Landscaping: Week 12
May 8-12, 2000
It’s back to a sane pace this week, with a crew working on
finishing up the dining room, fireplace, and patio. There was some
excitement Sunday morning, though. It rained. The modified roof
hasn’t been seen by the roofers, yet. Lots of water on the new floor!
Some patch and plastic got us through Sunday. Monday a hole was
drilled at a low point to allow water to run outside, and the plastic
positioned better in case of future rain. Also, the roofers stopped by
to size up the job.
The fireplace is tiled and partly grouted. Slate is being added to steps to the patio and the patio, proper.
The inside work is done – the fireplace looks great. The step to the patio is also done, with the tiles aligned to minimize the inside-to-outside transition. The patio is taking shape.
Today we spent about 3 hours looking at plants, shrubs, and trees picking out the types of things we like. The front yard is being prepared for planting as the final stone work is being done in the back.
Once the stone is down and set they’ll use a pressure washer and some lite acid to clean it and bring out the colors. It’ll look great. In the meanwhile I can now paint the dining room. The floor and fireplace sealer wont go down until this time next week.
The stone work is done, save some minor tweaking of pathway stones that will occur when the the planting starts. A load of decomposed granite has been placed around the shed. It will be packed down, later. The in-wall lights have been installed and stucco applied to both both seat and retaining walls. Electrical will be the last thing done, so I don’t know what the lighting will look like, yet.
The fence section that was removed for access to the back yard has been partially replaced. The pool cover enclosure, kickers for the fence, and fence lattice are about all that is left to do in wood. Plants should show up next week. The big rocks in the driveway will be placed around the elm tree in the front some time next week.
Friday all crews were off at other sites, so it was my day to work. But I wasn’t alone: the roofers came in the morning – now I don’t have to worry about the rain expected Sunday. I replaced the screen to the family room with one hopefully heavy duty enough that the neighbor cat cant destroy it. I also got out the Cabot’s Bleaching Oil and started in on the new portions of the Fence. It’s very slow going.