 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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