Back Yard Disaster - Concrete Or Stone? You Decided |
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