Monday, May 06, 2013
 
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 LDN Spring 2013 Home Improvement Magazine

Creating a distinctive and functional area in a small outdoor space

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[May 06, 2013]  When Diane Springer moved into her mother's house on Tremont Street in Lincoln last year, she knew some things had to change. The house had been in the family for years, and other than a room addition on the first floor, nothing had changed. The yard in back of the house also was the same as it had been for decades. She decided that a project updating the interior and exterior was in order.

The front yard is a large area of grass extending to the street. The very small yard areas in back and on the side were another matter. The house has a door midway on the side between front and back. The area outside this door was dirt that turned to mud with even a small amount of rain.

Because the house shaded this area, grass would not grow. As the side yard progressed to the back, it sloped downhill. Farther back, a door opened off the new addition close to the stand-alone garage. This area was mostly broken concrete slabs that just looked unsightly.

Where the original house and the new addition joined is a small alcove. Across the back of the house, a broken sidewalk extended to the side street. Springer knew she wanted to create a personal space on the side and back of the house. She also knew it was time to call the experts.

She first contacted Lorrie Paige of Bee's Landscaping. After some preliminary discussions, Paige took detailed measurements and then went back to her office and began to draft a plan for the back and side yard.

Paige has over 27 years in the landscaping business and has worked all over central Illinois. She currently has a commission at Lake of the Ozarks.

Paige hand-draws each new job she receives. After completing the original concept, she gets together with the client to see if she is headed in the right direction. In Springer's case, Paige proposed a paver patio, an area created by using a brick that resembles the ones used on some of Lincoln's original streets. Once she received the go-ahead for the project, the hard work began.

Paige's design called for removal of the back sidewalk, breaking up and removing the broken concrete slabs and grading the dirt area. She determined that the slope from the side door to the area near the back door was too great to create a one-level area with paver bricks. Her design called for a level area next to the side door and extending a few feet to the back, and then one step down to the rest of the patio.

Even though the area is fairly compact, the necessary preliminary work before the bricks were installed was monumental. The old concrete slab had to be broken with a sledgehammer and hauled off in a wheelbarrow. Then the entire area had to be excavated 6 inches. The 6-inch excavation uncovered old tree stumps. And then -- you guessed it -- those had to be cut out of the ground and carted off.

Once the two areas were excavated to grade, then 2 inches of CA6, a type of small gravel, was hand-carted in. The area did not allow for Paige's truck to back in and dump the gravel. Wheelbarrows were used to haul the heavy rock from the street. After the rock was placed and thoroughly packed, 2 inches of sand was placed on top of the rock. Only after the sand was leveled exactly could the paver bricks be installed.

The design of the bricks was like a jigsaw puzzle, and Paige placed each one herself while on her hands and knees. After the bricks were in place in the correct pattern with the different-colored bricks just so, very fine white silica sand was poured over the entire area to fill the tiny spaces between the bricks. All of this strenuous hand labor was happening during the hottest days of the summer.

"I had to knock off early on several days. It was just too hot," said Paige.

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While work progressed on the paver patio, Springer began thinking about the small outdoor alcove created by the original house and the addition. She thought about that area as a small personal space that could be used during the warm days of summer. Unfortunately, the sun shines directly down on it at certain times of the day.

While Paige was building the patio, Springer had hired John Paul Shawgo to begin remodeling the interior of her house. His company, John Shawgo Carpentry, specializes in everything from unique furniture to room additions and construction of new houses. He has several clients in the Chicago area as well as Lincoln. When he saw the small patio alcove, he had an idea.

Shawgo's idea was a structure known as a pergola. It is similar to a gazebo except it has slats overhead rather than a solid roof. As the sun moves through the sky, the rays are bent by the slats, allowing a shady area underneath, but allowing plenty of natural light to shine through.

The pergola Shawgo designed fit perfectly into the nook without touching the house.

While constructing it, he had to coordinate with Paige. He had to get the 4-by-4-inch posts that make up the corners of the pergola into the ground so that Paige could trim her bricks to fit seamlessly around them. This coordination of contractors' work is vital if a homeowner has multiple contractors engaged in different projects in the same area.

Shawgo added lots of personal touches to his pergola. All of the lumber has routered edges, and he sanded everything so there is no chance of splinters. He also added some scrollwork to the ends of the overhead slats to add to their aesthetic appeal.

"I use screws for joining lumber, no nails, and carriage bolts to hold the top braces together. It just looks better," he said.

The pergola will eventually have a light and ceiling fan hanging from the center. It is the perfect place to spend a summer day with a book and a frosty pitcher of lemonade.

The project started when Springer had an idea about what she wanted to do with the small space in her backyard. She then had a conversation with the two professionals about her ideas. With their years of experience in landscaping and carpentry, Paige and Shawgo were able to turn ideas into reality. Now, the yard has taken on a personal tone that provides a comfortable area for just one person or a gathering of friends.

[By CURT FOX]

LDN 2013 Spring Home Improvement Magazine

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