Owner Builder Process - Full Backyard - San Diego
Comments (24)
10 years agoPlanning Phase (Jan 31st, 2015)
Marking up the backyard for ideas - this was redone like 5 times. Before paint, I used a really long rope, and digitized it using Google Sketchup
Before Demo:
After Demo:
- 10 years ago
Excavation (Feb 16th - Feb 17th, 2015)
We used Arban Excavation - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Very professional - works with a lot of owner builders, did a stellar job - even with me making a bunch of changes while he was digging.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSEq-5C7Ae8 (timelapse Day 1)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1ZyShvtLFQ (timelapse Day 2)
Related Discussions
Backyard Design - What would you do?
Comments (31)Wow, thanks to each of you for sharing your thoughts - I feel like a kid on Christmas seeing so many responses! Before I start addressing all comments, I want to note the "secret garden" I forgot to mention in my original post. Right now it's just a heavily shaded area in the back corner (SE) of the yard enclosed by major overgrowth accessed by a gate from inside the dog pen. I'm not sure how shaded it would be if we were to seriously get after the privet/junk hedge jungle, but I thought I would mention it in case any of you have brilliant ideas for it as I think it could be a really special little area. No grass, some purple flowering ground cover, a scraggly old tree with a thick L shaped branch (would be a great climber). Now on to business. I'll start by topic, & try to answer any questions. The privet hedge: Frankly, it scares me. I've been pretending it doesn't exist for the past 2.5 years but it's time to start facing it. Ideally, I would love to replace it but it's just not in the budget so I suppose we will try to cut it back and clean it up (per Yardvaark & Whitecap2's instructions - lower cuts, full-on weed war). As unsightly as it is, it does provide invaluable privacy and effectively blocks out the houses behind us. Yes, our nice neighbor to the east just had the stretch between us heavily cut back but the weed eradication remains our problem to tackle - yikes... Possible future addition: This is really just a dream at this point but I want to avoid extensive or large planting in the area in case my dream does one day come true. The new wing would ideally extend south & a bit east as shown in blue in the pic below. I've probably made it a little over sized but that should give you an idea. Afternoon shade: The carport wing of the house does cast shade starting at about 2:00 or so in the summer. It takes a while to extend much further than the bed but eventually about 1/3 of the lawn becomes shaded. Yardvaark, I like the a/c screen & tree placement suggestions. And thank your for explaining the major down to minor (tall to short) planning method. Such a basic concept but one I'd never thought about before, with this being my first from-scratch landscaping project. I will definitely return with a plan for you all to review before starting any work. This forum is such an incredible resource & I am so grateful to each of you for sharing your knowledge! Whitecap2, the small covered porch (8'x18') is up against the house & steps down to the exposed patio. I have marked it in green in the pic below. I had no idea hedges were passe ("so 60's"); I think they can be quite lovely when not grotesquely overgrown like ours! Catkim, I adore the idea of a courtyard - so very charming. Beds along the hedge also sound very nice. And that link to the children's garden - how adorable! This would be a great time to start something like that as my little girl is now 16 months. Mad_gallica, the dog run does eat up almost all of the existing shade but I'm afraid most of that shade is created by the junk growing in the privet hedge. If we were to clean up the hedge, I don't know how much shade would remain in that area. Regardless, the pen & dog house have to go. Bahia, I'm ordering my own copy of the Southern Living Garden Book today. Thank you so much for the suggestion. I'm shocked my green thumbed mother & grandmother had not mentioned this book to me! Unfortunately, the sewer line is the original clay pipe. Depending on the type of design we settle on, it may be something we need to address before any landscaping begins. Whitecap2, yes; lots of high maintenance, sun-drenched, thirsty grass. We purchased the house from the elderly widow of the original owner/builder who we have discovered made many odd decisions. But that's another story entirely. Bahia, the carport does provide late afternoon shade, perhaps to about 1/3 of the back yard. As mentioned above, the turf is high maintenance. We have recently been working on the weeds more aggressively but the past 2 summers it required mowing every 5-7 days & lots of supplemental watering. I love the idea of adding another shaded terrace further out in the yard. I will definitely give this more thought. Catkim, thank you so much for your comments on pergola placement. I have toyed with the idea of a pretty vine covered pergola in the past but never would have thought to place it further out to cast the properly desired shade. Thank you for keeping me from making a big mistake! Whitecap2, visually I would prefer a patio over a deck in our situation. But I agree, anything would be more usable & less maintenance than our wide open grass field! You totally nailed my sentiment toward our current backyard: "It just seems to me regrettable that so large a space should be usable for such a short duration." We want to get outside & play! Bahia, I wish we did have sufficient summer rainfall but Memphis tends to get hot & dry, irrigation systems being a must have for any well landscaped yard. Regarding our outdoor habits, they are definitely evolving as our child grows. A year ago I probably would not have sought a space for midday/afternoon play but now it is a real priority. As this is our first child, I'm not sure what to expect in terms of future needs but everything you mentioned ("play equipment set, lawn area for ball games or running around, a secret garden or play house? Sited to be easily viewable/supervised by parents from indoors, etc.") sound like great ideas. Any additional advice for planing with a child in mind would be wonderful! Whitecap2, you are again right on. The lawn has not been overly happy even with all the attention we give it. I think the spots in the pictures are probably a result of the professional monthly spraying we started at the end of 2011. Yardvaark, I'm not sure how much more patio space we would want. I think it would definitely be a budgetary decision. The current patio is yucky pebble concrete & I wouldn't even know how to go about expanding it. I certainly wouldn't want any more of the pebble stuff. Would the whole thing have to be ripped up or could some kind of stone be laid on top and extended further out? I hope I touched on everything. Again, thank you so much for all your help. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it! Possible future addition (blue) & current covered patio (green):...See MoreLooking for San Diego gardener to trim not hack garden
Comments (9)Al makes a good point; pruning to bring back a garden that has been let go, or overplanted to begin with, may mandate a good hack or even removals. A garden full of fast growing vines will more likely need regular monthly pruning to keep from looking hacked. I well understand the desire to stay away from the "meatball" look, but you'll most likely need to be willing to pay a higher hourly rate for more skilled pruning, which many people aren't willing to pay. I'd suggest you look in your neighborhood to see if there are gardens being maintained in the style you prefer, and ask the owners who the use. It might also be more affordable to have two levels of garden maintenance; a regular monthly maintenance gardening service if you have lawns and sweeping to do, and a quarterly fine pruning service for the more skilled work, and have them also coordinate with the monthly service via direct supervision or written maintenance guidelines for pruning style and frequency. Speaking from experience here, detailed pruning that strives for a "can't tell it was heavily pruned look", will always take more time and cost more money. It may also be a situation where you have a too densely planted garden full of high maintenance type plantings, and a redesign or editing may be called for if you can't afford to pay for the maintenance per the style of pruning you prefer. I'd suggest you be prepared to pay at least $45/hourly for higher end pruning, which adds up quickly if you've got a lot to prune. With my own design clients here in the SF Bay Area, one full day of garden pruning and cleanup can often be a $1000 bill, in addition to their monthly gardener. I have some clients who actually do their own regular maintenance and have my crew come in and prune two or three times a year. Some will always comment that they had no idea I'd be pruning so much,or that it was necessary, but 6 years on the job speaks for itself....See MoreSan Diego pool - owner/builder??
Comments (4)I'll never knock an owner/builder but I wouldn't recommend it to someone considering it. Every year I run quite a few after the construction calls behind OB's. I never fail to ask just how much it ultimately cost them to get to the point where it sits today. Seldomly is it more than a few thousand less than what I'd of built the pool for if I was pressed into serious price negotiation with the potential buyer because I knew I was at risk to losing it to themselves and not another pool builder. The calls I get are usually tile and coping or decking issues. IMO, the only winners are the sub-contractors who charge the homeowner more than the true value of the service. The OB has no leverage with the sub to have him come back to address the knick-knacks. My suggestion is talking to friends and neighbors to find out who had a good experience. Go to the builders office and ask to meet the owner. When you do let him know your intentions of OB'ing. Ask if he'd be interested in working with you directly instead of a commissioned designer/salesperson. This is your first savings. I'd feel pretty sure that you'll find a good guy who'll be willing to work with you. See ya, Kelly...See MoreCreative ideas for backyard area
Comments (31)Sorry about the confusion. The "+" sign is a symbol representing the center of a plant. The circle represents its perimeter. In this case, it represents a small tree. The "." symbol is the same thing. In this case it represents a shrub form. The shapes in between the patio and house are generic plants ... there only to give the plan a vague sense that plants in that space are possible. When looking down from above (as in a PLAN) all individual plants are going to look like a circle with a center. The scalloped edge thing is a plant MASS .... where smaller plants are amassed together such that you do not see the individual, but only the perimeter of the group. Here, it's all generic and doesn't yet matter about the plants. I'm only showing them to say that "some plants can fit in this space." At this point, all you need to care about is the patio. The hardscape (patio) comes first. The plantings are subordinate and will comply with whatever way the patio ends up being. Since you don't want a deck, whatever steps you have will come fairly near the door. You'll still need a landing at the door (rather than immediately stepping down as that would be cheap looking and feeling, such as what one would expect to see in a mobile home situation) which is why I suggest make it and steps full width of the wall face. It will work and look much better than if you try to make it only one door width, as it is now. You only need 4 risers for the set of steps. You want a small patio. There is no need or reason to make a contrived or convoluted set of steps with this small, simple need. Keep them spacious and simple and you will have a nice finished package. Get cute or clever and you might like it for a while, but others will wonder why you bothered or the next owner may dislike it. Simple, well functioning steps will work best. You can glamourize them in the construction details, if that suits your taste. If you want something other than straightforward, it would be best if you sketch it out in plan view, and then I'd be happy to react to what you've proposed, giving the pros and cons. I think I mentioned before but did not see your answer .... you'll need to figure out the total square footage that you want for patio space. It doesn't need to be to the square inch. You just need to get into the ballpark on it. While I'm not working to scale -- just proportion -- I estimate the patio in the sketch to be about 170 s.f., which does not count the pure walking space in front of the steps. Including that, it might be around 200 s.f. Keep in mind that in order to do the same functions (cook and eat) requires a little more room outdoors than it does indoors. Outdoors, people move about faster and flail their arms more :-)....See MoreRelated Professionals
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Rebar (Feb 19th, 2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mgRKA24MjM (Timelapse)
Flooding (Feb 20th - Feb 23rd, 2015)
Mini-heart attack when San Diego's skies opened up, and completely flooded the backyard. Nothing huge in the way of issues, but still had me in full fledged panic mode. I kept pumping water out of the ditches, and bottom of the pool. I noticed that the weather report showed more Rain coming on the 28th for like 5 days of pouring rain - so I RUSHED the crew to get plumbing done, so we could get to Shotcrete ASAP before the next rain.
Plumbing (Feb 24th - Feb 27th, 2015)
I called for the inspector to come out on the 26th, so he would come out on the 27th. The plumbing wasn't done yet, but I had faith it could get done in time. I asked the inspector to come at 4PM, he came at 2PM....plumbing wasn't done....it was ALMOST done. But not done - the inspector passed us anyways. fhew. This meant we could go to Shotcrete, but rain was coming TOMORROW - still panicking.
- 10 years agolast modified: 10 years ago
Shotcrete (Feb 28th, 2015)
Slight drizzle in the morning, hasn't RAINed yet - still holding out hope we can Shotcrete the pool today. Crew shows up in rain gear, and asking if they should come back another day. I tell them to push through - good thing too, because they finished just a few hours before 3 days of massive rain. (which was nice - because mother nature watered our pool for us)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqZiatlz88s (Timelapse)
More Shotcrete Videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr0XDu3Ychg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVclECrodfw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEQzTN--kaI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSYL2UEBfYA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-h796teVd7M
- 10 years agolast modified: 10 years ago
- 10 years agolast modified: 10 years ago
Rock Texture & Painting (Mar 7th - Mar 10th, 2015)
The guy we hired for the rock work came from Vegas after responding to one of my Craigslist ads. I guess Vegas is very competitive right now, and there's not a lot of work, so he branches out to San Diego. This guy is unbelievable! You can tell how much he cares about you, your project, and his art. Every aspect of his work was stellar, and I can't recommend him enough. If you need rock work done (Boulders, waterfall, slide, grotto, anything like that) please let me know, so I can refer you. He was A+ all around - really good guy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FVywBhGnlE (Timelapse - Rock Texture)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHuHcvMIoYQ (Timelapse - Rock Color)
More Videos:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT4OhITSips
- 10 years agolast modified: 10 years ago
March 17, 2015 - UPDATE
So here we are on March 17, exactly 1 month in to the project - and I've uploaded everything I have up to now. They are working on the Firepit, Bench, and BBQ Island. When I have more pictures, I will upload them.
To give a sense of scale - so far we have completed:
Completed
> Demolishion
> Excavation
> Rebar
> Plumbing
> Gas Lines
> Electrical & Lights (Pentair RGB LED ColorLogic lights - 1 for spa, 2 for pool)
> All Equipment Set (filter, heater, salt cell, 1 VS filtration pump, 1 spa jet pump, 1 waterfall/bubbler pump, 3 actuators, easy touch)> Shotcrete
> Stone Coping
> Boulders & Fountain
> Drainage
> GradingTotal Paid so far: $38,000
Remaining
> BBQ Island
> Firepit & Bench
> 1,600 sq. ft. Deck (stamped concrete w\ crazy joints)
> Tile
> Stacked Stone Veneer
> Low Voltage
> Plaster
> Solar Heating
- 10 years ago
- 10 years agolast modified: 10 years ago
BBQ Island (Mar 17th - Mar 23rd, 2015)
Last week had a lot of work done. We are prepping for deck, so the Firepit, seats, and BBQ islands structures needed to go in.
BBQ Island location "BEFORE":
BBQ Island 3D visualization overlay:
Progress:
- 10 years ago
Firepit & Bench (Mar 17 - Mar 23, 2015)
The firepit had a mini-crisis. I did a 3D drawing of exactly how I wanted it, but it got lost in translation. The seat-backs had to be removed, and re-added. See below.
Concept:
What I came home to:
Needless to say - the floating rebar/mortar seat backs had to be removed, and replaced with block. The contractor agreed, and happily removed them and redid them correctly. I only wanted a very slight 2" - 3" reclined seat-back.
Torn out:
Rebuilding with block
DONE - the right way and STRONG - so comfy!
9 years ago- 9 years ago
- 8 years ago
I'm the worst - over a year late on this. Sorry I forgot to update. Everything finished June of 2015. Here's the final pics.
Finishing up the BBQ island
Cement Complete
Final Product
Color changing LED lights
8 years ago- 8 years ago
- 6 years ago
- 6 years ago
We went with 9”, and feel like it’s perfect. We have little ones come by a lot and use it as a splash pad (with some upward shooting bubblers). I also like to lay down on it!
Either way I think you’ll be fine. Some furniture already tends to float in even 9”, so depending on what you’re putting there 12” might cause more floating. 
PRO4 years ago- 4 years ago
- PRO4 years ago
- PRO4 years ago
Gary Clark