Dale, would you and Janet consider going a bit further in a second
project for a large say long maybe four feet by whateer. raised bed
garden? this would be a place to unload the lot of your excess soil
you are wanting to get ride of. Now consider more family garden
ideas that could open up for incoming years and I suggested a raised =
bed as we age it is easier to maintain a raised bed garden say than a
garden at gr ound level. . Lee
On Sun,
Aug 23, 2009 at
08:17:16AM -0400, Dale Leavens wrote:
> Not a lot to report. I have pretty well all of the old patio now put back
> down, have left about a foot of it at the south end because I am extending it
> another 6 feet right to the south fence. Yesterday I began digging out the
> fill along that strip, about 24 feet by 6 feet down about a foot then I will
> bring up that amount of sand and fill and pack as I go. It is going to be a
> long day but has to get done very quickly. I am having trouble finding a
> suitable place for all the soil I am removing which is a problem.
>
> Janet has begun picking up the sidewalk which runs about 60 feet along the
> side of the driveway, I'll use those pavers to extend the patio.
>
> Sometime this week probably Tuesday or Wednesday a couple of chaps are coming
> with a loader to explore a couple of spots on the driveway which seem to be a
> problem, then excavate and install weeping tile along both edges to the
> street, that will be two lengths of about 85 feet. They will cover that with
> crushed rock then pack and fill and scrape the top which is now sand and junk
> accumulated over the past 18 years or so. There will be some excavation of
> the last 20 feet or so too where the town sidewalk has been crumbling for a
> few decades now and that filled and compacted.
>
> These guys are pretty good and the one lad is really into what I am wanting
> to do so I expect they will leave it about ready for slapping down the
> pavers. The space is 32 feet wide by 86 long. I am thinking to hire a kid to
> keep the pavers coming to my heels while I lay them. There are a couple of
> teen-agers across the lane I might see them, both the girl and the boy are
> pretty capable, I might even get one laying in pavers with me. I was
> calculating that alone it will take me at least 50 and possibly 60 hours if
> the supply of stones is uninterrupted, a lot longer if I am moving back and
> forth from the stacks to the working location. I don't think Janet could keep
> up with me. Even just laying 4 bricks a minute. It would be a lot better if I
> didn't have to go to work!
>
> Then there will be the retaining walls. Hopefully October won't be too damn
> wet.
>
> Because it isn't certain exactly how much work will be required they will
> charge by the hour. 90 bucks an hour for the excavator plus materials of
> course.
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
--
"What man has done, man can aspire to do."
-- Jerry Pournelle, about space flight
.
