The excavater saved about 15 yards of the top soil and ended up removing over 70 yards of hard pan soil before the day was over. He also broke up and removed the small block retainer in front.
The excavater saved about 15 yards of the top soil and ended up removing over 70 yards of hard pan soil before the day was over. He also broke up and removed the small block retainer in front.
Concrete construction starts April 14, 2000. The driveway was removed, along with the walkway to the side of the house. We filled up two 10 yard dumpsters. The top soil was pushed on to the side street. There were a few 'oops' during this phase, one being he broke the main water pipe. Neighbors were without water for the afternoon as the water district had to dig 3' down to find the shut-off valve.
We ended up with some pretty hot days so the race was on and I was out shoveling cement with the rest of the guys. The retaining walls were stacked and filled before the finish concrete was poured. The stamped sections were done separately from the rock salted areas. I was busy placing pipes for electric and irrigation before the forms were set (well sometimes after, but certainly before the concrete was poured). Plumbing and electric were also planned ahead and are coming up in the center of the big circle. As you will see later, this is where the quadrifoil coping and fountain will go. Also was busy removing brick from the front of the house and around the garage doors.
In the next two months the following was done: bought my first skill saw and removed all the steel siding, purchased cultured stone, purchased quadrifoil coping and fountain, hand moved another 7 yards of premium planters mix and black humus (totalling 17 yards), had new front door and side lite installed, put in bathroom window (myself), put in new foundation vents, had the roof extended over the porch 18", removed bay window and had a bow window installed. Let's see, did I miss anything? Probably :)
Now the stucco guys show up and turn my house black for a few days. Nope, too dark, won't paint it black! Brown and scratch coat are done, now leaving my home and the retaining wall mud gray for about 3 weeks. The foam work was ordered and applied to the brown coat.The rock guy has a break and I can't wait for the stucco guys to come back, so the rock work is done and I have a major masking job to do before the finish/color coat is done. But it's all comin together and I'm lovin it.
Now for the balustrades. I was going to attempt this myself, but after finding out all that was involved (fitting and cutting concrete, arc welding, not to mention those pieces are heavy), I gracefully declined. Generally the balustrades are done before the finished coat because it can be a mess. What I did do was mask off all of the block wall in order to protect my finished stucco coat. It did end up worth my time, The wall stayed clean through the process.
The last major thing to do this year is set the quadrifoil coping that will be the pond for the fountain. These pieces are about 200 lbs each. The same guys that set the balustrades set the quadrifoil coping for me yesterday (10/6/2000). It is a big relief to have that done.
The mow strip is complete, along with the irrigation system. The mosaic tile for the fountain project has been delivered and is taking over the entire house. I have over 110 sq. ft. or 24,750+ individual 3/4" tiles. I'm completeing about one panel a week and have 8 total to do before I start on the bottom section. This project took one year to complete and install into the quadrifoil pond. I figure it took me about 650+ hours to cut and fit all the tile for the sides and bottom. That does not include actual time in installing and doing the grout work.
I planted all the trees, shrubs and perennials in the fall of 2000. The new roof was done in May 2002 and the sod was installed in late summer of 2002.
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Copyright © 2000 Suzanne.
Page created 3 October 2000. Last updated 21 July 2003 at 8:25 AM.
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