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Pebble Pathways are a specialty. I have done just a couple in my day but I have so enjoyed looking at those done by others, I’m actually late in speaking of them. The above is from the Portland, Oregon Chinese Garden and – to me – represents the absolute “state of the art” of the Pebble Path. Embedded in a loose layer of wet cement and arranged painstakingly (obviously!) the makers keep their supplies nearby and reach around to grab the pieces, then they fit them meticulously into position. It was interesting watching them make these paths – and I only saw them beginning rather than all the way through – but these guys were definitely specialists. What was perhaps even more remarkable was their speed. Believe me, they’ve had practice. I have mentioned before in this blog where I was involved in this project myself, along with a couple of other souls from Teufel Nurseries in Portland.  One of my mates on the project was John Stone, currently an independent and very good contractor in Portland and Southern Washington. Here is his website. In fact, I describe much of our role in this exciting and hugely rewarding project in this blog under the category of  “Chinese Garden” in my “Categories” section.

Of some irony, during the construction of these pathways in Portland, a somewhat substantial amount of the pebbling had been accomplished when they were suddenly informed of a local building code which insisted that all “pebbled surfaces” were not to have more than a 1/8th inch depression. Since the ancient Chinese trait of providing such depths as a quarter inch – best for “massaging the feet” while traversing the -path – they had to redo what they had already done. The purpose, strictly non-judgmentally speaking, was for the ease of travel for wheelchairs and handicapped resources. Whether it made any difference whatsoever would be the question but – to their credit – the constructors sighed and went back to work.

What led to me to this subject, in fact, was seeing the mosaic work of Helen Nock, who I featured below in this blog, the wonderfully creative British designer and maker of exotic and artful garden furnishings, among her other talents. I was reminded of a few projects we’ve done where we inlaid a rather “Mosaic” pattern of not only other pebbled pathways, but with bricks as well. When one does a mosaic pattern, one gets this sort of “Fractal Sense” of the smaller role of the mosaic pattern being subservient to the overall ambiance of the project – the macrolandscape – itself. By exploding in artistically free small patterns at the more “micro” level, we make fascinating details which are never necessary whatsoever, but which add so much of a human touch. Below is a simple sort of construction we laid by cementing bricks over a barren, glaringly white “porch scape” of plain cement. Note the circular pattern of the bricks by the doorway. In the bricky world, this is so much trouble as to be almost self-destructive to a budget unless it’s factored in. Naturally, in my case, I gave the sucker away! But the clients actually made up for it. They were somewhere beyond pleased. This picture can be enlarged quite huge by clicking twice, for the full effect.

Here’s what it looked like from the front, after the lunch pails were removed:

And one final look at paver mosaics, in this case the picture at the front of the Toronto Music facility, a public arena dedicated to music, as evidenced by the fascinating mosaic trends shown in the pavers out front. The designer used a computer simulation of musical chords – I bet Jazz, lol – to render this undoubtedly maddening project for his installers.

Back To Pebbles:

There is a simply fascinating potential in constructing walkways and paths in these pebble finishes. There is literally no limit in possibilities. Indeed, Pebble Mosaics are a virtual art form of their own, some hanging in frames as representational art and others playful scenarios developed from the whimsical and fecund minds of homeowners and “amateurs”. I use the amateur term advisedly, as many of the best landscapes I have ever come across were done by the persons who lived where they worked. I’ve said this many times, but my respect for these folks is over the top. The best landscapes in the world can be those you happen onto visiting a party or dropping by for any purpose, into a back or front yard you never knew existed. Suddenly the floor moves.

Patience, a good selection of stones for the project, a great base of, say 3-4″ of unfinished cement upon which to work (a surface and finish we in construction often refer to indelicately as a “rat slab”) and a slurry of moist cement is about all one needs to get tight with the Pebbling Art. Here are some random pictures of other pebble art projects – not my own. The first 2 are more of the Chinese Garden in Portland, with the first picture featuring a multifaceted quartz-dominated walkway:

This one is made even cooler by the plantings alongside – never to be underestimated as the adjunct of choice:

A close up -

On a wall…………………………….

From the amazing Janette Ireland, I present the utter Lunatic Fringe of the Pebble Mosaic Art:

For more on this stunning artist, click here:  Janette Ireland

You’ll never look at a cute pebble the same way again! Below is from This Blog Check it out.

Well, we’ve gone from interesting to wild. My work is done.

So we gabbed about it all and made arrangements for myself and one other guy to replace the works with new pavers. It was Winter in Reno and we were not entirely geared up yet to open up the year, so I went for it with my good Kiwi friend, Greg, who was also between gigs and with whom I had a very spirited dart competition. So we agreed and I went with her to select the colors.  I felt we came up with a good match for her house and roof. Unfortunately, I could not talk her out of replacing the edging, so we were beset with using a rather red loopy brick on the outer edges. It turned out, they had some sentimental value to her and, in the end, it was not the worst thing in the world. So – we went to work!

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To save on costs, we arranged for a one day trucking operation to haul away everything we tore out. It led to a bit of a scheduling and staging problem, but then it always does. We combined the materials we got from the side walkway and rear patio and added it to a “hole” we created in the existing driveway. Another look:

Needless to say, it got bigger, both the “hole” and the material pile -

The way we loaded to one side left her still able to park inside the garage for a few extra days. But, eventually, we needed it all – the bricks on their pallets alone took up a tremendous amount of room. And, since we squeezed all the work into just me and another guy doing all the work, needless to say the process was a bit longer than would normally be the case. Still, we were in and out in about 2 weeks.

There was also the issue of the  sidewalk and the patio to the rear to replace which were also very broken up over the time of their existence. Unfortunately, I’ve lost the patio pictures, but here is a ‘before and after’ of the sidewalk to the back:

And after: (note the Channel Drain running across the entire driveway. It goes to the left in this view, fed into a pipe taking it away. This was yet another diabolically-designed home with a street higher than the home itself.)

And here are views of the finished product. The first one is taken before we applied the sealer.

And then we have the truly finished product in all it glory. Marion was delighted, needless to say. We were too.

Very simple design, really, but it sure made the home look different and far more “in place”, especially considering what she had prior to our efforts.

It really wouldn’t be one of my pictures if I didn’t have another doggone hose in the way now, would it?

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These are all taken either during or after projects we’ve done over the years. I have always enjoyed working with brick pavers. They not only carry a sense of permanence but they also actually personify the idea of permanence. I cannot think of many projects I’ve been on which would not outlast the homes I put them around, frankly. Done correctly – with ample drainage and the solid work of the bases underneath them, paver driveways and patios are 100 year things.

This project was pretty darn big. We had to make the small lake first, set rocks, then essentially rework the entire driveway into something much, much more. The pattern we used was a rather maddening one, requiring each panel to be laid in alignment with those laid previously. The “maddening” part came with whoever or whatever had been done prior to your work. This is a pattern which calls for absolute perfection or the result will be a big old Fail. Notice how the pavers getting ready to lay are all piled up on top of what’s already been done. They are like that because of the many variations in size and angularity of the bricks, all pre-formed to a specific pattern. Inasmuch as there were upwards of 8 different sizes and shapes involved in this complex pattern, knowing what order they go down in was a huge back, leg and head-saver.

Sometimes the sheer scale of the project was a bit intimidating. I once took a two man crew – and myself – to Northern British Columbia – Bobcat on my truck – to lay a walkway and outdoor terrace for the hockey rink and City Hall being constructed in a brand new mining town. When the trucks began arriving, they literally didn’t stop. 18 flatbed semi-loads (with trailers!) soon showed up, each containing around 24 pallets of pavers. Unloading them alone caused palpitations. It was also so far North, it led to bizarre conversations such as this:

Me: “What time is it? Must be dinner time. Feels like 6.”    (Still bright outside.)

Bradley: “Um, it’s 11 PM, Boss. Hey, can we go watch the Grizzlies out at the dump later?”  ………….Ouch!    This went on for more than a month. The overtime was wonderful for the guys but their girlfriends were mad at me. And we were good!

This project was one of those Endless Deals. 20′ wide, these are “fire lanes” which course through this condominium project for a bit over a quarter of a mile. The picture below is around the corner of the one above, to give an idea. This is Vancouver, by the way. We did this one around 1983. It hasn’t moved much.

But my favorites tend to be the more artistic, small projects, geared to please. Here’s a killer little rear yard patio that won an award in its price range:

Lots of cutting pavers where that set of steps makes such a sharp turn. The concrete steps which were already in place allowed us to apply the pavers by using paver adhesive which has worked marvelously to this very day. The small walled garden and our added arbor feature add an upward element which I always liked.

The angles here, at a 45 degree line with the home, actually served to give the impression of some complexity and of additional width. We actually reversed the angle at two points, as an interesting design contrast, separated by the colored border bricks..

Paver Glue also allowed us to place new bricks over this formerly solid and glaringly white expanse of concrete which came with this home – a home and project featured in this blog in many other places. Pavers adhesives are an unbelievably mature science now. Their versatility and powerful grip is a refreshing tool I have watched enter the installer’s arsenal of tricks.

The function of brick pavers as a design element serves many things. Strictly considering design alone, it offers a practical and far “softer” layer than pretty much any other surface outside of natural stone slabs. The amazingly varied colors and styles of pavers combine with the patterns to make something nearly organic – or at least biomorphic -  in spite of its pure cement content. That they are the strongest available material for paving is just gravy.

Anyway, enough for Part 1. Part 2 will have the dancing girls and my special “Brick in Every Toilet” speech. Stay tuned!!

The front yard consisted of a narrow walk which we bordered with bricks. The bricks were tumbled brick pavers, made to look antiqued before entry. It provided a softer touch to the hard surfaces and the hard lines all around the property.

The front walls were extremely fun to make. The material was called Celtic Wall Block, from a manufacturer known as Belgard Pavers. It is a top of the line product, very secure and with a rough-hewn frontal feature which appears stuck there long before now. Really cool wall blocks.

The front yard also needed some “hot” green in the person of lawn grass. The spacing came out fabulous as we got a legitimate lawn in a manageable space. It’s placement guaranteed a bit more moisture in the air and was – as always – pretty cool to walk in. I tried it myself!

It was interesting, finishing. We were able to acquire some great Tanyosho Pines which we used to frame the courtyard opening gate.  We also had some fun in the courtyard itself.

Further along, out back, we had a big patio to build with a fire pit and a nearby water feature. An fairly expansive lawn would cover the rest, with beds and planting beyond it.

It was a long process. Or it sure seemed so. But we busted it out anyway. We also added boulders, around which we put our pavers, to break the line a little and to hopefully supply an additional aura of  permanence.

I just thought some construction pictures was what this blog needed. And I am way into dust.

The Fire Pit was basic. No gas lines or any artificial source of heat. They were content to burn stuff. So we had to arrange for a nice informal protected pit for fires.

And the rest of the patio stretched on for a while. While this was not an estate job, the impression was what they wanted. The lengths and breadths of some of the walking features were huge. It made for an extremely lush and amiable environment.

We were delighted in how it all came out. Low lines, nothing outrageous, great color. I went a bit nuts on the color. Lots of perennials and roses. We had some fabulous Smoke Trees out front as well.

The water feature was redone later. The splash sound was too intense for conversation. But its size I think fits perfectly. Considering how dusty this place was when we began, there was no feeling bad with the results.

But, what we liked best were the walls.

The walls not only help so much with the grades and retaining them in place, they also are pretty cool just to look at. Attractive and solid, these – once again – were a terrific product.

And so it begins….We start at the house on the major portion, bearing in mind the stubbed up pipes and electrical paraphernalia and providing for those things by making precise cuts in the bricks. At this stage, we screed out the sand over our compacted base, then add pavers. It gets fairly simple from here on out, bearing in mind the pattern we select for laying them.

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The saw shown here gets ample use from this stage out. In a crew like ours – 3-4 guys – we generally have one guy dedicated to bringing the bricks around and placing them for the “layer” on the ground. Another will usually be cutting pavers in order to conform to our needs. Another – that is often me – will work ahead of this pack, preparing for the next round of laying.

Since I believe in curves in landscapes, naturally I make it harder on us. But my sense of things reflect a respect for Nature’s curving lines. I rarely make anything square.

Here is Jason cutting away and in the next picture, the reason for someone constantly cutting. The bricks used here come in very tight, straight rectangular shapes. We find that by making very exact straight cuts, we can usually induce a nice gentle curve out of the straight product.

Building our way out now…. We approach the outer edges. Note the cavern where the water feature will sit. We need a basin to hold water, needless to say, on top of which we will rest the bubble rock. But the pavers are still the focus at the moment.

Nearing the end of the line for the major portion of pavers, in order to finish, it will require the building of the water feature first. It is designed so that the edge of the feature itself will meet the pavers. Thus, we have now put i the liner, as the picture below illustrates. Next, we’ll fill the hole with rock and with supporting bricks and or rocks to place the actual bubble rock itself. Once that is adjusted and tweaked enough for the perfect fit, we will add the hardware – like the pumps and any underwater lighting we opt for. Only then will we consider finishing off the edge itself.

We get the rock in place – a nice big juicy 600 pounder which was quite an experience to bring inside – and begin the finishing cutting, then placing the edge restraints. We are getting closer. For those who wonder, the house in the distance is owned by a Casino Owner. He thanks us all for our contributions.

We complete an area of bricks which then allows us to begin planting and bringing in the new soil.

Rake some, add a bit of bark mulch…..

And spray on the sealer, which gives a mildly “wet” look and acts to preserve the color and finish.

In a year, the barren areas which seem so vast will be over run with the very plants you see here. It looks so bare, I admit, at this stage. Our job was to make her happy with it all, of course, but the plants are the easiest part of that. It’s the patio and its long term stability which was the goal. We made that happen, in spades.

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.

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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 flat and immovable underneath – 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.

The above is a “kit”. These bricks are all preformed, manufactured absolutely perfectly to form circles suitable for all the many uses pavers like this might have. They even come with terrific little designs on paper which you can use to fit in like a puzzle! I adore these, frankly, and that aint hay. There is something truly magnificent about the design artwork and the excess of care involved in breaking up all the hard lines of driveways, sidewalks and patios and putting in something for the sheer pleasurable beauty of it. As a design co-pilot, I can testify that these features add a truly value-added dimension to the curb appeal and resale value of a home – yada yada yada. As eye candy, it is even better. And that’s my thing.

Click any and all images to enlarge – even twice for detail)

Now, typical me – I have often decided long after the “kits” became unavailable to order in a timely fashion that- “Wow!” -  some sort of this circular mode of paver patterns might be ‘just the thing’!

The above picture, for example, originally looked boring as heck. All those nice tumbled pavers, set on in rows like little soldiers just wrecked my personal appreciation of a very special project overall. So – I decided to add a bit of “gingerbread!’ And did. It took Kenny about 3 days to successfully negotiate this particular feature and he took to it like a man possessed. I’d stop by and comment (not always well-received, lol) and be bossy and stuff.

This following feature was one I had my very own gnarly hands in, on a project with John Stone. Naturally, no one bothered considering whether or not “Circle Kits” were available for this particular stone and thus it became yet another round of hand work, cutting, chipping, antiquing and swearing – in no set order. In this case, that fire pit determined the desirability of circularity and I happened to agree, wholeheartedly.

I’ve posted this picture elsewhere and, as I recall, the comment was something along the lines of  “Only a landscaper could appreciate this picture.” There is definitely some truth in that. These shots give some idea as to what is involved when someone opts – late in the game – to add circularity to brick paver expanses. Inasmuch as we are dealing with “Tumbled Pavers” – those pavers intended to give a worn, antiqued sort of solidity – it is actually easier rather than harder to make them fit. In these cases “approximate” is still good owing to the greater tolerances between the bricks allowed by these “old suckers”. What is a bit more challenging, from a strict design sense, is integrating the colors and style of the two radically different bricks featured here. We’ll check out the result below.

A better look at the working environment above shows the cutting machine very, very close by. It is loud and obnoxious but walking any distance to deal with the enormous numbers of cuts involved in a circular adjustment is plain cruel and hugely time-wasting. Heaven forbid!  The other consideration involved with cutting and shaping anything somewhat Feaux aged such as these, involves how truly exact the cuts are, when completed. Naturally enough, the diamond blade saw will leave a clear and extremely well defined edge where the cut was made. It seems to sometimes shock people to watch us sit there with hammers and pound the edges down to a similar antique edge – or grind them – to replicate the other 4 edges, but that is exactly what we do. We “ruin” them to save them, as it were.

Of course, from there, we polish off all the edges from the other paver styles, having them meet the outer edge  of that stupid circle we aspired to. Band aids help the process. As in all projects, we spread the sand and sweep it in just prior to re-compacting it all to a uniform surface. Also, as in all projects, the carpenters wanted us out of the way, “Yesterday”, so they could work somewhere beside the mud which we seemed to take to so naturally. It took a total of about 7.573 minutes for us to spread the sand before the table saw in the picture above showed up.

Here is the finished look of that area, subtly integrated with some success. I was unable to get back and take more pictures owing to the rapid strain of financial necessity. We left. Hey – we were done, lol.

Now, some circles can also be rendered using other items – like wall blocks to form circular things such as Patio Fire Pits in otherwise unlikely areas:

A bit more finished look. That is a lot of grinding, lol:

Next time, I’ll deal with curves – always a favorite! – and how we do much the same thing, using boring square and rectangular items to form the curves and somehow sinewy passages of non-linear walks, patios and even driveways.

“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.

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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.”

]]> http://www.stevesnedeker.com/2771/patios.html/feed 3 http://www.stevesnedeker.com/2676/machines-and-innovations.html http://www.stevesnedeker.com/2676/machines-and-innovations.html#comments Fri, 11 Dec 2009 19:02:22 +0000 Steve http://www.stevesnedeker.com/?p=2676 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.