Friday, June 14, 2013

Making the Grade

Last week we took a look at some "before" images of a landscape project we had started. The largest single issue with this project was drainage.  Lots of water converges at this corner of the house and pool deck, from 3 gutters, a channel drain in the deck and overflow runoff from the roof.  After several years, it had created rivulets and what basically amounted to a mud pit, flowing down to a wild bog.

We worked closely with Argentine Landscaping to come up with a comprehensive drainage plan before any actual work was begun.  This plan would channel each gutter downspout and the pool deck channel drain into their own underground drain pipes.  These pipes would all channel into a 6" PVC pipe that will carry the water down the slope and come up into a box drain in the boggy area.  Additionally, a channel drain will wrap around the new outdoor paved landing to insure that any water that might collect at this area will also be channeled into the 6" drain pipe, and not wash out the hill.

Once all the plans are in place, two truckloads of fill and top soil are brought in to regrade the area.  It's amazing how much better it looks already!


 

But even this work comes at a price.  Heavy equipment was necessary to move this much soil efficiently, but this work was begun right after a big rainstorm.  Muddy ground and a large backhoe are not a good recipe for a lawn!

But this can all be corrected at the end of the project.  Next week, the fun parts of the project begin!

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