Monthly Archives: January 2012

Cutting Brick Pavers – How We Do It

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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.

Gratuitous Corey picture Alert!  😉  Hi, Corey!

And here is the finished product:

Landscape Development – Where Things Start and What They Become

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I love time lapse photography. The developments of landscapes are one of life’s little rewards for those who install them. In fact, aside from the pleasure of rendering a bowl of dust or mud into something far more than that, it is the second-most Primary Benefit of the trade. You can enlarge many of these pictures by left-clicking.

Here’s a project whose photo’s were taken pretty much as we were leaving – the day we “finished” installing all the plants and mulches and what-not. I was supremely satisfied, feeling certain what we had put in would develop well. This is the “real” version of what many of these places look like when first completed. To say patience can pay dividends is quite an understatement. We worked within a tight budget here, selecting smaller sized plants from nurseries, opting for “more bounce for the gold ounce”. These guys were also incredibly good at taking care and nurturing their place, I hasten to add. Steve and Mary, I salute you!  😉

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This was the result, not that long afterwards, I’m thinking 2 years:

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Maybe an even  better perspective of the same angle:

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Another perspective, same project. I am so in love with Penstemons, it’s almost sick, lol:

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Same time frame:

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The combination of intense and plentiful sun, mixed with a very, very scrupulous addition of brand new and upgraded topsoil in huge amounts, make Reno, Nevada – where this project was completed – almost uniquely situated to produce phenomenal growth in certain types of plants. Perennials absolutely love Reno, or at least the sun-loving varieties such as Penstemons, Lavender, Salvia and the likes. Give the soil a touch of acidity, give the roots a medium to grow in and – whoa! Needless to say, the Aspens shown here grow at an equally phenomenal rate:

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Two years is a short period of time for a landscape. After one, this actually approached what it looked like.

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And here’s a totally gratuitous look back:

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And here we have another year under the belt, showing us yet more recent growth:

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This next project was my business partner, Bill’s house. Now, this is a bit unfair, because we could tinker with this one on days off or when Bill had emergencies – like visits from family, lol. So we began with something along these lines, just after we completed the creek and waterfall (which we later raised!):

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And the lawn! Can’t fergit the lawn!!

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Anyway, these became something else, too (I think we improved the lawn):

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And we wrought some other changes in a couple short years, too:

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Incredibly enough, I actually get paid to do all this!

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Then there are the Supremely Big Humongous Projects of acreage and plentiful dust. The onset of projects such as this are impressively intimidating as heck. Showing up with a 3 or 4 man crew makes the owners go “Huh?”

“You mean you work too?” (Truth is, I said the same “Huh?” when I saw the darn thing – in almost every case. It always seems to have an element of “Gulp!” to it, to be perfectly honest.)

My response is always “Sure! We ready!!”  😉

Starting with this you can plainly see there is a “ways” to the second picture, especially considering we placed those rocks:

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But we did it:

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From the other direction:

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Next time, we’ll visit a water feature ‘time lapse’, where we will wonder how we got anywhere at all from here. Poor Leo, lol. Another day of liquid sunshine in Portland, Oregon!:

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To here ( a nicer day 😉 :

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To this:

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Fewer Straight Lines Please!! And A Happy New Year!

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Good morning!

And, yes, I partied a day early this season.  😉

My perspective has become Unusual!

Frank Gehry‘s rather unusual sense of line and structure greets our blog readers, as he pretty much abuses our standard and comforming sense of things.

I wanted to pay notice to those designers, architects and landscapers who take issue with the most standard building practices in design history – the straight line. What we find as a result are any number of alternative design effects which focus more on an anarchistic sense of line – and therefore a more natural one. Some of these effects are merely exterior fluff covering square and rectangular building while others – in particular Mr. Gehry – take a far different tack.

(All the pictures shown here are wantonly mined from architectural blogs and websites where I have submitted requests to post here. Some have told me to “Go for it!”, while others did not reply. Inasmuch as I have no real commercial interests in this blog, the brunt of my delivery is simple – to acquaint us with ideas we may not have encountered as yet. As well, this is a post full of praise at the amazing creativity of these giants who have touched the face of Creation and inspired entire schools of thought and rabid appreciation for their labors. With a few soreheads, of course.)

 

Of particular interest to me have been Gehry’s fountains.

This one – above – (enlarge it for a great view of his respect for her intense interest in porcelain)  called “A Rose For Lilly” was dedicated to a very dear benefactor of his, Lillian Disney, who undoubtedly played a role in the construction and design of the amazing Disney building below:

So how practical do we make this building below?

This artist’s rendition of the Capital Gate Hotel in Dubai would seem like some otherworldly dream if what we saw in pictures below it were not very real:

 

Yes, this is a photograph of precisely that building under way:

A better shot. It leans a full 18 degrees, held in place by the straight elevator shaft enclosed in cement which, itself tipped over 17 inches at the top, leaning the other direction:

The Finished Product, just completed in reality:

Other wonders……….

The future is Now, in the end. There is currently an architectural explosion producing stunning work and owing its progression to oil-rich soveriegn nations and a class of emerging cities with money to spend who wish to create their own attractions, somewhat akin to the famous “Bilbao Effect” which Gehry produced by constructing his Guggenheim Museum in Spain, an effect which generates a level of inquiry and interest regarding the architecture itself.

For example, a project with serious intent but currently shelved because of oil prices is this Destination Architecture in Albania, on an island in the Caspian Sea, designed by Danish and New York City Wunderkind Bjarke Ingels, a 7 tower extravaganza:

Of all, I seem to always devolve back to my reliable old favorite guy, landscape architect, furniture designer and fountain man, Isamu Noguchi. Below, at his museum of the same name, we see his structure exemplified with a meandering, quite impractical water trail intersecting a hard surface with no apparent purpose, not that anyone cares:

No straight lines here!

And most definitely none here in this famous – or infamous – Noguchi landmark in Austria: