Honeymoon Lake Rock Wall and Stairs

"After" picture of the rock wall (above), only a partial picture of the wall. There is also a staircase in the middle of the wall to the left of this picture.

BEFORE the rock wall & stairs (above)

Luc transported his excavator, trailer and dump truck to the site. Luc used the excavator to prep the ground for the rocks that eventually made the wall. The excavator was also used to move and place rocks. (ABOVE) finished wall, stairs, and garden beds.
The rock wall makes a nice clean line and gives an organized, natural feel . The stairs provide easy access to the grassy field above.

The sandy mud (above) and the placing of cottage stone for the staircase.

The staircase turns to the left to keep the slope of it gentle enough to easily walk down and to end where it does. Because the staircase was build on a steep lot it needed to turn to the left to slow the downward momentum.

ABOVE: Luc's excavator and the wall-in-progress (unfinished). You can get an idea of the length of the wall in this picture, even though some of it is not included to the left.

Verbena Road: Large Rock Retaining Wall (the step by step process in pictures)

(Above) Luc's finished retaining wall on Verbena. A sight to see. Pictured below is also a rock staircase that scales the hillside on the far right. Read further to see the process that went in to creating the wall.

Pre-rock wall picture (below).
This job was very complicated in that planning to access the wall site was needed as well as materials to get down there. In the picture below you can see Luc's excavator scaling the hill. To the left is the proposed rock wall site. the wall will curve around farther to the left to retain the hillside and provide a usable and aesthetic view for the home owners.

(Above) Some of the large rocks that will be used for the wall.

(Above) Beginning to place rocks to make the wall's foundation. Behind the wall will be gravel to aid in the water drainage. This is a process of sorting rocks, placing and sometimes re-placing.

(Above) Still lots of work to do! The top level of rocks on the wall is not yet completed. The wall will also curve more arond the right side and there will be a cottage stone walkway on the far right from the top of the hill to the bottom of the rock wall.

(Above) Wall-in-progress. Lots of clean-up and "polishing" to be done.

I like how the wall ends in a clean angle (above). Now for work on the staircase which will be on the right.

Finished staircase (above)

finished rock wall (above). Whew! A job well done!

Edgecliff Cottage Stone Patio and Paths

Here is the pre-patio and path picture. There is a rough outline of where the patio will go and the path will wind up toward the garage/mother-in-law. A Path will also wind over to the left in front of their house to their deck. A third path will go from their deck to their driveway.

Here is the third path being measured and drawn up.

Here is the 3rd path completed (above)

Step 1: Remove all sod. The entire job was done by hand and all sod was hauled away. The clients golden retriever enjoyed the company and helped oversee the project.

Step 2: lay down newspaper to kill weeds. Begin placing stones in measured area over newspaper (above). Newspaper is a great low-impact way to prevent weeds from coming up under the patio. As Luc put the stones in he used sand to fill any space between the stones. The sand makes the patio look seamless while giving it a subtle flexibility.

Here is a close-up of the cottage stones as they meet the grass. (above)

Here is the finished path (above). The patio is on the far left (not pictured). Now the rain will help work the rest of the sand into the cracks.

The finished patio and path. Luc also did work in their flower beds, transplanting plants and cleaning up.

Luc's Lively Equipment: Excavators and Dump Trucks

The Excavator
(pictured above and below lifting a log)

Luc's Drive-Around Truck,
(pictured above)
can haul small amounts of stuff

The Big Ford Dump Truck

(pictured above)
The heavy-duty Work truck

The Trailer:
(pictured above)
for moving the excavator

Big jobs often require big equipment. It can actually save a customer money to have their landscaper use an excavator for example. Larger-scale work like clearing, rock retaining walls, tree transplanting, foundations, and blackberry removal can all benefit by using an excavator and dump truck. The excavator clears away a building lot full of blackberries in a day or two, whereas a man, or team of men, will take a week or more. Luc does a lot of jobs with his excavator. Using an excavator also entails moving it from one place to another with a trailer and large truck and having a dump truck to load dirt, land waste, rocks and any other material that he may need to move. Luc's excavator is a medium size one that can fit into tight areas, leave smaller environmental impact and yet it can take good sized trees out, do lite clearing, and lift large rocks for retaining walls.