Our Summer Project

17 years ago

Hi Everyone,

Wanted to post some pictures for you. We finally finished our summer project. Thanks to those that put instructions and hints for doing stonework on the forum. We checked in looking for help here. We had a challenging back yard with a slope to deal with, that's why we needed a retaining wall and three sets of steps (one still to go this weekend). We are very pleased with how it turned out.

Thanks again,

Sandy

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Comments (11)

jasper_60103
17 years ago
Its beautiful Sandy.
thanks for sharing.

-jasper
gottagarden
17 years ago
Wow! Great job. You must have a good back and a lot of energy. I love the stone you used.
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Thanks! :) blackcat333, we did it ourselves. Well, my husband did most of it. We have 3 small kids, and the youngest is now 19 months, so I couldn't let him out of my sight, or he would have been up the ladder! lol My husband gets most of the credit. It was the scraping and sanding that took so long. I think if we didn't have such young kids, and a really busy summer, we would have finished more. I think seeing how the result will look, will help us get more done next summer. The priming and painting didn't take much at all. We used Benjamin Moore paints. The body is Kennebunkport Green, the trim is Windham Cream, and the accent is New London Burgandy. I really wanted a plum, and this was the closest without it being too dark and looking brown, or too purple. I'm really pleased. I'd love to see some pictures of your home.
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jugglerguy
17 years ago
That looks really good. Thanks for sharing your pictures with us.
emmagloria
17 years ago
What a beautiful job you did! I am a newbie here and a gardening newbie, as well. (I come from a long line of gardeners, but somehow it seems to have skipped me. Now I have a house with lots of land that needs landscaping).
I've been trying to create a series of about four steps in one spot -------I've been finding big pieces of stone on the property that appear to be flat, that is, until I try them out as steps.
My question is: what kind of stone did you use for the steps? It looks like stone that you purchased, rather than bought.
Also, are your retaining walls dry stacked?
I am so impressed that you did this all by yourself (without a professional)!!
We had our deck extended, which in turn loosened a retaining wall which I keep trying to re-stack, and it is much harder than it appears! My stone stacks are never that sturdy. Any suggestions?
Your tool shed/office/structure/little building is also quite nice. You should feel very pleased and proud!
emmagloria
17 years ago
Looking back over my post and your pictures, it seems obvious that your retaining walls ARE dry stacks. Any tips? Tricks of the trade? How sturdy are they? How do you get them to stay put?
sandykk
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks for all the wonderful comments everyone! We had a great time with this project, even though it was a lot of hard work. It just kept evolving I guess. I love to be out in the yard gardening, so it will be worth it.

Emma, yes, drystacked walls. We bought 4 pallets of stone and saved out the largest pieces of each for the steps. Lots of gravel and stone dust when building them to keep the dirt from washing. The rocks are heavy, so everything is nice and sturdy, not going anywhere. We were lucky to find someone giving away large stones/boulders, that we were able to use to hold the sides. We did read through lots of posts on this site for help and also found a couple good Landscaping with Stone books at the library. I'm sure professionals could have done a better job, but there is just something special about doing it yourself and then also not paying an outrageous price either.

Thanks again,
Sandy
humster
17 years ago
Can you give any info on the shed structure in the photo? I love what you did, it is amazing. Is the shed a kit and is it on a slab base?

Thanks,
Heather
sandykk
Original Author
17 years ago
Hi Heather!
We used plans from Southern Living and the size is 8'x10'. We opted for a wood floor instead of the gravel they called for. Cement would have been good, but too far from the road to deliver. I'm having so much fun with it. We recently added a fire pit close to the shed overhang for the cool evenings. The skylights are nice for letting the light inside.
Sandy
justadncr
17 years ago
What do you have between the flat rocks on the path. the filler looks so nice. Actually it all is fabulous!
easttnsusan
17 years ago
Yes, please tell us what the filler is between the flat stones in your path ... is it decomposed granite or something else?
sandykk
Original Author
17 years ago
Sorry not to get back to you all sooner, we used stone dust in between the stone. Below that we put down the crushed gravel. Stone dust is heavy but not hard to put down. We took a rod and tamped all around each stone to set, then swept in more to fill and finally sprayed it down lightly with the hose. Hope this helps, Sandy

Our Summer Project

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jasper_60103

gottagarden

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