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| 001_Digging.jpg |
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Need steps to get up from the new driveway to the previously unused
front door.
Tarps down. Starting to dig.
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| 002_Digging.jpg |
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Have to remove several feet of dirt.
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| 003_Digging.jpg |
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Still digging...
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| 004_Hauling.jpg |
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Have dumped lots of crushed stone, and laid one full 9 foot step
(6 foot slab and 3 foot slab).
Now filling behind for the next step.
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| 005_Dumping.jpg |
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About 5 wheelbarrows of crushed stone per step.
Counting the new gravel driveway, we've spead and packed about
60 tons of stone, so far.
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| 006_Tamping.jpg |
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Pack it down thoroughly every 2 inches of height,
so nothing settles in future years.
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| 007_Leveling.jpg |
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Get the packed crushed stone exactly level with the previous step
since the next step will sit partly on each.
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| 008_OneAndAHalfSteps.jpg |
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One and a half steps done.
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| 009_TwoSteps.jpg |
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Two steps done and leveled so the rainwater will drain properly.
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| 010_ThreeSteps.jpg |
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Three steps done. Looks easy, eh? That's because there's no one to
take pictures when we are both struggling with a 720 pound 6 foot slab.
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| 011_FourSteps.jpg |
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Fourth step done and levelled. You can start to see what it's going to
look like.
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| 012_TakeABreak.jpg |
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Taking a break... With all the digging, backfilling, packing,
installing slab, adjusting, removing, adding/removing crushed stone,
re-packing, re-installing, etc., we're averaging about 1-2 steps
per weekend.
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| 013_SlateLanding.jpg |
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Slate landing at the top of the first 4 steps.
Then we'll turn right and go up 3 more steps.
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| 014_Digging.jpg |
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Steps covered with tarp, while we start digging out the foundation of the
new stone wall.
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| 015_TemporarySlabStorage.jpg |
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Temporary storage of the remaining slabs against the old brick stoop that
will eventually be torn out.
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| 016_Starting1stRowOfRightWall.jpg |
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Digging the foundation for the wall and placing the first row of stones,
which will be entirely buried.
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| 017_Starting2ndRowOfRightWall.jpg |
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Piecing the wall together like a jigsaw puzzle. However, there is no one
right way to do it, so Brita does lots of tinkering until she is satisfied.
Notice the funky shaped rock on top. You'll see it in later pictures.
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| 018_2ndRowOfRightWall.jpg |
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Starting to look a little like a wall now.
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| 019_3rdRowOfRightWall.jpg |
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Assembling a nice neat wall out of irregular stones is slow going.
Trying to get them to go nicely up a flight of steps is much worse.
Everything has to be level, and fit neatly into the steps, and be
heavy enough to not shift over time, even if an adult walks along
the wall. These stones are relatively small -- only 300-400 pounds
each.
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| 020_TopOfRightWall.jpg |
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Now it's taking shape!
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| 021_BigRockLeaning.jpg |
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We've hand picked some of the largest stones to be capstones,
the top row of the wall.
The one leaning against the wall weighs about 500-600 pounds.
Together we can't lift it up into the air, but we can flop it,
lean it, and wrestle it into place.
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| 022_RightWallGrowing.jpg |
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Now you can see the overall effect of the wall and steps.
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| 023_RightWallCloseup.jpg |
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A closeup. Hey, if I stop taking pictures, I have to go back to
slugging rocks...
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| 024_RightWallLeftHalf.jpg |
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We're very happy with how level the top came out. Putting the biggest
rocks on last means you spend a lot of time putting them on, deciding
they're too high or low, taking them off, tearing apart and rebuilding
the wall below them, putting them back, etc.
It's like putting together a very heavy jigsaw puzzle when there's no
guarantee that all the pieces are there.
Do you recognize the first oddly shaped puzzle piece near the bottom
left/middle, from picture 17?
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| 025_RightWallRightHalf.jpg |
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Closeup of the right half of this stretch of the wall. Still have
a long way to go to the right, and around the corner of the
driveway, and do it all again on the other side of the steps, and
then finish the remaining 3 steps up to the house, ...
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| 026_TurnTheCorner.jpg |
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Turn the corner and finish off the end with really big rocks for stability.
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| 027_CornerCloseup.jpg |
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Interlocking the stones at the corner hides half of each stone, but makes it stronger.
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| 028_10MoreTonsOfWallStone.jpg |
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10 more tons of wall stone to build the left wall and upper platform.
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| 029_24MoreTonsOfCrushedStone.jpg |
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24 more tons of crushed stone behind/under the wall stone. But, 5
of that is already moved to the upper platform foundation, so really
only 19 more tons to move. Piece of cake!
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| 030_StillSomeRoomToPark.jpg |
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Parking is getting to be a problem. Especially once we start spreading out
the wall stone to be able to pick and choose from lots of pieces. We may
still be able to park two cars, but turning around in the driveway may not
be possible for a while.
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| 031_DigUpperLandingFoundation.jpg |
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Dig a foundation to support the upper landing.
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| 032_18InchesDeep.jpg |
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18 inches deep may be overkill, but we don't want it to settle.
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| 033_FillWithCrushedStone.jpg |
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5 tons, 3 cubic yards, 30 wheelbarrows, 600 shovels, of crushed stone is
a lot to move in one day. Tamped down thoroughly every couple inches.
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| 034_1stRowOfUpperLandingWall.jpg |
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The double row of stones in the base course must be level,
so the wall doesn't lean.
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| 035_1stRowBackCorner.jpg |
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Solid foundation under the back corner too.
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| 036_2ndRowStarted.jpg |
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2nd row starting to take shape.
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| 037_WhichRockToChooseNext.jpg |
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Lots of jigsaw pieces scattered about. Which to choose next?
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| 038_3rdRowStarted.jpg |
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3rd row halfway done
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| 039_SmallRocks.jpg |
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While Brita was building the wall, Fred was sorting the pile of stones.
These are small stones, probably all under 100 pounds.
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| 040_MediumCapStones.jpg |
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Some nice flat well-shaped cap stones, mostly under 200 pounds.
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| 041_LargeCapStones.jpg |
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Larger cap stones, 200-500 pounds.
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| 042_HugeStones.jpg |
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Hard to tell exactly due to the irregular shape, but the one on the left
must be at least 500 to 600 pounds. It's 4 feet long, 18 inches wide
(at the medium wide section in the middle), and 9 inches thick, so it
could be as much as 720 pounds like the stone steps, but it didn't feel
quite that heavy. Even wearing my weight-lifter's belt and using a
6-foot pry bar, I couldn't quite get it on the hand truck by myself.
Brita and I had to do this one together.
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| 043_5thRowStarted.jpg |
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Started the 5th (final) row. Took 3 days to build the 4th row to match
the long massive 5th row capstone. Lifted that capstone up and down
hundreds of times to get it right. None of these 4th row stones made
the final cut.
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| 044_5thRowBackSideNeedsWork.jpg |
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Have to build the front and back of the wall separately to properly support
the massive capstones.
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| 045_BuryElectricalConduit.jpg |
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Bury PVC pipe to use as electrical conduit. Will slide the wires through
them later.
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| 046_ElectricityEverywhere.jpg |
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Not sure yet where we'll want lights and such, so run the conduit to
every possible corner that would otherwise be inaccessible under the
tons of stone.
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| 047_CrushedStone3FeetDeep.jpg |
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Many wheelbarrows later, the crushed stone is now nearly 3 feet deep.
The front door is now almost usable.
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| 048_5thRowFinished.jpg |
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The 5th row across the front is finally finished. One row is entirely
underground. The center capstone is 4.5 feet long and weighs about
360 pounds. I'm tired of lifting it.
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| 049_PlatformFrontView.jpg |
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This angled front view is what you see pulling in the driveway and walking
up the first flight of steps. Looks good, but most will eventually be hidden
by plants.
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| 050_NoStairsUpPlatformYet.jpg |
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We've topped up the gravel inside the wall, but not yet built the 2nd flight
of steps. A gravel ramp leads to the front door.
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| 051_PlatformRightView.jpg |
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The right side of the platform will almost never be visible. Most of it buried,
and the rest will be hidden by plants, even if you did climb over the lower wall
and circle around into this nook.
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| 052_PlatformTopView.jpg |
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The stones had to fit together well in the top row, not only to hold all
the gravel, but also because they will be visible from above even after
we put the slate landing on top of the gravel. We wanted as straight
an edge as possible along the inside of the stone wall, so it will fit
nicely against the slate.
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| 053_LeftWallStarted.jpg |
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Started building the wall on the left of the staircase to match the one
on the right. Can also see the new 5x7 entryway we've recently had built
onto the front of the house, and the new roof with one-foot overhangs. Compare with picture 1.
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| 054_LeftWallStartedCloseup.jpg |
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We hand-picked some big curved stones at the quarry to make this curved wall.
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| 055_3FootSlabOnRollers.jpg |
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Roll a slab into place on rollers of PVC pipe.
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| 056_3FootSlabOnLongRollers.jpg |
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These thin rollers must be extra long so we can slide the slab along
them off of the underlying slab onto the gravel bed.
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| 057_Level3And6FootSlabs.jpg |
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Level the 3 foot and 6 foot slabs precisely, and frame out the rest of the
platform with small (120 pound) pieces.
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| 058_SixSteps.jpg |
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Six steps now done. Can you tell that the entire 5th and 6th steps are
moved two inches to the left? Look at the 6-inch gap between the right side
of the 5th step and the top of the lower stone wall that hits the front of
the 4th step. In the previous picture it was 4 inches. After positioning
the 5th and 6th steps, we found that the 7th step was accidentally cut 2
inches shorter than the rest by the guys at the quarry, and we had to
tear out and redo those 2 steps. Not our happiest moment!
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| 059_SixStepsFromAbove.jpg |
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Lots of tools and other clutter, but it's all coming together. One more
step to go. Hopefully no more wrong sizes. Brita had it all planned out
to the nearest quarter inch before we had the addition built, and before
we even placed the very first stone over two years ago. We'll know soon
if we got it right!
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| 060_7thStepOn5thStep.jpg |
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Dragged the 720-pound 7th step across the yard on rollers made of
2-inch PVC pipe. Then levered it up onto blocks in front of the
5th step. Then, slid it across on 1-inch PVC rollers onto the
top of the 5th step. The levered it up onto blocks in front of the
6th step. More work than the first 4 steps where we were bringing
the slabs down from above, not up from below, so we didn't have to
cross the existing steps.
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| 061_7thStepOn6thStep.jpg |
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Slid the 7th step across on 1-inch PVC rollers onto the
top of the 6th step.
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| 062_BackSideOf7thStep.jpg |
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Have to fill, level, and smooth the crushed stone base before sliding the
7th step into place.
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| 063_SquareOffTheConcreteFoundation.jpg |
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Had to chip away 2x6x18 inches of concrete from the foundation of the
new addition. The concrete forms had
bowed and almost burst
when the
contractor did a 4-foot deep pour with concrete that was slightly
too wet and runny. No problem. Just got a thicker, more solid
foundation. 10 inches thick in some places instead of 8.
However, some of that bulge got in the way when laying the steps,
and had to be chipped away. Tried chisels, pickaxe, etc., and finally
got it done with the pointed end of a 6-foot steel "slate bar".
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| 064_7thStepInPlace.jpg |
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7th step in place. May not get much more done this year. Starting to snow.
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| 065_TightAgainstTheHouse.jpg |
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Step butted tightly up against the house where we chipped away the
concrete.
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| 066_AllSevenSteps.jpg |
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7 steps, but no slate landings yet. You can see the flow -- up 4 steps and
turn right for 3 more steps.
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| 067_SlateLandingInTheSnow.jpg |
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Quickly threw down a slate landing before the snow started to stick.
Next morning that proved worthwhile. No more tracking mud and gravel
bits into the house.
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| 068_SlateLandingWithoutSnow.jpg |
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Even without the cracks filled, the landing shovels off pretty well. Dries
quick in the sun too.
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| 069_BothSlateLandings.jpg |
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Both slate landings now installed, cracks filled, and some plantings done.
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| 070_LeftWallCompleted.jpg |
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Left wall completed. Nice S curve.
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| 071_LeftWallFront.jpg |
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Left wall from the front. Those stones don't look so big...
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| 072_LeftWallEndWithTools.jpg |
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End of left wall Finally used the 600 pound cap stone! Tools of the trade: 6-foot digging bar for prying; PVC pipe for sliding; hand truck for hauling.
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| 073_LeftWallEndWithFred.jpg |
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Fred sitting on wall with feet dangling. Now you can see how big that rock is!
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| 074_ViewUpDrivewayLeftWall.jpg |
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View of the left wall as you come up the driveway. Still need some plantings on the left side.
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| 075_ViewUpDrivewayRightWall.jpg |
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View of the right wall as you come up the driveway.
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| 076_StairsFromDriveway.jpg |
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Stairs and entryway as you walk from your car.
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