Greenwood Heights Backyard

The Final Day Arrives, Phase One Complete!

2008-11-25T13:00:00Z

As the dawn of the last day rose, we were not sure that the crew would be able to finish up with only a half day's worth of "work time" left, but they had surprised us before. On the hit list: finish up the pavers, bring in the remaining pea gravel, brush in "lock sand" into the pavers and wet it all down so, as Gaspar was fond of saying, "it'll look NICE." (overlay words with a great Canarsie accent) The remaining pavers went down quickly with most of the more intricate "piece work" taking the bulk of the time, with the crew custom cutting shapes and slices to fit in any remaining gaps in the pattern. Photo: Making quick work of the paver "piece work." Photo: Final paver pattern.]]> Photo: Pea gravel and seating area stones. After the hard labor was complete (as I suspected, the guys beat the clock), the "lock sand" (sand and a special bonding polymer to "lock" the pavers together, almost as hard as cement or grout, but no cracking) into the cracks over the entire paver area. Three bags later and it was ready for Gaspar to demonstrate the proper way to "wet the pavers" as we would need to mist them once or twice a day for the first few days. Photo: Brushing in the "lock sand." Photo: Misting the pavers and "lock sand." After wetting down every possible stone surface (pavers, blue stone, cultured stone, pea gravel and stepping stones) Gaspar and Mr. and Mrs. Tikihouse agreed "It looked NICE!" A quick group shot of the crew from Your Way Contracting and the boys were off to their next job. Then Mrs. and I spent the rest of the day looking at ALL THAT STONE and attempting to envision a greener spring when we move and replant up the garden areas making for a cohesive and SOFTER look. Now we need to back fill more top soil to even everything out (several inches in some places) and wait for spring to arrive! (a funny note, our friendly neighborhood developer's landscaper soon after began work on the new buildings back yard, running into s snag the second day with a truck load of topsoil...many yards of which ended in our yard. Yippy!) So ends phase one of the back yard reno. Just as a reminder, here's some before and after photos, just to show the immense change that has taken place, sans new planting. As always, here's a larger slide show of the final day's work. We would like to thank, and highly recommend, Diana of Fun City Design ( funcitydesign.com ) and Gaspar at Your Way Contracting ( yourwaycon(at)aol.com / 347-234-9099 ) for all their hard work. While they were "hired" for the project, they went above and beyond working with us on completing the first part of our reno. We'll add updates a few times over the winter as we work with Diana on our planting (and reuse, thus replanting) plan and in doing our bamboo research. So, check back periodically. We'll hit the ground running come March 2009 with the next phase of the garden...this time Mr. and Mrs. Tikihouse getting our hands dirty (literally). (obviously some time has passed since this final day and this new post. The garden has been winterized and prepped for spring. We can't wait!) As an aside, do you like our paver patio? Would you use the same pavers for your project? If so, and it's small, we have 70 sq. ft left over and it can be YOURS. Check out the post on the forum here and let us know if part of our patio can make it into your patio.

Stone and gravel galore: days five and six.

2008-11-11T13:00:00Z

When last we left off, the patio was poured and faced with cultured stone. We had added back into the mix the 15 foot planter box for the bamboo...the rest of the work would be to finish the install of the remaining cultured stone, add blue stone caps to the box, stairs and patio edge, layout the pathway and seating area, then bring in our reused (and some new) bluestone for stepping stones, layout the pavers on the patio...add in a final layer of pea gravel, then the crew at Your Way Contracting would be done! Here's how the two days went. The main work yet to be done was the final grading of the yard and the layout of the 11X11 foot seating area and paths. Photo: Bird's eye view of the work site.]]> Photo: Laying in the blue stone treads. Photo: The patio blue stone cap. Back to the seating area and pathways. We decided on landscape edging to separate the seating area and pathways from the planting beds/veggie garden, rather than more stone as the edge. We found this great interlocking aluminum system from PermaLoc (in Holland, MI) Pro-Line edging in eight foot sections. The install was a snap for Gaspar and his crew who had not used it before. The interlocking pieces also have self tapping stakes that make it perfect for our install needs. Highly recommended (and we received our order only 2 DAYS via UPS). After the install, weed mats were laid down, then a base of 3/4 stone. From there we worked with Gaspar on the layout of the re-used blue stone from our patio (originally from the old sidewalks ripped out in the 1970s) and some new pieces that Gaspar sourced. We were unable to source an exact match to what we had, so Gaspar recommended a warmer Tennessee blue stone for the seating area, picking up the colors of our stone and the new cultured stone. After finding the correct "step-able" spacing on the pathway, they crew laid down DG (decomposed granite or stone dust) and sand to level out the stones. Photo: Pathway all laid out and leveled. Once the paths and seating area were underway, the pavers started to be laid out. We had spec'd a "random pattern" from Gaspar, but after looking at the possibilities (and realizing we needed one other paver size), we opted for a modified herringbone pattern, substituting in smaller pavers in to the pattern of 6X9 inch standard pavers. Photo: The pavers are laid out. All of this orchestration went on during days five and six of the project, with the final part of day six culminating with the arrival of the pea gravel. There were several ways to go: gray stone, mix of grays/reds/white/tan or a mix of white/tan which we felt completed the natural "tiki house" look with its abstract look of sand and the beach (at least to us). Photo: Tennessee blue stone and pea gravel. Photo: Finished pathway to our shed. Now, the reality was the crew needed just one more half day to finish up and clean up the site. We had gone this far, what's one more day, right? Below is a larger slide show of the two days. And the final hardscape post for phase 1 is up next! Stay tuned.

Mr. and Mrs. Tikihouse get stoned!

2008-10-27T12:00:00Z

As we intimated in our last post, the original "downsizing" of our hardscaping project and been "upsized" again with generous donations from our family. So, we were able to add back in the bamboo raised planter and had to make the "hard" decision (pun intended) on what to face the new planter, steps and ledge of the new patio area. Diagram: adding back in the planter, now 15X3 feet. Our original spec for the raised planters was for a matching "granite city blend" stackable wall product from Nicolock to a match our pavers. At $13/sq. ft for materials only, that match was out. In addition, we had time to take a look at the space as it was evolving. Since we would be adding bluestone to the seating area below the patio and white/tan pea gravel, it occurred that we might want to further accentuate the seating area with another similar look. In addition, we decided to nix the second planter box, partially due to price and partially due to the need to soften up the seating area with a planting bed, not box, for clumping bamboo, grasses, etc. The options for facing the planter box, stairs and the 24 inch high ledge from the patio down to the seating area (which never occurred to us) were outlined by Gaspar of Your Way Contracting. Typically folks face these types of areas with pavers (as Gapar said "looks like sh•t," from the sample photos it did!), stucco (which would be ok, but not necessarily match the look and have maintenance issues down he road) or cultured stone (a product made from stone dust, porcelain and cement that is cast into natural looking stone shapes). Of course there was also brick, but we already had four floors of that!]]> Centurion Stone. There were many color options, but we like the warmth of the "brown" series to match our other materials. Photo: Some of the materials in the mix. The following installation day, Gaspar and crew got to work in the install of the cultured stone and building our new planter box. The first few rows of the stone, which is flat faced on one side with the cast look on the other, must be laid in plum to grade, much like brick. The trick is to then work on randomizing the shapes (some large, small, short, skinny, etc.) and colors to create a "stacked" look with as much as a random and natural pattern is possible. Took a few trial runs, but the crew got the look "right" and moved onto the planter box. Photo: Laying the first rows. Photo: Laying out the random shapes. Since the box was to house running bamboo, Gaspar opted to use 12 inch concrete block, instead of the original 8 inch block. Not only were we getting a heftier wall (which doubled as a sitting wall), the new thickness would match the 12 inch wide blue stone cap that would finish off the patio, stairs and box (stay tuned for that). Photo: The bamboo planter box gets constructed. In addition, Gaspar, doing things "the right way," had his crew reinforce the wall with fill and cement in all the air cavities of the block. Now we have one solid wall! Photo: Part of the patio ledge all faced out at days end. Here's the larger gallery of the day's work: Next up: finishing the facing, dropping in the caps and starting the pathways.

Fixing, Framing and Pouring...patio is up next!

2008-10-15T12:00:00Z

After two mega days of demolition on the old concrete slab, we were back to dirt and some surprises. Pleasant surprise was that our home had little to no damage over the years under the concrete pad, probably mostly due to the back porch overhang, according to Gaspar at Your Way Contracting. Our neighbor's two-story frame house did not come out of it as well, but not too worse for wear. We had alerted our neighbor (funny anecdote, he actually helped hand-mix the mega-slab we just removed back in 1965 as a teenager) that we would be doing the work several weeks before hand so he could have his contractor at the ready if anything turned up. Since he was prepped, we called Jim Irwin Contracting from L.I. and had the crew come over to check out the home's extension footing and beams. Photo: The fixing of our neighbor's dry rot. Some dry rot had permeated the sheathing and studs, but the footer and main beams were in good shape. Jim's crew made quick work of removing some of the recently redone vinyl siding (nicely done to match ours by our good neighbor), repairing the damage, adding waterproof sheathing and burring metal flashing over the affected area down 18 inches below grade. We'd do our fare share by back pouring a curb along the new work to seal it in. In addition, we were also happy that morning to have the delivery of our "granite city blend" pavers from Nicoloc (actually they were so nice to look at, unfortunately someone "helped themselves" to 20 some odd pavers during their storage...not a huge hit, but an unhappy Mr. and Mrs. Tikihouse!). Onto the next day and Your Way's patio form framing and pour of the new 18X20 foot patio.]]> Fun City Design) and took into consideration adding a few feet back onto the patio, to 18 feet from 16 feet. While we had wanted to go as far back as possible from the original 20X26 feet. 20X,16 feet seemed very comfortable, and gave us more yard, but when we thought about the use (table/chairs, grill, bar, potting bench, etc.) Gaspar suggested we needed a wee bit more room. After looking at the pros/cons and learning the bump in $$, we decided to add the additional 2X20 feet. So, back to the patio. Framing was needed for the front of the patio pour and the two steps to the back yard grade (another financial surprise due to the new grading of the patio, we need two steps to go down from the 24 inch tall patio instead of the old single step, now removed). Photo: concrete forms "all formed up." Gaspar made us aware that they we're going to pour the pad "the right way" by pouring the pad, steps and front in one monolithic pour, rather than the "code" but substandard cement block steps and front patio with a concrete back fill. This meant much framing...and a ton of concrete. After 3 hours of framing and regrading, the ready mix truck from Kings Materials (who seems to be ubiquitous in our area, actually 95% of our materials will end up coming from Kings for the hardscaping). Part of the deal with our friendly neighborhood developer was the materials in and out of the back yard would go through their new structure (still unfinished interior). That meant Gaspar's crew got quite a work out schleping 10+ yards of concrete through the building, into our yard and up a ramp to the pad. Very hard work! (while we could have opted for a pump truck for the concrete, piping and pumping it through the building, that was not in our budget) Photo: From curb, though building, into our yard and into the patio. Whew! Photo: That's on the level. The patio began shaping up immediately and the crew began to pull out the leveling and work on the stairs. The pour was finished up by the creation of the footing for the new bamboo planter box (YES we had a few gifts from our generous parents, thus allowing expansion of the downsized plan from pre-demo, more on that post-pour!) and curb to the neighbors house. Photo: Finishing up the footing for our bamboo planter box. By days end, we had a new patio, some very tired workers, and a new phase done in our back yard reno. Photo: Final touches on the patio pour Here's an extended gallery of the photos from the day(s) below: Next up, explanation in the newly re-adjusted plans, planter box gets built and things begin to "stack up." Stay tuned.

Crack that pad! The back yard demo begins.

2008-10-06T13:00:00Z

After finally wrapping up our agreement with our friendly neighborhood developer, we were all set to begin the demo of the back yard. This consisted of: 1. demolition of the back 20X26 ft. concrete patio (yes, that's a hellava lot of concrete!) 2. demo of the "rat slab" (walkways or slabs poured less than 3 inches thick) in our walkway to the shed. 3. cartage of what turned out to be 2 yards of debris (we filled the container) 4. regrading of dirt for new patio, seating area, paths and yard. Photo: Patio demo during day one. (more photos in the gallery at the end of the post) With all of that done, we could then move onto the actual hardscape construction. As Gaspar at Your Way Contracting had said, "we're gonna hit you hard" from day 1. He showed up with his crew of five workers, most of whom have been with him for many years, and began the demo in earnest. They showed up at 8:00am and worked a full days till 5:00pm, with only short lunch breaks. Certainly harder than some of the work we have seen in the new building! Photo: Both hand demo and the good-ol-jack hammer. (more photos in the gallery at the end of the post)]]> it took 2 days. There certainly was a quick start, with the container half full by mid day. Then the crew, working from front to back on the patio, hit some of the fun stuff we had last summer when we did our own repair work to the patio: brass beds, bed springs, bottles, wire, rubber, a wee bit of rebar AND a doll! Photo: Baby doll and brass beds rather than rebar. (more photos in the gallery at the end of the post) Turns out our "bay time capsule" is actually a Todd-L-Dee from 1950, by the Sun Rubber Company in Ohio. Solid rubber and she certainly stood the test of time. And she cleaned up quite nice. Not to the original colors we saw on Ebay, but certainly enough to put on the shelf, newly named "Patty-O." Back to the demo. Now the funniest of all the demo, carting of the debris and regrading was the demolition of a 4X6 ft. pad WE poured last year. The patio was 85% done by day one, but the demo of Mr. and Mrs. Tikihouse's pour took two days. Very amusing and very dusty. And luckily we have very understanding neighbors who put up with the noise and dust. Photo: "Making the grade" as the patio is leveled and pitched just right. (more photos in the gallery at the end of the post) After all the demo was done, the crew regraded the patio area, including digging out the footing for the solid patio 24 inch edge and two stairs (no concrete block here). I must say we were most impressed by Gaspar's crew, their work, work ethic and stamina. Photo: Demo and grading done. Now we get pouring. (more photos in the gallery at the end of the post) Since we took many shots during the demo (and subsequent work), here's a slide show feature (formerly used on brownstoner) of the two day demo. Click on a smaller image to view. Next up: a few surprises with the neighbor's frame house foundation and do we really need power in the patio and shed? As a PS. to contact Gaspar at Your Way Contracting, you can e-mail him at yourwaycon(at)aol.com

Still waiting on our man, might as well get moving.

2008-09-29T17:14:03Z

While we waited to get our agreement signed, sealed and delivered from our friendly neighborhood developer, we scheduled the start date with Your Way Contracting, confirmed the revised design with Fun City Design and started our own part of the job: moving 50+ container plants, outdoor furniture, pulling plants and prepping the garden for day one's demo. Diagram: where stuff has to go. Whew! It was much harder than we expected, but sweat equity pays off in the end, right? (even more to follow in the spring) Essentially we had to move any and all plants, rocks, materials, etc. that would get in the way of the demo, regrading for the paths or the remaking of our new patio/seating area/pathways.]]> major plant pulling, unfortunately ending part of our veggie garden's end-of-the-season growing time, but we had a bountiful summer. Photo: tomatoes have to go, it's been a good harvest. The easiest (conceptually) was to move the container plants, where to place them was another thing. Most went to the extreme right and left sides of the yard. Some went to our front porch (change of scenery) next to the shed/construction fence and others took a vacation next door to our friendly neighbor's yard. Photo: plants are all "ganged up" (wearing only one color). Then there was the dismantling of our compost pile (into black contractor bags, recommended by the arborist/master composter at Green-Wood), moving of the blue stone for reuse in the pathways and moving buckets full of fieldstone/glacial stone that we intent to use in our water feature and to accent areas of the garden (gotta love all that stone, and it all came out of our garden!) to an area behind our shed. Photo: one of many piles of blue stone. Sore arms, legs and backs over the 2 day move (with help from a few friends) and we have a pretty clean slate from where we started back when the reno blog began. Photo: Right hand side of the yard all cleared and moved. Photo: A clean patio for a messy demo (and a very lonely grill). Next up, getting that check from you know who, our cash from the bank and day one of demo by Your Way. Stay tuned.

Messing with the bull, get ready for the horns!

2008-09-12T12:13:07Z

Let us return back to our original post and the idea that due to the construction fence being up, our point-of-view of our back yard changed. Along with that idea, so did the plan of just replacing the immense concrete patio "as-is" (or rather "as-was") with alternate materials such as pavers, flagstone and gravel. Above: this is what we might have replaced originally (and yes, the construction fence is down, more on that later) We certainly were on-board with the new ideas proposed by Fun City Design, and we thought our friendly neighborhood developer was as well. That is, until he saw the bill. Now I know what everyone is going to say: "You should have gotten all of this in writing from the developer." Well, in theory, that's correct, in practice, it's near impossible. We have know several folks who have been in similar situations, had property "used" or damaged by a development project and a "deal" with the developer, whether it be a handshake or a letter of commitment. It ultimately comes down to the character of the developer and how they see their ROI and bottom line. We have seen developers stay true to their word (and then some) and we have seen others flagrantly disregard any written deal they may have had with our friends. Ours was a spoken word, hand shake agreement from day one. OK, to set the record as straight as I can, our friendly neighborhood developer never said "no way." What he did was a bit of a switcheroo. ]]> compensating us for the remediation of our patio + hardship via a check, he wanted to do the following scenario:

1. I'll give you all the materials you want (concrete, pavers, bluestone, planters, pea gravel, etc.), but I don't want the headache of finding a sub and managing the job. (we say, "well, that seems OK, you worry about the materials, we'll hire the contractor and manage the project") 2. No, I'll give you the materials for FREE, but you have to PAY the contractor out of your own pocket (we say "Huh? Demo and labor are two-thirds of the price!") 3. Now, it was you who decided to go and hire a landscape designer and rethink your back yard, why am I responsible for the new plan? (we say, "well, Mr. Developer, if you had not taken half our yard for 6 months, made us move our garden, wrecked our patio, etc., we never would have thought to redo the back yard") 4. Don't you think you are taking advantage of us? (we say, "No, we are not expecting you to pay for the designer, nor did we think you would pay for the whole project, but we did expect you to pay for what you broke and used...or some equivalent!") 5. OK, you need to tell me what would make you happy, but is fair to me. (we say, "We need to get back to you on that obtuse thought, since what we're showing you would make us happy.")

Step back, take a deep breath and try not to curse. Let's look at the situation. The replacement of the patio included demo, cartage, form work, pumping the concrete through the new four story brick building to our yard and the materials has an intrinsic price associated with it, somewhere in the ball park of $16/sq. foot. plus the offer by our new neighbor to "upgrade us" for our troubles. Our thought was to take the value of the replacement and use that towards the design by Fun City and negotiate the remaining $$ as the promised "upgrade." No dice, as they say. So, after much cursing, cooling off and discussions with Your Way Contracting and Fun City Design, we worked out a new plan of what we thought was "fair" and while we would be "less happy" at least we would be closer to Fun City's design. Revised rough sketch (click to enlarge) As you can see by my sketch based on Fun City's original plan, we reduced the overall materials, lost the planters and reconfigured the seating area and beds. What we did not change was the need for our friendly neighborhood developer to pay for the LABOR and MATERIALS. We had the job requoted to almost $16/sq. ft on the nose and had two additional contractor friends spec and quote the project if we were only replacing what was there. Again, approximately $16/sq. ft. Diana, who has been super supportive during all the "bull," reworked her plan to my sketch and the new "reality" of what the project, at this phase, would be. Revised plan by Fun City Design (click to enlarge) The next conversation with our friendly neighborhood developer went a bit better. With a new plan in hand, a revised quote, two more back up quotes and a very stern insistence on him keeping HIS WORD and good reputation. We also reminded him of our two offers, one in March during the demolition of the existing building and the other in June after the first floor pad was complete, to demo the patio and we would live with weed mats for the summer, making it easier for them to demo. They said no, we shrugged our shoulders. In the end, they realized they should have followed through with the idea and we were correct in assuming they would pay for the demo and cartage. In the end, living up to most of our handshake agreement, he and his partners agreed to pay for 90% of the new contract. Fearing no more blood from this stone, or brick for that matter, we accepted the deal. Handshake deal done, we agreed to sign a release agreement upon receiving the check. Stay tuned for the next installment to see how that transaction went. Note: all plans posted on this reno blog are ©2008 Fun City Design (and we own these most recent ones!)

Four Interviews, One "Way" to Go.

2008-09-03T18:51:12Z

Now, with a good working set of plans, and a thumbs up on the basic idea from our friendly neighborhood developer, we went about starting the search for a hardscape contractor. But first, a shameless, but long over due, plug for Fun City Design's new website (hurry up, check it out now!) The contractor would be responsible for the demo of the existing patio concrete slab and pathway "rat slab" concrete paths (learn a new term every day, named for the 3 inch thickness and size...rat?), and construction of the paver patio, seating area, raised paver planters and pathways. Like doctors, dentists and hair dressers, a good recommendation for a contractor (any trade for that matter) can be hit or miss (as we found out from our home reno). We did receive four recommendations from the developer (a double-edged sword, we realized) and one from the folks at Fun City Design. We quickly met with four of the five contractors (one never returned our phone call, no surprise). All four looked at the plans, took measurements and listed to our ideas, adding in their own recommendations to what "would work and would not work" according to Fun City's plan. ALL of the contractors said a MAJOR component to the project was the demo and how to cart it out through the new unfinished four story building next to us (part of the deal). ]]> first contractor had some good ideas and had a really good vibe about him, but never gave us a bid (too bad). The second contractor was a big "you cannot do that" and wanted to use concrete under EVERYTHING, something we were attempting to get away from with the pea gravel and bluestone/flagstone seating area and pathway to the shed. He never sent us a quote either (good thing). In the end, two of the remaining contractors stood out from the rest, each spending more time with us, discussing the plan in depth, showing us samples and pretty much agreeing with the plan from Fun City Design ("no problem getting that done"). We first met with Gaspar of Your Way Contracting based in Staten Island. They had recently done a concrete stamping project for our designer and came highly recommended. Gapsar spent the most time with us of the four, had an really nice sample book of his work and really "got" the idea of the final plan. After meeting with us for about an hour, he said we'd get a detailed proposal in a few days. Your Way Contracting's quote (click to enlarge) (sorry, prices have been blurred out) Our final meeting was with Larry at J&L Landscaping right near by in Windsor Terrace. We had met Larry many times before, as he does quite a bit of work for our friendly neighborhood developer, as well as being fairly well respected in the neighborhood. Larry is a real "Brooklyn" salt of the earth type of guy who has been in the building and landscaping business for decades. He also spend quite a bit of time with us on the plans. Had some recommendations (opinions really) on what he'd change to the plan, but had a good sample book as well and even drove us to a recent project site in Windsor Terrace. Here's the kicker...Larry drew up a budget on the spot, albeit it with my note taking as well on certain pricing. While it was "rough," it was in-line with what we thought the budget might end up being, which was coming out to approximately $24 per sq. ft. (all materials, labor, demo and regrading). J&L Landscaping's quote (click to enlarge) (again, info blurred to protect the innocent) After giving it some major thought, talking it over with Diana at Fun City Design and waiting for the other two quotes (which of course never materialized), we decided we really liked Your Way Contracting. Gaspar had a great vibe and "can do" attitude. His bid was lower than J&L's (not by a huge margin). He estimated the job would take approximately 4-5 days to complete, pending good weather. With quote in hand and a good feeling about the next steps, we headed back to our friendly neighborhood developer to haggle over what we felt was "right" as remediation and compensation and what he felt was "fair" as a replacement cost he (and his partners) were willing to pay for the redo of our patio/back yard space and the usage of 1/2 of our yard for six+ months (during the spring and summer, no less...prime outdoor time in the city). Stay tuned to the "reality" portion of our project and next steps, albeit not nailed down as of yet (pun intended).

And the winner is...

2008-08-27T13:00:00Z

While Mrs. Tikihouse and I really appreciated all the thought and effort that went into all three designs, we ultimately went with an adapted version of option number two. Design number two (click to enlarge) Elevation of plan (click to enlarge) I know many folks who have posted liked the soft and organic lines of option one and while we really liked the design, it did not fit 100% of the criteria we were looking for. As I mentioned in one of my return posts, we liked the two seating areas, but unfortunately the second seating area by the shed would not be utilized in the manor we were hoping for due to it's "bird's eye view" from the new brick 4 story building. Photo: view of new 4 story brick building from shed patio After our meeting, we felt so sure about option two that we sent Diana back to her studio (Fun City Design's website) to work up the final working plan for us to show the hardscape contractors we were calling and for an initial discussion with our friendly neighborhood developer. The remediation we had originally envisioned was a replacement of the existing patio (now trashed by the construction of the building next door, albeit with our permission) with an upgrade to a paver patio, rather than a concrete replacement. However, as we said in the first post, rethinking the back yard took us away from a "you break it, you bought it" mind set into what we "could do" vs. what we "thought we would do." Photo: our "trashed patio/yard" on the other side of the construction fence.]]> "be fair" to our developer friend, but also "make us happy" after the loan of half of our yard and dealing with all the quality of life issues associated with living next door to a new building development site. Win-win, we hope. Some specifics that we looked at as we went forward with the refinement of the plan was actual materials: pavers, types of blue stone/flag stone (do we reuse what we have), pea gravel vs. DG (decomposed granite [dust]), metal landscape edging vs. Belgium block retaining walls and the planters (concrete stacking product vs. cedar boxes). Photo: reusable blue stone from our current (no longer private) patio by our shed Photo: "Granite City Blend" by Nicolock (though we're looking at the tumbled version) Potential concrete paver patio systems from Nicolock Stackable planter systems from Nicolock and this one as a possibility. There was also the initial discussion of if we did blue stone/flag stone for the seating area, would we have everything cut to fit (leaving little to no room between stones) or perhaps have them set in DG, then sweep in pea gravel to soften the transition between the seating area to the paths. Photo: Flagstone and pea gravel example (for conceptual style and color possibilities) via Fun City Design. In addition, how wide should the paths be vs. how wide do they need to be (48 inches was the standard, but that was wider than what we had, i.e. less planting space). And finally, while the veggie garden was moved and enlarged, we'd need to watch the sun to make sure it was the right move and right size. Did we need some additional space on the left side of the property? Still a work in progress as we moved forward with selecting four hardscape (not landscape, that we'd be doing ourselves) contractors. Meetings and bids in our next post. Stay tuned and keep those comments coming! Note: all plans posted on this reno blog are ©2008 Fun City Design (and we own these most recent ones!)

Three Options, One Way to Go.

2008-08-21T13:00:00Z

A few days after signing on with Fun City Design (Fun City Design's website), Diana came over to take measurements (for size and grade), photos, pick up a copy of our recent land survey (pre-new building going up) as well as chatting further about our ideas and hers. One week later we had our third meeting and we were presented with three design ideas. All of them reused our plants and some materials, reduced the "concrete" by making the patio smaller and adding more permeable materials, such as a blue stone seating area and pea gravel paths. All had a very prominent use of bamboo to enhance the space, add privacy and hide a bit of that 40 ft. brick wall. Source images of different bamboo plantings, water elements (again, reuse of some of our field stone/glacial stone) and different types of hardscaping, including the possibility of bamboo & cedar partitions or fencing. (Note: descriptions of the designs are our "interpretations" of the overall presentation) Above: original site plan of backyard (UPDATED: the area we're working with is approx. 20X60 ft.). (click to enlarge) ]]> Design 01: (click to enlarge) Probably the most "organic" of the ideas, it used curves for a patio, path and seating area to soften the oh-so-common "boxy" Brooklyn back yard grid. Three linear areas: the patio by the house, walkway/garden area in the center and seating area with pergola by the shed. A mixture of pavers, pea gravel and blue stone. Design 02: (click to enlarge) (click to enlarge) This second design broke the back yard into "rooms" with each area flowing into one another, but each having its own purpose. There were four areas in this plan: raised paver patio, sunken blue stone/field stone seating area and pea gravel and stepping stone path to shed bordered by a perennial planting bed and large veggie garden. Further dividing the "rooms" was suggested to use bamboo or bamboo and cedar partitions, low enough to see over, substantial enough to break up the areas. And of course the two large paver planters, one with 17 ft. of bamboo along the new building. Design 03: (click to enlarge) (click to enlarge) Similar to number 2, but more formal that either of the first two, this design decided to divide up the back yard "box" with angular lines for the patio and seating area, including angular planting beds for the veggie garden. Similar materials used as in number 2. The nice thing about all three plans (and part of our "needs") was each could be done in stages or phases over the next 2-3 years. The most immediate stage being the hardscape, while we still had the building next door to load materials through and before the fall. Major transplants and new planting would happen in the spring of 2009. And the winner is? Check back for the next installment! (Note: all sketches and designs posted here are ©2008 Fun City Design)

Design on a Dime

2008-08-18T18:00:00Z

When we made the decision to seek out a landscape designer or architect, we knew we had to set up expectations, not only for what we were looking to accomplish, but also the realities of working within a very limited budget. We looked for start-up or recent grads who might be looking to fill out their book with an ambitious backyard project. Unlike many of the back yard redos we have seen posted on brownstoner and the DIY shows on the tube, we had four basic criteria for the designer we were to work with:

-Strong skills in hardscape design (since we know how to plant) -Enlarging and relocating of our veggie garden (a unique request, we found out) -Reuse of the majority of the plants in the garden and containers (still left over from our roof top gardening days) -Creating more privacy between our yard and the neighboring properties (especially the new building)

While we knew we wanted to work in some of the reuse of field stones and blue stone we had already and had a strong desire to introduce bamboo as strong thematic in the design, we were open to ideas (obviously!) ]]> brownstoner's forum and brooklynian.com, we had two good leads for designers. We met with both designers, each understanding the project, each interpreting in their own way. We first met with David at Future Green Studio (Future Green Studio's website). David had a ton of experience working for other firms and was starting out with his new venture. Very savvy on "green" design and and expert with bamboo. The samples he showed us were very Asian influenced, with clean lines and a nice use of bamboo, wood and stone. He found the idea on our "Brooklyn back yard" an interesting challenge as he normally has full play with the design process, but would have to work under our four basic stipulations. We also met with Diana of Fun City Design (Fun City Design's website). A graphic designer by trade, Diana is making the transition into landscape design and had recently completed her degree at NY Botanical Gardens and had begun working on projects in Brooklyn. Her portfolio was a bit more organic and seemed to have a better understanding of the challenges of back yards in the city. She had done several yard projects in Brooklyn, including her own, which was highlighted on brownstoner earlier this summer (see if you can find it...). She also had a similar background of being an avid roof top container gardener who made the transition to a backyard after she and her husband bought their home...and yard to boot. We decided to work with Fun City Design. Future Green Studio was an excellent back up, but we felt Fun City Design understood our like of "controlled chaos" and the need for a large veggie garden. We did ask David if he would consult on the best type of bamboo for our scenario and best method of containment. We look forward to working with him once phase 1 (hardscaping) is complete. Up next: sketches from Fun City Design. (to contact Diana at Fun City Design, goto (their NEW website) )

Taking a Look Back, Pre-Construction Fence.

2008-08-13T16:00:00Z

We purchased our circa 1890s frame house in Greenwood Heights back in 2004. While the gut renovation of the interior of our new "tiki house" went on during the week, weekends were spent working on our rather large Brooklyn back yard. Typical of yards in the area, there was concrete as far as the eye could see. While we wanted to keep the 35X20 ft patio (still way more than we needed for us and our container plants from our previous roof top garden and our tropicals), but the remaining concrete had to go . . . along with the waist-high weeds! Photo: Our home and yard, summer 2004 (lovely, eh?) Jump ahead to 2007. Many concrete slabs broken and hauled off, soil completely reworked and tons of seasonal veggies (and great-looking perennial plantings) planted/harvested. We thought the yard was evolving quite nicely. We left some of the concrete in place for work paths (since we redid our work shed and rear of our home ourselves) and with the sun's path over our yard in mind, divided the garden in half--one side a shade garden under the limbs of our neighbor's mature magnolia and the other half a large veggie garden, boarded by Asiatic and day lilies, purple coneflowers and other perenials. Photo: Our home and yard, spring 2007 (big improvement) The patio became a great outdoor space (cook outs, cocktails, hanging out) plus work area (for continued home reno projects) and a great spot for our container plants. From blue stone donated by the neighbor (dating from the replacement of the front sidewalks in the 1970s), we created a small blue stone patio by the shed for sunset relaxing. There was the "long term" plan of eventually reworking the garden further, replacing the concrete paths, reducing the patio, more plantings, etc. But, that was at the back of our minds. Then in July 2007 the news came that the neighbor had sold his home to the neighborhood developer and we knew things were going to change. ]]> Photo: view of back yard from our patio, summer 2007 Photo: Asiatic lilies along the boarder of the veggie garden, summer 2007 Photo: Patio and home-made cedar table/benches, summer 2007 Photo: flowers-spider and mums, late summer 2007 Photo: view from blue stone patio of shade garden, late summer 2007 Photo: red canna near blue stone patio, late summer 2007

The "Positive Side" of a Construction Fence.

2008-08-12T02:33:05Z

Welcome to our back yard work in progress...sped up by Brooklyn building development... Photo: through the fence to our yard (though our yard is on both sides of said fence). While we have always been avid gardeners (from apartment roof top to our own backyard), we had no idea what would be in store for us and our garden when our neighbor next door sold his house to a neighborhood developer and the original two-story frame (not attached to our house) demolished and replaced with a four-story brick condo (attached to our house). Photo: yard, fence, new building, sky (still some left). After a spring and summer of demolition, excavation and construction, along with the loss (voluntary) of half of our yard to the developer, our original ideas for the evolution of our garden from the past four-plus years of tilling it changed . . . 40 feet of construction fence, moving half of your plants and newly built 40 feet of brick will do that. So, knowing that the developer would be compensating us for the (necessary) damage to our aging (circa 1965) concrete 35X20 ft. patio, plus the headache of a spring and summer lost to dust and noise, we figured we could use some expert advice from a landscape designer to help us visualize our needs and new look before the patio and garden were replaced. ]]> Photo: our yard and their fence. Photo: our yard, their fence and our yard (fence and new building sandwich). Photo: view from back door to patio and yard (notice fence)-Summer 2008. Photo: veggie garden as seen from patio-Early Summer 2008 Photo: from shed through garden to the patio and back of our teeny-weenie home.