- Joined
- Nov 3, 2007
- Messages
- 5,133
I thought I'd post some images of my project from last Fall...
The City of Austin started a program to conserve water after about 3 years of drought. They would pay homeowners to convert their lawns to hardscape so they wouldn't water so much. I had already started to transform our yard when I learned of this program,which ran from September through the middle of November. During that time, you had to start and complete the project to get paid.
I had already bought 2 pallets of limestone chop, a pallet of limestone slabs, sand, and a 70-lb bag of tinted mortar. I also got some Texas black and Apache red gravel for our front patio and a planter out by the street respectively. That was my summer project before I learned of the City's program.
I was planning to use a gravel called Comanche for the majority of the property but found some local river gravel that was very inexpensive. The river gravel arrived in two 12-yard deliveries dumped at the bottom of our driveway. Our lot slopes about 15-20 feet from back to front. As luck would have it, the bottom of the driveway is the low spot. I tried renting a motorized helper but it was just sliding around on the slope and really wasn't helping so I just got a wheelbarrow and shovel and went to work. It took a lot of persistence almost every evening and weekend but I got it all done by the first week of November and the city paid us $1100. That paid for the river rock and weed barrier!
Here's a shot from the street showing the Apache red planter.
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This one is the front porch area with Texas black.
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Those were both part of the summer project as was the concrete staining.
Here's a few shots showing the Fall project. I built another stoop off the master bedroom the same way I built the one in front in the summer. I also wrapped the patio in chop so the gravel would largely stay off of it and added a pony wall with a seat on the low side. Just below the seat, I had to excavate (the hard way) by the fireplace because the dirt was over the top of the slab. When I did, it literally exposed the underside of the patio slab. I mixed up some Quikrete and made a base for some chop that I laid up to cover the hole and make sort of a wall. The pony wall/seat is the result of extending that idea up two chop deep with one row of chop on the patio slab and the other going all the way down to cover the underside of the same slab. The ends tie them together as does the cap.
The rest of the Fall project was laying chop for a border and gravel all around. I didn't use any concrete or mortar on the long borders and it was a mistake. I will go back one day and remedy that. They move around too easily as it is.
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With the pallet of slabs, there were a lot of broken pieces so my wife got creative and you can see what she did with them on the right in this image.
[attachthumb=#7]
Currently, I'm finishing my house exterior renovation project that got put on hold when this started...
Tom
The City of Austin started a program to conserve water after about 3 years of drought. They would pay homeowners to convert their lawns to hardscape so they wouldn't water so much. I had already started to transform our yard when I learned of this program,which ran from September through the middle of November. During that time, you had to start and complete the project to get paid.
I had already bought 2 pallets of limestone chop, a pallet of limestone slabs, sand, and a 70-lb bag of tinted mortar. I also got some Texas black and Apache red gravel for our front patio and a planter out by the street respectively. That was my summer project before I learned of the City's program.
I was planning to use a gravel called Comanche for the majority of the property but found some local river gravel that was very inexpensive. The river gravel arrived in two 12-yard deliveries dumped at the bottom of our driveway. Our lot slopes about 15-20 feet from back to front. As luck would have it, the bottom of the driveway is the low spot. I tried renting a motorized helper but it was just sliding around on the slope and really wasn't helping so I just got a wheelbarrow and shovel and went to work. It took a lot of persistence almost every evening and weekend but I got it all done by the first week of November and the city paid us $1100. That paid for the river rock and weed barrier!
Here's a shot from the street showing the Apache red planter.
[attachthumb=#1]
This one is the front porch area with Texas black.
[attachthumb=#2]
Those were both part of the summer project as was the concrete staining.
Here's a few shots showing the Fall project. I built another stoop off the master bedroom the same way I built the one in front in the summer. I also wrapped the patio in chop so the gravel would largely stay off of it and added a pony wall with a seat on the low side. Just below the seat, I had to excavate (the hard way) by the fireplace because the dirt was over the top of the slab. When I did, it literally exposed the underside of the patio slab. I mixed up some Quikrete and made a base for some chop that I laid up to cover the hole and make sort of a wall. The pony wall/seat is the result of extending that idea up two chop deep with one row of chop on the patio slab and the other going all the way down to cover the underside of the same slab. The ends tie them together as does the cap.
The rest of the Fall project was laying chop for a border and gravel all around. I didn't use any concrete or mortar on the long borders and it was a mistake. I will go back one day and remedy that. They move around too easily as it is.
[attachthumb=#3]
[attachthumb=#4]
[attachthumb=#5]
[attachthumb=#6]
With the pallet of slabs, there were a lot of broken pieces so my wife got creative and you can see what she did with them on the right in this image.
[attachthumb=#7]
Currently, I'm finishing my house exterior renovation project that got put on hold when this started...
Tom
