back to the front

Well, we did it. Managed to squeeze one final outside project into 2011: the front walkway. I didn’t feel strongly about having one but David did, so we enlisted Jim Egan at Land Design Associates to create something that would tie to the rest of the hardscaping he’s done for us.

Here’s what Jim came up with…

fronthill_initialdrawing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basically three terraced levels with steps in between. In his drawing, the top level (far left) shows the original concrete walk that fronts our concrete entryway steps and walls being replaced with granite. That’s this area…

fronthillwalk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was also talk of facing the concrete steps and walls with granite but that just doesn’t make sense. I think the concrete is integral to the design of the house. And there’s nothing wrong with any of it other than that stupid crack (under the black mat in the photo) at the bottom of the steps. So we’re keeping it as is and adding below it down to the street level. We realize that a granite walkway will never match the old concrete but think we can make it work.

So, our slight revision to Jim’s initial idea looks something like this (click to biggify)…

fronthill2 | rough drawing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The crew came and made short work of it. First they dug out the hillside and leveled out bases for the two terraced parts of the walkway…

fronthill1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That involved moving a lot of soil…

fronthill3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I added a good amount of that soil to other parts of the slope after they left, shovel by shovel, and then sculpted it as I saw fit. But I digress. The crushed base went down and the steps were heaved into place…

fronthill4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then the first granite terrace went in…

fronthill5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Followed by the second terrace…

fronthill6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And Bob’s yer uncle!

We’re left with a hillside of disturbed soil and it’s too late in the season for plants to take root. So once again, I staked biodegradable Curlex down to hold the dirt in place…

fronthill7

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

fronthill8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I rolled erosion control blanket and pounded stakes until almost midnite in a mad rush to beat the ground freezing the next day. But it’s done now and I won’t touch it again until April. Looks much better, no? Remind yourself what it used to look like.

And the crack? I’ll show you another time.

 

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3 Responses to “back to the front”

  1. Wendy says:

    Wow, impressive!

  2. Brook says:

    thanks, Wendy! still trying to get used to it. by the time you guys come to visit, it may be completely unrecognizable!

  3. […] way back at the beginning of December when Land Design Associates was working on the front walkway? While here, they also dealt with this ugly crack in the concrete that I showed you […]

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