Author: stephen (Page 6 of 61)

Here is the before and after for the sunken garden. All in all, it took about 8 weeks to sort this out.

Another before and after shot. You can also see the impact that the telehandler has had on the grass in the background.

After we moved in, we had an old pallet for a door step. It is great to see that it has been sorted out. It still needs to be pointed, but it is a vast improvement.

Three sets of steps and 160 square meters of flagstones. The pointing is still to be done between the flagstones, but we are going to have to wait for some better weather. The lights are still to be installed (although the holes and wiring have been put in place).

We still have to point the flagstones. This will be done using lime pointing (just like the main house), however, this is going to have to wait for better weather.

The ashlar slabs have been installed outside the master bedroom. We haven’t moved in here yet, but in the summer it will be possible to step out into the sunken garden from the bedroom. The floor inside is the same level as the ashlar slabs outside.

The new steps from the lounge and a step of steps to the upper terrace.

It would have been easy just to have put 1200mm wide steps in here, but it looks so much better with the bottom steps extended outwards. The reclaimed walls could do with being pressure washed to remove some of the old paint and dirt but they contrast with the new stone steps.

Once the step is roughly in position (but still resting on the slabs of insulation), the stone step is lifted up (the sides are protected by some thin blue foam) and the insulation removed (very quickly). If it all works out properly, the stone step ends up in the right spot!

Pulling out the installation. It looks a bit like a sequence from a game show, but you need to be quick to make sure your fingers aren’t underneath the stone step when it is lowered!

Once the step is in position, the blue foam is pulled out. This protects the sides of the step as it is lowered into position. The flagstones will cover the bottom half of the first step which is why it is a taller than the other steps – half of it will be buried.

We are installing the three large ashlar slabs that are laid in front of the bi-folding doors to the lounge. This makes the top step wide enough so that the doors can be opened without overhanging the top step.

There are lights to be installed in each of these three slabs (you can see the wiring where the middle slab is still to be laid. These slabs are being moved into position using a powerful suction device.

Using a powerful suction device, the final ashlar slab is lifted into position. These slabs are very heavy and this photo doesn’t really convey exactly how difficult this task was. There was relief all round once it was in position.

These steps still need to be pointed, but the steps are pretty much complete. They also need to be pressure washed to get the “green” of them – they have been covered for the past few weeks to protect them. Once cleaned, the steps will match the new slabs installed in front of the doors.

The last of the has been completed so that the flagstones can be laid on the upper terrace. This small wall can’t be seen (it is under the hessian) as it is being protected from the wet weather that we have had today. We have also had the holes drilled to take the lights in both the lower and upper terraces.

The wall that we have built today is hidden under the hessian. There is still some work to be done on the other side of the wall, but that will have to wait until tomorrow. Hopefully, the weather will be a little bit better! Or rather drier!

A view from above showing one of the 92mm holes that have drilled in the flagstones to take the lights. The wires were laid a few weeks ago before we put down the crushed stone. We worked out that these lights need to be about 300mm away from the wall to create the best effect.

There was a small area, just behind the smaller of the front gates, that needed to be flagged. This was completed this week.

As well as sorting out the flagstones to the rear of the property we have also sorted out the flagstones under the porch canopy. They still need to be pointed, but the pointing will be done when all of the flagstones – front and back – have been laid.

The upper terrace is significantly smaller than the lower terrace hence progress has been that bit quicker. We will not be able to finish this area though until the stone arrives for the ashlar steps. It could be another couple of weeks before that arrives.