Landscaping part 3: The Reveal

As previously mentioned, we had no intention of re-doing the pavers when we first bought our home (See part 1 of landscaping). That was, of course, until it all started sinking, tilting and simply looking horrible. In an effort to save some money we decided to keep the original pavers in the front of the house. But a little change was done by adding a border of new cobblestone-like pavers along the edges.

Here is the before and after:

You can see the retaining wall tilting in the before picture and the straight wall in the after picture. Also check out the add border- I find it calms the busyness of the pavers. Also notice that the driveway on the left side of the image is paved in the original pavers. Since it did not need repairing it only made sense to keep the original pavers in the front of the house so as to not have two different patterns.

Close up. Now if only I could get the city to fix the sidewalk!

The walkway on the side of the house was changed to the new cobblestone-like pavers. This is why we added the border around the front part of the house, we wanted the two types of pavers to blend. And of course, the great part is that the slope is perfect- no water accumulation along the foundation walls.

Another change was the addition of a black iron fence. I love the way it looks!

As for the backyard, we decided to get rid of the outdoor storage shed- I sold it on Kijiji. The yard looked so much bigger without it! We wanted a place to chill and the shed just took up too much precious space.

The yard went from this:

To this. Look at all the extra space without the shed!

To this:

See other landscaping posts: Part 1, Part 2


 Smiles,
Nancy

Landscaping: getting it done - part 2

The freeze and thaw experienced during Montreal winters means that there is lots of movement in outdoor landscaping. This also means that when laying pavers, the excavating and compacting is key to ensure that you won't have to redo your landscaping the very next year (I've seen this happen- what a mess!!).

As with any renovation, it's important to check on the progress. Here I am (9 months pregnant) verifying the work. The workers were extra nice to me but I think it's because they feared I'd go into labour if stressed.

In our climate it is necessary to excavate at least 12 inches (approximately 3 inches for the pavers and the rest is for rock and gravel).

Excavating for the walkway: 

Check out that belly!

Excavating for the backyard tanning pad:

Once the excavation was done, 2/3 of the area was filled with 3/4 inch crushed stone and compacted with a plate compactor. Gravel was then added on top of the 3/4 inch stone and also compacted. Tip: the compacting is done when you can walk on the gravel without causing an indentation.  The surface must be slightly sloped (3/16" per foot) away from the house for water drainage.

Here is the backyard pad filled with gravel but not yet compacted:

 Check back soon for the final reveal. It's a huge improvement from the before (See the before post)

Smiles,
Nancy

Landscaping Project: The Before- part 1

When we purchased out home the interlocking pavers were at least 15 years old but in really great shape. The slope and water drainage was perfect and the retaining wall was perfectly straight. Tony and figured that this would save us a few thousands of dollars in landscaping. But for some funny(!?!) reason within the first year of home ownership the pavers and retaining wall started moving and sloping! As if it was just waiting for us to arrive to start falling apart.
Because of the cost, we just kept putting this work off. But finally, five years later, we decided to bite the bullet and get the landscaping done. The pooling of water (and freezing during the winter) around the foundation of the house is a no-no. We didn't want to end up with foundation problems- a common problem in Montreal.

Here are some pictures of the before:

The sloping retaining wall:

The wall gets worse after every winter due to freeze and thaw.


Walkway sloping towards the house:

The grey section at the bottom edge of the foundation wall on the left side of the image is where the pavers should be. They sloped approximately 2 1/2 inches.


The pavers are old but I actually don't mind the pattern. In addition, my driveway is paved with these pavers and it's in great condition. So in an effort to save some money I decided to reuse the existing pavers. The contractor tried to convince us to just change to new pavers, driveway included, but to no avail.

We also decided to complete the backyard by adding a paved pad near the spa- a perfect tanning location.

Old entrance into the backyard:

Here is the drawing I gave the contractor:
 

This is a photocopy of the house plans. I just drew in the paver section around the house and the backyard indicating the instructions relating to the size and which pavers to use.

The contractor laughed at me when I gave him the above sheet but at least he knew exactly what I wanted.

I'll post the after pictures very soon.

Smiles,
Nancy