Building a Rock Wall with an Excavator (in the rain)

Finished rock wall, puddles and all!

Luc's latest job, above, a long rock retaining wall that transitions the large hill above the resident's new house into a flat backyard.  The past few weeks have been very wet with lots of rainfall, which poses unique challenges for building a rock wall, especially one like this that retains a hillside next to a house.  Extra work was done to aid in drainage around and through the rock wall, including drain rock/gravel and a small culvert.  Below are some pictures of the process:

  above: the house is being built at the same time as the rock wall.

 

 Some of the rocks that will be used

  

Luc and his girls 

 

walking the line, on top the work-in-progress

 staking it out

 putting in the gravel

What do you have that will last hundreds of years?

Stella smiles high atop her daddy's rock wall project

Luc is currently making a very long rock wall that's about 4 feet tall. The wall frames the home owner's property line, then curves around to meet the driveway. Stella and I stopped by on a sunny weekday to record the progress. Luc is using his excavator to place the large rocks and shape the earth. It is an often times tedious process, but it is incredibly rewarding to see the wall in all of it's magnificence! It may stand for hundreds of years, who knows? It will likely last longer than the house itself. That is some kind of responsibility!

Visit Luc's landscaping blog at: http://www.livelylandscapes.blogspot.com

or for a free job estimate call: 360-914-6022

Bulkhead in Sandy Hook

Luc worked for Doug R. to create a bulkhead in Sandy Hook for a home on the water. The bulkhead is replacing an old bulkhead. Each block weighs 4,000 pounds, and they are called ecology blocks. The blocks were lifted and placed by the 28,000 pound excavator during low tide. Doug welded 3"x3/4" metal plates to the blocks to hold them into place. The men worked around water and electrical lines that ran out to the pier. The bulkhead is tied to the bluff by steel channel.

Rock Walls with a View (Spring 2005)

Luc began this job in the spring of 2005 and finished it early that summer. It consisted of 2 rock walls one above the other, separated by a steep slope. The Lower Wall is situated at the base of a steep slope and served to increase the parking space and aesthetic appeal of the driveway. Before the wall, the homeowners had some trouble turning in their cramped driveway. The property is located on the east side of the island and their home is on a bluff that drops off into the water. The Upper Rock Wall is located at the top of the property and was made by dumping and compacting a large amount of soil to make the slope at the top level enough to increase the usability of the land. All in all the job consisted of:
-building of 2 large rock retaining walls with an excavator
-one rock stairway (upper rock wall)
-delivery of rocks and soil to property
-moving of soil from delivery zone through a 5 foot wide path to the Upper Rock Wall with a loader

(Above) A picture of the finished lower rock wall, with Luc in front of it. Luc worked very hard to make sure that the Kinnickinnic bush (with red berries above his head) was left undamaged. It is such a beautiful plant and at the time there were bees all over it!

Above: the Upper Rock wall. This wall serves as a retaining wall for a (now) flat grassy area. This location was originally a sloped grassy area that turns into a vertical drop (right after where the photographer is standing). At the bottom of the vertical drop is the Lower Rock Wall (pictured first on this post), then the homeowner's parking and after that their home. While Luc was working on this wall, he had to be especially careful with how he placed the rocks as to not let one go rolling down hill into their home! All went well and the Upper Rock Wall now raises the slope so that there is a flat, grassy outdoor space that the homeowners can use for entertaining and for enjoying the beautiful sea view.

ABOVE: working on the Lower Rock Wall. Placing the base level rocks and sifting through the rock pile to piece the puzzle together (BELOW).
BELOW: Luc with baby daughter Marina in the loader that he used to move dirt to make the Upper Rock Wall and flat grassy area.

BELOW: A lot of dirt to move!

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!