Thread: Home improvements

Originally Posted by RezDog

It is looking pretty good. From that one picture it looks like pretty heavy loam ground you are working in.

The hill is loam on sand. All around the pool is clay though. Very poor drainage around the area we are working.
Probably why the concrete took such a beating around the pool perimeter. All that water couldn't get through the clay before it froze.

And tha Camaro is safely in the existing garage Dave. I need an outbuilding for forge work if I ever get one.
Frankly I am having to decide between the Camaro and the Corrado as I don't have the room for both. .

Tough choices Mike. If space is an issue you can keep the Camaro at my place.

What you talkin about, Mike?

Coping around the pool edge has been cut and installed. Gravel being leveled for the rest of the stones.

Very time consuming first step as the rocks each need to be cut on the angles, and a channel cut in the bottoms to clip over the pool edge to hold everything together.
Having run the pump for a few days again, the water is finally clearing.
I'd like to say it'll get easier now, but there are very few straight lines in nature, and about as many around this project. All curves and sweeping lines..
And lots of stone to lay ahead.

Cheers men.

Now it's starting to look like something..


Maybe another week to go? Contrasting grout and poly sealant still to be done after all the stones are laid.
This deck will have more sq footage than our first house did, Har!

Looks mighty fine to me Mike

Going to be stellar when it's done

Thats a lot of work you got going on but the outcome in the end will be top notch. Makes my back hurt just looking at the pics.

How contrasting of grout are we talking Mike?
It is looking good. I have three pallets of those here that have been waiting for me to do something with for sometime.

A light sand to match the house brick, they call it buff. Will lean to the light beige side and bring out the scalloped edges of the stones. Was originally going to go all gray, but thought, mah, make it pop a bit.. the retaining wall has grays and beiges throughout so it 'should' all work well. There is no repeat pattern to the stone work, they are all randomly laid so the end effect won't really be seen till it is too late to change our minds. Hehe..
Sitting here researching landscape lighting now.. not sure if flood, or rock profile hugging rope lighting is the way I'm going to go. Merits to both.
Will be doing all that stuff myself. Lighting is way, well lighter than rocks and pavers.

Oh man that stone looks nice Mike. It's going to be a huge face lift when it's done!