So what does a “landscape project” look like while the work is going on? My sister-in-law, Lisa, is a lawyer. She once visited a site I was on while she was with my brother, Mike, and the family on their way to the Oregon Coast for the weekend. On their way out, they stopped by my project. It was a “makeover”. It had an original huge green front lawn and bushes all over, sort of rustic and wild-looking but was bought by this guy who sold Cray Computers for a living. He had some serious bucks. Well, what he wanted was a massive ‘redo’. When Lisa and Mike and the guys stopped by, we were very industriously tearing the crap out of the whole place. We had someone in every corner, making all those loud and obscene sounds of breaking branches and breaking cement and plastic. Honestly, she came as the “symphony” was reaching a true crescendo! Her son, Beckett looked on with amusement and avid interest, as their daughter, Zoe looked at us like we were all a troop of stark-raving mad jackals. I walked over to say Hi, grease-covered from a bit of earlier “wrassling” with some nasty machine incident or other.
“My God, I could never do that!” were Lisa’s first words. It made my day.
OK, let’s be honest. Naturally enough, at least in my experience, tearing stuff up, for any man, ranks up there with beer, playing sports and children as highly-rated fun. Poor gorgeous dear – What could she know? Beckett got a trip inside the little excavator we ran and he also got into some of the fun by helping Uncle Steve break out some resistant cement and tear up a few more things. With me and him at the controls, I closely watched his interest develop into that well-known fever I have so often seen in the delighted faces of my male personnel when confronted with a machine and an obstacle.
For a great example of all this, I present this series from a project we had in Reno……….one of those “redo’s”…… We take an otherwise finished product such as this:
(Left click to enlarge any picture)
or this:
And then we go “on holiday”, as it were – to this:
And this:
And then they get to know us!!
We try and do our destruction in the quietest of ways but cutting and packing away cement is not something which lends itself to that. The truth is, we wear ear protection ourselves, lol. Don’t get me wrong – tearing things up is still cool, even protected!
Anyway, we generally mention just how loud we will be. However, there are times when they seem not to believe us. Suddenly, shopping looks attractive! Because of the paneled nature of this patio, we were able to get out of there in a couple days – less actually. But leaving it like this means adding stuff:
Replacing 30 tons of cement also implies replacing it with at least that poundage, unfortunately for us. But, fortunately for us -
We have a machine! Guess what!! Yup………….it’s loud too!
Soon, however, the worst of the noise is gone. This all took about 3-4 days, the fact is. The machine had done its job, carting debris away and dumping it, prying up those gnarly slabs of cement and then delivering the base material for what we’re replacing all that with. So far, it’s handled about 40 tons of stuff. Considering the manual alternatives, this allows us to cut the price a bit and to spare our already-beleaguered backs. Finally, the purring of actual men and materials takes place. It can be a fine source for gossip but some protection is required – all too often – for “virgin ears.” Nevertheless, Cory’s love life got broadcast to the general public. The client here was the sister of a very. very dear client of ours who confided in me later that she thought Cory “could do better”, lol, with sly, knowing wink.
Working in tight quarters, such as Ken is attempting here, slipping blind-cut pavers underneath the siding with little or no maneuverable room can yield to some ripe language now and then. Of course, we check to see if the natives are in earshot. We are usually successful at this. Having said that, there have been some pretty funny immediate changes in conversation on “close calls”.
Oh well, after all that hubub, 2 weeks later, what’s the Big Deal? Everyone is happy.
And we get to move on, disturbing yet more people!
These guys were so disgusted, in fact, they had us pave the entry to their driveway!
Satisfying in every respect – heck – we even get paid for all that! Honestly, it’s almost like stealing.
Patios are places to relax and enjoy the warmer air. We entertain there and we invite others to share our environments with food and drink and nice sights. I have a strong bias – and always have – towards using brick pavers and stamped concrete in my patios. I also love stone but I always found the durability issue led me away from using the native stones, at least set in sand. Bricks and cement rarely break down. I overbuild the bases of these things, beyond doubt, but the results have been universally stable which, to me, means much.
click any image to enlarge
There is also this – I prefer that the design of the patio be as pleasing as possible, by all means. But at the same time, I also prefer to know that the developments around the edges and background be equally important – if not far more so. Elements of night lighting, visible features such as waterfalls, gorgeous blooming plants, the many and various points of interest a landscaper and the gardener can provide occupy every bit as much priority in design for me.
In some ways, I guess I’m paranoid about eventually losing integrity of the bases of my constructions more than anything. Add that I have done so many driveways and fire lanes in large commercial projects and you get someone who values stability over just about anything. I suppose it is my own particular training and that experience of watching things over time more than anything that lends to biases towards surfaces. Issues of drainage, compaction, underlying strength are huge for me. But I also enjoy the notion that spills and accidents which regularly occur can be dealt with merely by replacing the bricks themselves instead of reinventing the wheel trying to find matching natural stone pieces, then worrying about their fits when dealing with some fairly obscene accidents and discolorations. In the end, no doubt, I have become a brick guy, with a definite nod towards poured stamped concrete. With all the new patterns, colors and textures, it just seems like the best product.
I feature this patio below elsewhere and it is otherwise not particularly noteworthy, in terms of creativity, but it illustrates well my sense of how I prefer putting them together and my sense, upon leaving, that this place will stay very much the way it began – with ample range for improvement and augmentation around the edges. I really do believe a surface is just the start.
In a patio such as this there was very little sloping tolerance allowing for drainage. It is also plain huge. The homeowner himself installed much of the piping (and we had to make a few “adjustments”) owing to such a small slope. We also figured out the best possible way of dealing with keeping the water from the occasional torrential downpour and Reno’s snowfalls away from the house, away from the pool and devise a way to make all that go away.
We arrived at the “Channel Drain”, coursing across the patio, as the ideal solution. Complexities such as this are why brick pavers are such a delight to work with as well. They lend themselves to such tricks by being segmented and adjustable at the onset. The remainder of the project, on the back sides, could simply be diverted into beds and away from both pool and house.
Nor are bricks the only cement solution. Large slabs can be artfully arranged as well, even split such as the ones below and filled in with Thyme and aromatic herbs whose smells light up when crushed by foot traffic and who don’t even mind.
Who wouldn’t enjoy a foot-massaging surface such as the pathway construction from Portland’s Chinese Garden below? Detailed and fascinating stone – or pebble – work such as this one show what is possible if one has the time and inclination for the installation. I actually did run across a few where homeowners have done something similar to this. They were an entire Summer’s work and they were amazing.
Imagine an entire patio of these:
Small, intimate places beg for sharp-looking and fascinating surfaces. Larger ones tend to relate to a theme which struggles to see the relevance of a surface dominating the view or even the local scenery.
Since so many of my cinstructions have tended towards the “large”, I guess it should be understandable I would prefer some heavyweight base for the patio, driveway and sidewalk surfaces to lay on.
Some of these are lots of work, too!
Like Forrest Gump said. “I’m tired now. I think I’ll quit.”
Ah, now here is a favorite topic! My very favorite!
Innovations in landscape construction technology have brought about an entire industry’s flowering. Say what you will about gorgeous designs configured with wondernew computer programs, all splashy and easy to read, forced on poor landscapers by Draconian architects whose tolerance for ignorance is often quite small. Personalities can be nearly predictable. Ungrateful bastids. Who do they believe paved the way for such exotic things?
I’m mostly kidding, but I often like to ‘pick back’. It’s a fault. Let’s just call it a cheap form of revenge and leave it there. I’m good with that. I’ve met some unbelievably fascinating LA’s, so I’m being a hard case with cause. And some humor. Harry Haggard, are you listening?
Those “on the ground” know. This is not especially cast out because I have some bone to pick with anyone in the industry whatsoever, from designer to client. In the end, many are those in the Landscape Architecture field who appreciate modern innovations and what they can accomplish. My point is this – the advent of field innovations in figuring things out – on the installation end – has lowered prices and has made what was formerly impossible, far more possible. Indeed, I am convinced these innovations have opened doors which had no dream of access prior to their discovery.
Here, for example, from a video from a business I have worked around for years, from Portland to Seattle to Reno – and especially Ren0 – Parsons Rock Walls – is what is possible. Note the machine that does pretty much 100% of the work, with its knuckling fittings and how it moves a virtual 360 degrees while carrying 6,000 pound boulders. These guys actually do perform great work, by the way. Their legacy is all over the cities mentioned – extremely hard to miss. The clip is long and it is a bit of pimping for them, but it gets interesting, machine-wise. Which is the point.
These innovations in hydraulic coupling and rotating technology have lowered the price of wall-building astoundingly and – for sure – made even their very usage far more attainable.
We once had the front yards of 45 homes to landscape in northern British Columbia. It was going to require adding about 1,500 yards of soil, owing to the entirety of the existing land being Glacial Schist. We owned a back hoe with a rear “dipper” or bucket. But, lordy, how to level it all? Since the housing project was contracted by the Canadian National Rail Company and coming as it was on rail cars, stopped to tilt and dump next to our homes, we had a few advantages. We put our heads together with a welder friend and here’s about the closest proximity to what we arrived at:
Except ours was 6″ x 6″ bar, 16 feet wide (!) and had small cylindrical and rounded 1″ spikes on the bottom at 4 inch intervals to stir the soil as it graded. And no bucket – we adapted it so that it would attach directly to the boom itself. (Recent innovations, by the way, in “knuckling”, like above, provide an even more appealing rotating possibility, now up to a full 360 degrees.)
Other innovations just fly off the top of one’s head:
Sod Cutters – now 4 wheel drive and no longer those precarious machines which were incredibly heavy and which broke backs from those trying to steer them over uneven ground.
Laser technology now acquaints us with construction levels which can be operated by one person. To try and locate a half inch increment in a 100′ long plane can be done by pushing a button and walking to hold up a stick which returns the signal and beeps solidly when level. So easy a Cave Man can do it! These same lasers are now attached to graders and informed automatically when to gouge or fill to make a perfect plane. Don’t tell anyone, but modern exhibitions have unmanned graders and even bulldozers producing perfect earth work with the help of lasers.
Placing brick pavers has become a bizarre bag of tricks. At the Hong Kong airport, whose runways are entirely composed of brick pavers – and we are talking square miles and hectares – the machine of choice looked like this:
This one takes an entire layer of bricks, holds them together nice and tightly, and lays them down, approximately 50 at a time. Imagine the savings and also imagine the new possibilities implicit in being able to attack huge tracts in mere days instead of months.
The scale of landscaping is somewhere substantially smaller than, say, road building. Yet so many of the same principles apply. Increasing innovations made by sharp in-the-field installers have made steady increments in lessening prices and creating opportunities for newer waves in design. Water pumps alone have virtually revolutionized “pondless” waterfall systems and the newer and perhaps most interesting take-off – Bubble Rocks. The newer pumps’ durability is frankly off the charts.
Indeed, one of the most thrilling developments in landscaping – at least concerning “Hardscapes” – concerns the development of better and more versatile Diamond Blades and edges. The afore-mentioned “Bubble Rocks” are all bored by cylindrical plungers who bore their ways downward through fascinating and gorgeous stones and which allows water to be pumped up through them. For any aficionado of the real color of rock – this is a decided thrill.
My personal favorite machines are fairly obvious ones. In no hierarchy whatsoever, I absolutely adore the skid steer (or Bobcat as has become a near-common name) machine. I have loaded and carried 10,000 yards of soil on one job alone with one of these. Here’s one at work without me in the cab – a rare occurrence.
Secondly, the Excavator – and in particular the modern miniature – the Mini Excavator – are both shown in this picture where they played an irreplaceable role -
The world of machines has reduced the time it takes to make a landscape from the dirt up. Having said that, it has also enabled newer ideas to emerge from a strictly designing aspect. This synergy is essential in understanding why I feel Landscaping as an art is entering – or has entered over the last 20 years – a completely new flowering of possibility and of artistic expression.
From new innovations in lighting and transformer technology, pioneered by my good friends at Unique Lighting (who, I might add also developed their own techniques from field work and who were curious enough to apply this knowledge to actual artistic style) -
To the swimming pool-makers, who incorporate paving into the overall ambiance by utilizing the newest breed of modern adhesives and waterproofing-
All these things combine to make this world even fuller with wonders and which represent the artisitic and craftsmanship achievements and potentials of a fascinating combination of talent, dedicated to a principle of improving our lives.
A Landscape Architect friend of mine in the UK sells root barriers online among scads of other things. Ofer reminded me recently of something I had once taken huge care to deal with, back when I was working in the close confines of cities and suburban commercial projects. These projects were all just rife with restricted spaces and gardens over underground parking structures and they all found some relief with this new great product: Root Barriers. I recall using some of the very first large plastic and very strong root barriers in Monterey, California, in a new parking lot hard by the Monterey Aquarium. This was the first of what proved to be numerous applications of this handy and extremely effective material.
Root barriers are used to contain the spread of tree and shrub roots in order to protect other facets of a landscape from heaving and losing integrity. Easily-expandable large sheets of durable plastic now encircle the roots of trees up to 6 feet in depth, forcing the roots ever-downward in their search for water and feeding.
Root Barriers have only been developed formally since 1975. Obviously, efforts to control root growth have always been born closely in mind – all sorts of applications and efforts in the past have included concrete barriers/planters which we poured-in-place as well steel barriers and other efforts, typically always fighting the imperial instincts of expanding nature. It took the wonders of plastic to make this entire new field a more amenable and far easier task for installers and planners.
Yet, finding ways to combat something extraordinarily prevalent took more time than one might think. It has definitely been easy seeing the reasons for them. We all desired a product which could orient roots less invasive to the sides where the more obvious ravages appear and downwards to a “safer” a layer of soil:
We arrived at something like the above as a desired direction of root growth. We have since found that it is entirely possible to get there using the simplest of devices – a plastic panel, attachable to the next or simply rolled out and pre-measured – expandable and wrapped a reasonable distance around the tree or plant. Thus, not only does the barrier reduce the damage from expanding roots, it also has a lot to do with the emerging shape of the young tree above the ground. A result usually results giving a more columnar tree – at least until the tree’s roots expand and find what they need down below the barrier.
Modern structures have demanded even more attention to this detail as we continue to lay on the asphalt to “Paradise”, as Joni Mitchell so eloquently sang it, providing enormous parking facilities to accommodate our love affair with cars. Planting strips abounded in the later part of the 20th Century. In an effort to make these generally-abhorrent facilities more appealing to the eye, landscape designers decided a nice result would be to arrange thin planting beds between aisles. Demarking separate parking areas on the plane of a parking lot led to planting trees in abundance for various reasons – perhaps the most important of which is their thin profile near the parking spaces themselves which can hopefully better avoid bumpers and parking accidents. Shrubbery can fare poorly indeed in these situations. Let’s face it – this parking area is better than the one following:
Not too pretty, is it – the one below, I mean? Well, at least they don’t have to worry about maintenance! The below is what I like to refer to as a gardener-free Zone.
So root barriers allow us to implement a greener environment, sans the continual worries of upsetting the structure itself. Nor is it merely parking lots which are affected. There are abundant situations where reorienting roots to a lower water field are applicable. Retaining walls come foremost to mind, but any patio or residential or even general pedestrian thru-way applies here as well. Needless to say, roads, curbs and the various long term upsets of planting too closely to buildings and flat structures get some much needed relief, nearly no matter which trees are decided on. I have even seen Sequoia’s in the West treated this way to great effect, negating the inevitability of this, at least for a few years:
History: Once these controlling mechanisms became wider known, suddenly a raft of possible applications presented themselves. Suddenly bamboo could once again be specified for landscapes. Other ‘rhizoming’ plantings which are voracious and famous for it also became possibilities. It honestly did open up some real new and interesting possibilities. It’s truly amazing what a strip of plastic can do.
Plumbing: And not just plumbing, either, but all features of house supply of services, from water and waste to electrical and cable can now be protected by the insertion of such a simple and elegant solution at the face of these mechanisms, or just around the potential invaders. By directing the roots downwards, suddenly the invasions of Birch, Willow and other water-seeking suckers and trees becomes moot.
The benefits of root barriers are a relatively new technology. It’s a technology whose time has definitely come. Once again, my friend Ofer has a bit of information and a few interesting quotes in his website as well as a plethora of good and useful products. He designs and installs gardens and landscapes as well in the UK and is trying to get a bit of income for his growing brood over there in England Land. Here is his site, again, check him out:
I have sometimes commented in this blog about how many of the best projects I have ever encountered were the results of someone doing it all by themselves. Some homeowner projects are, frankly, breathtakingly beautiful. I felt honored to be there and I am being serious. There is just something about the amount of love and careful attention one who is invested in his own place can deliver which even the best professionals will never approach. I stand in awe of these people, to this moment. No just equal with, but in awe. They are the World’s best.
At the same time, I have seen some amazingly bad work, too. It is hard to keep the laughter in check, now and then, but good manners insist. Sometimes, when I am called in by an exasperated owner or by someone who has bought a place beset with the efforts of the person who preceded them, I arrive with a pretty good sized grin. They know I know they know I know why they called, or something like that. And, being completely honest, the amount of work required to repair or re-do a yard’s landscaping or a paver project can be more – not less – expensive than to start from just plain dirt.
It pays to do it right. It pays in ways which are very value-adding and rewarding. But landscaping – and even gardening, especially at the start up – are very physically and mentally challenging. I am not trying to mystify anyone about what we do because it really isn’t that hard, in many ways, at least mentally. But there is a physical component which is extremely demanding.
The Physical Part
I have had people work for me who developed tendinitis the very first day which took a month or more to get over. The repetitive nature of the work and all the heavy lifting demands an awful lot. In short, be smart. Most larger DIY projects would be aided greatly by the helping labor of some high school or college kids or by someone who needs the work. These people are not hard to find. Be smart. Use help, in the first place.
In the second place, plan. Plan ahead and know why. It never hurt to consult with someone professional, by the way. I have overseen many DIY projects for a small consulting fee, beers or even for nothing. I don’t drive a hard bargain. But that’s just me.
DIY Resources
One of my favorite DIY resources to recommend to people is a place called DIY Guides. I’ve been following it a while now. Mike runs an interesting and diverse site which covers just about everything there is to do with DIY projects, but I especially liked his takes on landscaping. The thing is, there are professional ways to approach things which are do-able and ultimately very necessary. We don’t do these things for our health. He tends to include them thus he has my respect.
This Blog
Reading in this blog in my posts on installations should provide an excellent background on many aspects and especially the “why’s”. I like to give this out because issues like preparation, when ignored, can lead to so many unforseen problems. In many cases, I strove to supply not only the why’s but also the how-to’s by illustrating what we do on our own projects. We do take things to a sort of extreme, but then we get paid for that. Our prep is generally always a bit more than good.
Please browse the category listings dealing with Installations if you have questions about our approach. I have been asked many times about DIY projects and I honestly still believe knowledge is as important as the physical part.
Do-it-yourselfers are a love of mine, in the end. I like seeing the pride of someone who does it right and finishes with a proud and deserving sense of accomplishment. What we do is not the most important thing in the world but it sure can make life more interesting and enjoyable in the aesthetic sense. It can also make a guy feel right proud. That is very cool.
We already know why we cut pavers – they “finish” things. A good-fitting brick paver is a treat to an installer’s eyes – and he may just be the only one, in some cases. In a few years, often times plants grow over the edges of those crisp lines, or even grass. All that slick-looking work won’t show up again for 10 years, when the owner decides the plants have grown too dam big. Then he will suddenly go: “Wow, those guys really were good!”
(to enlarge any pictures, left click)
We take the approach that what we work on is permanent. The actual fact of the matter is, many of these driveways and patios will literally outlive the houses they abut. We realize this and I design and install thinking 3-4 generations of plants ahead. I fully expect the perennials in the picture above to be dug up and changed out possibly 20 times during the life of this combination driveway and patio. It’s what happens when you deal with the best products. It’s also what happens when you bother to prepare what’s under them adequately.
And we believe the same precepts apply in the walls we build.
And we cut wall blocks much the same as we cut pavers. Some blocks fit perfectly on the table of a large saw, sporting that wonderful device – the diamond saw blade – encrusted with industrial diamonds which can tear through just about anything, and particularly concrete products.
I’ve owned a pretty good number of saws in my day. The one pictured above ends up being what I found was the most useful for paver work. It is electric and, of course, as can be seen, it runs with water forced onto the cutting surface which serves to cool down the diamond blade and – most importantly – to keep the dust down. Cutting through bricks – especially cement ones – creates an enormous amount of dust. The particles cut are absolutely tiny. Modern electrical saws these days can run on far less amperage then they used to. There was a time when we would shut down breakers in a house from the stress on the electrical circuit. Now, better ball bearing technology and advances in more efficient motors has meant electrical saws can once again be considered usable and very dependable. The other very, very major advancement is in how much quieter they are than the gas powered engines which were what we used for long years prior.
Here is a floor model look at a powerful but noisy gas-powered brick saw:
Now, these cut faster, for sure. They have all the torque in the world. But they are tough for residential work, owing to their irritant factor. These will never be quiet – ever. But, for commercial work, they are clearly the state of the art. Just remember your earmuffs!
Next, we have the “art” of cutting. Those machines will all do the job. The “art”, however, is in making the perfect cut. The brick pavers it will take to make this look like a smooth consistent edge will take some real precision.
We typically work our way outwards from a house. This is primarily because near the home is where most of the traffic will eventually be and we want the largest possible pavers to service underfoot. Thus we end up looking like this on our way out to an edge.
As we close in on the outer edge, we lay as many completely intact pavers as we can. At that point, we begin cutting. I typically cultivate a two man team for this process. We have one guy marking where the pavers are to be cut and another guy on the saw. We can also waste pavers in the process of failing to get them to exacting standards. And, yes, I choose those standards. Where we do have a couple of tricks in our professional arsenal to make it look close to perfect, we also have a couple of tricks that can allow us to BE perfect.
We come to resemble this along the process:
Depending on the severity of the curve we are conforming to, straight lines can generally totally succeed at giving a curved look. And the saw only cuts straight lines. Oh, there are some artists who like shaving a bit, but that is Paver Cutting – Graduate Course. If you notice the pictures above and below, you can see how all the cuts at this project were straight ones.
It is just my opinion, of course, but in all my designs regarding pathways and patios, I have sided with form as at least equal to function – and it has led me to a sense that the curved line in design is the Natural Line. I see so few straight lines in Nature that my own biases probably create curves where none existed. But really, in fact, the remarkable discovery of straight lines in a natural setting is so unique, it would be a literal feature.
(click all images to enlarge)
What the implications are for landscaping means adding to the work – and, yes, sometimes quite substantially. How wonderfully easy it would be to run a nice straight course of paver lines – or even cement – and just go outward from there in some nice proportionate square box. There would be no need to tweak and twist pavers to conform to curves and there would definitely be very little cutting of the pavers. As a time-saver, this would be an obvious plus. And it is, definitely, sometimes a plus. There are places for squared-off patio pieces. Slammed in quickly, they give a functional appearance and practice. The one below, we added as nearly an afterthought.
And this patio was already there, ready to plant around, so we left it undisturbed and worked with it:
But I am about form and design as much as I am about functionality – equally, I believe.
In my experience, the curve is simply more natural and – if nothing else – definitely more interesting. Sometimes bordering on “Too Busy!” but still sort of fun.
The insertion of “elements of surprise” are another complete benefit of curving lines and the ability to adapt segmented pavers to an ideal. We do this by the act of cutting pavers to conform to lines drawn and to also when we adapt to obstructions or interesting insertions……which we also design.
Boulders, for example:
So we arrive at a simple conclusion: If we use brick pavers for our designed surfaces for walking, for driveways or for stair and wall constructions, we find out they can curve.
“Well, Whoopdeedoo,” I hear. “That’s great, Einstein. Tell us more we already know.”
Well, I get asked a lot about curving lines why I bother so much with them. I mean why cut to fit to make a more effective and attractive walkway, gal dangit? Or when you can just bend them a little bit individually to make a curving line, like this one:
If I had a choice, frankly, I would side with the “un-cut” pavers because I like the way the full sized pavers look, curving like that in a mass, like they are somehow really “in motion”.
These are a couple lightweight looks at just that:
This one below exemplifies it as much as any I ever did. It almost “moves” as you look at it. Enlarge it to really get the full effect. It is also worth mentioning that “Tumbled Pavers” – those apparently “antiqued” ones which they toss in a vat and tumble around in sand and among other pavers, smacking each other around and getting “rounded off and chipped slightly” – are the very best for curving intact. Regular pavers are pretty perfect – that ask for more uniformity.
So there we have pretty much the “Why?” of paver cutting. In order to get those perfect edges and rounded appearances out of what are basically rectangular or square origins, we need to cut them. And that is an art of its own. It takes time to develop a routine where a cutter and his set-up guy work together to produce this:
Is there anything – anything at all we can do for this irritating conundrum of the modern driveway? Our very entrance way itself, in most cases, stands there – entirely composed of some monolithic cement or asphalt slab of matter, uni-colored, boring, cracking and getting uglier by the millisecond, exponentially, the more we look at it. We typically work around these monstrosities of glare, doing our best to prettify things by planting abundant color or weird plantings abutting them, simply to dress them up a bit and to somehow make them become something they are decidedly not. No, those concrete driveways are no Prom Dates, for sure. In fact, they are not even suitable for masks or the infamous paper bags.
So what is to be done? Owing to their size alone, driveways are money pits, aren’t they? How on earth can one recoup what they spend on a driveway??? Lord love a duck, but they are huge! What’s the dang deal? How can Steve – or anyone else NOT in the paving field – advocate spending that kind of dough on something so basic and utilitarian as a stupid driveway? And, let me ask this now: “What’s in it for me? Hey, Steve tells great jokes. My hubby even likes him! I like Steve and I like that he buys his meals off my dollar now and then, but isn’t he being just plain selfish asking me to redo that admittedly homely-looking expanse I call a driveway? Is Steve a shifty-eyed bandit in disguise?”
No, dangit, I am not a shifty-eyed bandido, snarfing for your landscaping buck and sentencing you to an eternity of good gardens in the midst of some miserable and penurious existence. I am here to help! Remember me? I’m one of the good guys! And today, I don’t care about your garden at all. I want to sincerely give you the place you have always wanted and I want to make it last a while. You go prune the roses and let me “garden” that Godawful driveway of yours. Dear, you too, Sir – you guys need help. Stand aside and listen up.
Driveways of poured cement and of asphalt have a life expectancy of around 20 years, at best. Depending, of course, on the mix one uses, I hasten to add. But most of us deal with what we have. Typically, the modern cement driveway is poured of standard cement with a PSI rating of around 3500 PSI. The numbers of homeowners who do not trust this rating to yield anything more than some mind-boggling and useless bit of information are the same ones – us! – who simply want the doggone thing poured and to get the installers out of our hair. But this matters. It matters immensely, it turns out.
All cost benefit analyses comparing a poured cement or asphalt slab over time to that of, say, interlocking brick pavers, reveals that a cement driveway will be replaced at least 3 times over a period of 30 years. In that same period, the brick paver driveway will sit there, intact and being itself for that entire period. In truth, in the more challenging weather environments, that ratio worsens. The smallest margins of error in terms of drainage or compaction degrees under the surface of a monolithic slab can render a cement driveway useless and broken remarkably faster. This is a truly dispassionate look at a practicality, by the way. It leads to the question regarding a budget seen more over the long term, as opposed to relief of the current driveway-less situation. Or even that facing a homeowner who finds himself replacing his existing cracked and broken monolith once again, hoping against hope this will never recur without really ever knowing why it occurred in the first place.
So why are brick pavers a solution? And, yes, that is where I am going with this. I confess to a bias on the issue, but I think I might just prove the superiority of brick pavers as not only an aesthetic effect, but in also that most important issue of budget. Tune in for more details on this blocky subject. In Part 2, I describe brick pavers in much more detail and I compare them to the other solutions offered in the driveway marketplace. Bring your thinking cap and your eyeballs. Being a bit shy in those area myself, I need the help! I promise this though: I won’t rip you off. This is legit.
I am recirculating this post and adding to it because I have been getting quite a few calls and mail from people interested in upgrading their driveways. Since I feel I did a pretty good job with this particular post, I’m going to change it just a bit and recirculate it near the top of the blog. Sometimes, people don’t pore over the older stuff in here owing to the sheer quantity of posts I have. I am now categorizing better so that it will be a short walk to see all my relevant examples and explanations displayed easier. The categories are over on the right. Click one to take you there.
So my claim is that driveways constitute a major part of almost any landscape. The move to suburbia over the last 40 years has given Americans at least, homes of substantial size, along with, often, huge lots. Driveways get us up to the door. They are typically darn near the first things we see at a home. They are definitely, generally speaking, the largest things we see. They are also – surprisingly enough – among the most ephemeral. They crack and break and get fairly ugly in due time, causing a need for replacement.
My contention is that this is not necessary at all. Furthermore, I think it is possible to construct a driveway that can meet aesthetic ends as well as an unheard of longer-lasting durability using today’s cement technologies. Interlocking bricks are versatile as they can be, coming in many shapes and patterns – some utterly exotic – and their durability is legendary. Formed in manufacturing by machines that shake out the air voids common to all cement, they are made with additional cement and finer silicates that produce a compressed brick that is an unbelievable 8,500 PSI. To compare this to a typical poured cement driveway, consider that the typical pour uses cement with a rating of 3,500 PSI. Our curbs and gutters on our public streets come in at a “toughened-up” 4,500 PSI. Obviously, the durability is over the top in terms of expected longevity. And there is more, including a value-added dimension which I mention further down.
The segmented nature of their being composed of pieces, each snugly-fit in exact proximity with the fine tolerances and perfect shapes formed in manufacturing, means that they are flexible in essence. The heaving and malformations we see in severe climates which break monolithic slabs of cement and asphalt will not affect the composition of the surface whatsoever. Where monoliths break, then crack wider over time until they essentially disintegrate, brick pavers will be sitting there, intact and unbroken. A crack in a cement slab will never get better. The “cracks are already there” with bricks, something the old road builders knew back when bricks were the thing for streets. Indeed, Vancouver, BC, among other cities, is slowly replacing entire streets with brick pavers.
So we now see that they are a definitely superior product in the sense of durability. What do they cost?
Well, they cost more. Brick pavers typically cost about twice as much as cement and, depending on the pattern and style, they can cost more than that. They are definitely a labor-intensive application and, like all surfaces, depend mightily on the sub strata all being firmly and most completely compacted. That many omit this step in installing cement happens to also be one of its downfalls. This is not as commonly done as we would hope, I happen to know. Costing twice as much is substantial, there is no doubt. You can pay more in the end however just by addressing the same old daggone cement again, taking out the broken shards and re-pouring, ad nauseum. In this case, my point being, you really do pay for what you get. In fact, I would go so far as to say you might well exceed it. For resale purposes as well as general curb appeal, few things match brick paver driveways.
The next factor is Curb Appeal.
Composition, color and special effects can make a driveway something far more than one dreamed. The top picture is a very straightforward look at a simple design using a cheaper paver. It was done for a lady who had tried and tried to chase the cracking driveway she had been driving on for years. She had used patches in the past – ugly swaths of different-colored cement which stood out like a sore thumb. And then they started cracking too. Three of us were able to change that driveway to what you see there – complete with a walkway to her back yard and a patio in the same material – in two weeks.
The final pitch in favor of brick driveways is their resale value. Ask any real estate salesperson if they hold the value of their investment and I wager you’ll get a resounding “Yes!”. At least, in my experience it has been that way. Brick paver constructions tend to be lumped in real estate terminology with the terms “value-added” and “special”. They are often foremost in listings as described “benefits”.
These other pictures illustrate yet more possibilities in driveway compositions. I look at many expenditures in landscaping and wonder why some of it is not investing in driveways which could be made to catch the eye. A cool driveway is a unique and obvious way of welcoming people with pleasure and some style. It does not have to be overwhelming – although it can be – but it can certainly make a place look better. It can – if one wants – also show a bit of whimsy or even creativity. Driveways, like gardens, are opportunities.
I’ve done bits of this before, just not of this particular place. This post will deal with the in’s and out’s of encountering different soils at the base of a project and how we coped with them in establishing a firm bottom for a durable and permanent patio. A look here at the onset of the project shows what we were up against. The client – a busy lady who was CEO of a big concern in Reno, wanted a place to entertain. She had a smallish lot with a fabulous view and as we worked on the design, her primary request was for space to seat 4 tables with hungry eaters. She also wanted a small water feature – a bubble rock – and a place to put a sculpture of a Heron, rendered from Pink Granite. Oh – and irrigation up by the house. It was actually a big project, complete with an absolutely homely point of departure.
Essentially, no one had laid in any base material whatsoever under the original patio which had been constructed using some exceedingly odd principles, including using wood for the patio itself – not raised but embedded in the ground. No doubt it was a rapid and temporary solution that was simply never addressed again, once completed. So, needless to say, it was a mess, rotten and falling apart and adding – daily – yet more soft, spongy material to an already-soft base.
(click all images to enlarge)
We removed the covering and arrived at the dirt floor we looked for. Once here, we could decide on what material and how deep we needed to go to provide the adequate foundation for permanence. Naturally, we had to remove the spongier material. What was next was a determination as to how deep we had to excavate in order to get to soils which would support a durable foundation. So we dug down until we reached a reasonable clay base, something that would actually take compaction.
Making life even harder for this project is the fact that it had a tiny gate through which – oh – approximately 12-14 tons of material would pass – in both directions! Obviously, we had to get rid of some stuff and, just as obviously, we had to bring in even heavier “stuff”, including bricks, base rock, sand and the always-lightweight irrigation materials – whose existence got provided for by yet more good old excavating!
Oh – and the Pine Tree – it had to go, too. For guys spoiled by machinery, this one was a nasty project
Note also the small white arbor. The client wanted a sort of “private area” – away from the rush and quieter. This area was far shadier and oodles more private than any other possible spot. We would install an intimate seating area, suitable for romance, perhaps or for some fine reading and contemplation.
Irrigation was intended to go under the patio and to be accessible for the placement of pots and containers adjoining the house itself. This is a great idea and totally do-able. Planters such as these can thereby be nearly maintenance-free, inasmuch as water is a daily additive run off a clock, adjustable to run as often as is necessary. The wonders of drip irrigation once again surface, making life easier as well as requiring more exactitude as far as quantity.
Thus we see the trenches going under what will eventually become the base of the patio itself. We use “hard pipe” (Schedule 40, PVC) to run under, then attach the more flexible and fragile drip hoses to them at the destination.
As shown above, the trenches are nearly ready. We add the pipe, then cover, then we are finally at pretty much Stage 3, which is the heavy lifting – bringing in the base material, spreading it, then compacting. We try to get somewhat perfect at this stage. We shoot for adding an exact amount of sand for the next level – that just below the pavers themselves – for a variety of reasons, including having enough! But it also pays off in spreading the load out as far as what to expect for compacting later. An area with a thickness of more sand than another will be just a tad spongier and require extra work in the end. Kenny here is getting it pretty much as close to perfect as we can get it. Being pretty much perfect himself made it easier – by his own admission.
Note the compactor in the foreground to the right. These machines are modern miracles, in many ways. They can also adjust waves and high spots and they knock down what appears to be chunks and pieces of gravel down to a smoother surface. They also render the base immovable – our primary goal anyway.
Yes, there are pipes everywhere. The extruding gray pipe with the blue wire is the electrical line which will power up not only our little pump for the Bubble Rock we will install but is also intended to provided an assembly for plugging in other stuff – a gang box of outlets for radio, barbecues and Lord knows what else. The white pipe, meanwhile, is a water pipe, connected to the irrigation system itself and intended to act as an “automatic fill” for the water feature, to add water when necessary to the pond. It all seemed so simple, didn’t it?
So below is the aforementioned “private area” forming up. Naturally, we began here, inasmuch as it is the most remote spot to build ourselves out from. You can see our 1″ of sand, laid in over the compacted base material here in good relief. Yes, we literally just add pavers after reaching a desired surface. Typically, we use a “screed board”, notched to travel along premeasured width and height lines. A couple of passes with this board and we’re off.
It gives us something like this:
You will notice the “edge restraints” and aluminum – sometimes plastic – edging. Obviously, these act to hold evertything in place just marvelously. When you see the size of the “nails” we use to insure its stability, you can see why it stays intact. Those are each 8″-12″ long.
Yes, there is pipe under the pavers here, leading into the small bed at the center. We also ran lighting wire for eventual outdoor lighting.
Below is what it looks like when we are essentially done with an area. You will notice the drip pipe, connected elsewhere and supplying water to the center bed. While working elsewhere, we spread kiln-dried sand over the top – for all sorts of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that we spread it all over the place anyway, for purposes of grouting and filling the tiny spaces between the bricks themselves. However, at this stage it also protectas the surface from accidents like spills or excessive traffic.
This area is now pretty much complete. Naturally, we will add plants, sweep in the sand and then – on this project – spray on a semi-gloss finishing sealer. But that is for the next post.
It made my day.
