On Thursday the landscapers came and backfilled around the foundation, graded the lot for drainage, and built a gravel parking area. Since the entire lot had to be cleared in advance of this, the result is not only the final grading but a clean site - a first in months. For the first time I actually feel like I am looking at a finished product. What a great feeling. Since Thursday we have been hit by the tail end of hurricane Noel and got a fair amount of rain. I drove over to the site last night and took a look at the drainage situation. With one small exception, the site was draining perfectly. Of course, since all the soil had been loosened the mud was deep. I am hoping that with time it will compact and be more navigable. Right now it's basically unpassable. Like the deck, we really can't afford any landscaping per se but also like the deck, there is a certain amount we HAVE to do. For example, I need to create some kind of path from the parking space to the front steps. We also need to something about the lack of any ground cover. Since it is too late in the year to grow grass, we will have to do something creative about the mud situation. The landscaper recommended spreading hay all over the site. This will keep the kids off of the mud in the winter and spring. In the dryer months it can be raked up and grass seeded. Or whatever. Still, I think the hay-thing won't look very nice...but then, given the options, what else can we do? Any thoughts out there?
On Thursday the landscapers came and backfilled around the foundation, graded the lot for drainage, and built a gravel parking area. Since the entire lot had to be cleared in advance of this, the result is not only the final grading but a clean site - a first in months. For the first time I actually feel like I am looking at a finished product. What a great feeling. Since Thursday we have been hit by the tail end of hurricane Noel and got a fair amount of rain. I drove over to the site last night and took a look at the drainage situation. With one small exception, the site was draining perfectly. Of course, since all the soil had been loosened the mud was deep. I am hoping that with time it will compact and be more navigable. Right now it's basically unpassable. Like the deck, we really can't afford any landscaping per se but also like the deck, there is a certain amount we HAVE to do. For example, I need to create some kind of path from the parking space to the front steps. We also need to something about the lack of any ground cover. Since it is too late in the year to grow grass, we will have to do something creative about the mud situation. The landscaper recommended spreading hay all over the site. This will keep the kids off of the mud in the winter and spring. In the dryer months it can be raked up and grass seeded. Or whatever. Still, I think the hay-thing won't look very nice...but then, given the options, what else can we do? Any thoughts out there?
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2 comments:
Hi, just stumbled upon your blog -- great work! This is one of the most interesting conversions I've seen.
We converted a power plant into our house, if you're bored:
http://www.618lincoln.com/
Cheers and best of luck with your project,
Michael
Hi Ben,
your Barn looks great!I'm glad that "Noel" didn't do any dammage to it.I saw some dreadful images on the tv over here...
My budget is running out as well
and compromises will have to be made.No problem,we'll find the way!
Take care,
Gustavo
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