August 31, 2013
Stonework 2013: Walls, drainage, post and railing
After the initial tear down and the construction of new stairs, it was time for the bulk of the work to proceed. Rusty from Scott Land & Yard did lots of stone cutting, selecting, and placing.
Cutting stone.
Selecting stone.
As failed drainage was what had collapsed the previous wall, we tried to ensure that the new wall had much better drainage, both with wrapped pipes and with drainage gravel rather than ordinary fill on top.
New drainage behind the wall.
On the north side of the driveway, a shorter mortared stone wall had been collapsing slowly for years, and we removed it.
Tearing down the smaller north wall.
To keep the slope in place, they piled small boulders. I would have liked a new wall, but we didn't have the funds to push that far.
(Small) boulders to hold the slope.
With last week's rain, I got to see how the drainage behaved, and was happy about it.
Drain at work.
One final touch was installing a post (to replace the departed light post) and railing (to replace the old pipes). This is the one piece I'm likely to modify - the one piece I can easily modify - as I don't love the pressure treated railing or the rectangular post. I should have discussed it more with them before installation day. However, they've provided a very solid foundation on which I can build.
Installing the railing.
In the end it looks great, and should work far better than it had.
Finished project area.
If you'd like to see a lot more, I've posted a gallery of stone wall destruction and construction.
Posted by simon at August 31, 2013 10:37 AM inNote on photos