Wouldn't want to confuse the demolition version of "demo" with the demonstration version of "demo."

e.g.
I am giving a flower arrangement "demo"... Yup, I'm taking a big bouquet and setting blasting caps under it. Stand back. heh heh

Have had to quit removing stone veneer--top step came off easily--bottom four the mortar is quite tight--and I'll trash my wrists if keep hammering on it. Oh well, I wasn't EXPECTED to do this--just thought I'd help--and every moment they don't have to bill me for is money saved...just won't be THIS money! It's a drag having chronic tendonitis...

melanie

Cady:

Your flower bouquet wouldn't include some firecracker vine (Pyrostegia venusta), would it? That would be one way to have an explosive demo! heh, heh.

spectre

Melanie, you should be wearing wrist braces to do that mortar pounding. Go to CVS and get a pair, gal! Padded gloves are a good idea too, to absorb the shock to your hands.

Spectre, yeah, and I'll detonate it with a Red Hot Poker (Kniphofia). :)

Actually Cady, I had both...and I'm still a hurtin' unit. Clearly this is a job for the guys I've HIRED. (putting om my seldom-worn tiara...)

melanie

Whoa. Yeah, time to let other people do it for money so you don't have to. That's enough pounding on your joints for one project.

Well, after I got a bigger hammer (5 lb sledge) I managed to get the rest of the stone veneer OFF the steps. I was agood girl and wore my wrist braces. My wrists are fine--though I have an UGLY blood blister on one hand where I pinched the skin between my little hammer and the pry-bar...LESSON--do NOT get hands caught between implements of destruction.

I have included a link to my public photo bucket album...figured that made more sense t5han trying topost a gazillion pics. If you click the "view oldest first" choice, you'll get something akin to chronological order.

We've had a few surprises, none of them good, of course! but no deal breakers yet. FOR INSTANCE--the concrete slab that sits between my front door and the steps is "floating"--and inadequately supported. Will have to come out. I new there was SOME space under there-it's where "our" enormous black snake lives (we call him Fred) but had no idea the whole THING was floating. Hope Fred doesn't leave the yard entirely--I need him to deal with the moles that have cropped up this winter while he was being sluggish! I HAVE warned my work crew, BTW.

I'm taking more pics this week--will try and get them uploaded...eventually.

melanie

Here is a link that might be useful: photos of destruction phase

Demolition...is...so...cathartic! :)

Whoa.
Big chore.
Good progress!
Tess

Wow. Melanie, looks like great fun. I'll bet you're looking forward to replanting this area.
Jo

Jo--I am looking forward to landscaping--except I have the feeling my "plant Budget" is going to get absorbed by the hardscape. We keep thinking of things "that would be nice..." We'll see. I have some stuff in the yard that needs dividing--just not certain what the light will be when we are finished. I never paid any attention to that side of the yard--it had some privet that I trimmed,(to keep it from berrying--though as shaded as it was I don't know that it would have) and an assortment of mongrel scrubby stuff--dogwoods and redbud that volunteered, primarily. LOOKED ok--but needed no real upkeep. NOW--I think I'll have real stuff I need to address. Won't know for certain until the wall is up, the grading is finished, and the trees have leafed out...

ON ANOTHER NOTE--WE HAVE FOOTINGS! I'll post the new pics on photobucket as soon as I finish out the roll. The cement truck was cool...but then (as we all know) I am VERY easily amused.

melanie

Just added the latest pictures...

melanie

Here is a link that might be useful: new photos--of CONCRETE FOOTINGS!

Mel-
Nice pics - will make a good garden history for someone to find in 100 years!
G.

Thanks, Ginger. I'm documenting like crazy--largely in response to THIS forum!

melanie

THE stone has arrived--and lots of it has MOSS on it--very nice. The crew is here working today--but it's not terribly exciting to look at. I had my friend (mom to the current wheelchair owners) come look at the slope as it is--she says the powered wheelchairs handle stuff even steeper than what I have--so am considering using turfstone on the graded ramplike area...and planting grass in it. Paige says that will be no trounble...the chairs can handle fully grassed slopes. Not a TRUE handicap access--but it'll do!

AND it is warm--and I didn't lose ALL of my (potential) hydrangea blooms when it got down to 24* the other night. (Though I'm certain I lost some--in SPITE of the sheets.)

AND the Xavier Musketeers have made it to the Sweet Sixteen...
Life is good!

melanie

Thanks for updating us, Melanie. The moss covered stone sounds fantastic. Can't wait to see photos (hint-hint).
Those wheelchairs sound like they would give Range Rovers a run for the money! :)

Will try to have photos by midweek--have to finish out the roll. Myabe I SHOULD just buy a digi!

melanie

Here is a picutre, and the others can be viewed at the link included.

This picture was taken right before we started back up after lunch. Short wall is almost finished--cap stones go on tomorrow. We will be stepping up twice to tie in to the high wall--it's between a third and half done. THEN we've just got the "cobble" pavers to lay...I think we may actually be finished by early May. HOPING!

I'm pretty good at setting face stones--REALLY good with the rip rap that makes up the BACK side of the wall. ;~) They won't let me mix mortar--I'm too slow. (and the 94 lb bags of portland cement really ARE too much for me!) Can't wait to learn to set the pavers. I think I could actually manage a small wall on my own at this point..and may try later.

melanie

Here is a link that might be useful: Mel's garden project

It's raining--so thought you'd like to see a picture of the wall builders--I'm wearing the blue shirt. NOT a terribly flattering phot0 of me...

melanie

It's raining--so thought you'd like to see a picture of the wall builders--I'm wearing the blue shirt. NOT a terribly flattering phot0 of me...

melanie

How'd we end up w/ a double post? Rain must be making GW hiccup...

Melanie, what a project!! You rock!!!
No pun intended.
Jo

Thanks. Camp (the older white guy) offered me a job--but I think he was just being kind. Charles (far left) always seems quietly amused...and Tony is the one who won't "let" me mix mortar. He's also always fussing at me for lifting the bigger stones. I keep telling him I'll holler if they're too heavy--and I have! Am taking a face stone to a local rock carver tomorrow to have the year carved into it--seems to me like this feat ought to be commemorated. Besides--I think this wall will out last the HOUSE.

melanie

Oh that is just so cool. I want to work with rock.
Post this on the gadening with stone site, too.

You have my respect, Melanie. And you will be waaay buff before this is over - and I'll bet you'll be hefting those 94lb bags of portland cement after another month of conditioning. :)
Isn't it amazing how, after working on a stone wall project, you never look at a wall the same way again? You'll be driving down a country road and spy a well-made ancient border and really appreaciate the man-hours (or woman- as the case may be) that went in to making something lasting like that. Your wall is progressing beautifully. What a team you have there! Thank you for keeping us posted with progress. I'm also enjoying seeing Spring come to your neck of the woods.
Tess

Melanie-
Wall looks great--good to see you and your crew, too. Thanks for making the effort and taking the time to keep us posted about the ongoing renovation of your gardens. Puts what we talk about here out into the real world.
G.

Realized I hadn't shown you the whole wall as it stands today (Picture taken Easter Sunday afternoon):

It's still raining...it should ONLY be allowed to rain at night or on the weekends until I have theis project FINISHED. (How's THAT for a fine bit of selfishness?) Actually--I'm pleased that we are GETTING rain--we are already almost 6" down for the year--or we were before it started raining yesterday.

Thank you, everyone, for your interest, tolerance, and praise. I know I've been obsessing about this project, but it's the biggest exterior project I've ever actually undertaken. And I tend to obsess! Someday, next winter perhaps, I'll tell you all of the saga we ALMOST started in the winter of 2000/spring of 2001...

melanie

O.K. I give in. What is the wooden contraption at bottom right.

Looks like yellow painted metal to me. Fork lift?
Jo

Roots.. Rock ... MelMay!!!!!
When your done with this project Mel will you be an official rock masonalist?
hee hee hee.
Looking great oh great Stone Empress, keep us posted.
Perry

It is, in fact, the fork lift attachment for a bobcat. It's what they use to bring the honking big bags of prtland cement down every day. The sun came out this afternoon---looks like we may get to work tomorrow--keeping my fingers crossed.

Thursday we are driving up to Ohio--the college kid is getting a departmental award for being the "outstanding freshman physics major (male--they give one to the best girl physics major as well) so I won't get to work Thursday or Friday. (ME BRAGGING? NAHHHH) Heck, they may have the wall FINISHED by the time I get back. THEN all we have left is the pavers, the little wall (not in any of the pics) removing the slab in front of the front door(it's floating!), backfilling THAT...more pavers...ummmm--I guess there's a lot left, isn't there?

Perry--technically, no, I WON'T be an offficial masonalist. But I WILL accept the title of Stone Empress--though NOT STONED Empress. Gotta set a good example for the remaining kid, ya know.

melanie

Stone Empress. I like that. Can I be the Stone Empress in Ohio? The dh refers to me as Rock Woman. I like Stone Empress better.

Melanie, are you sure that wall will hold up without cracking or falling down? Any guarantees? I'm asking because I have never seen a wall constructed like that as high as it is. It sure looks good though.

Botan--what you can't really see in the photo is all the rebar, and the "I-don't-know-how-many-tons" of rip rap behind the face stone. (It's three + feet at the bottom--2+ at the top--and almost four feet thick where it turns the corner.) It's also tied into the hill--and the back side is very rough, which shouold also grab the hill once we backfill. These guys came highly reccommended from several sources--one of whom is an engineer--and the older gentleman in charge has promised that if it falls, his son (or more likeily his grandson!) will come rebuild it. Seriously--this wall is gonna out last the house. We go through 9 sacks of portland cement on a good day...that's eighteen wheelbarrowsful of mortar.

I wonder how far they've gotten while I've been gone? Went fossiling today--got some FABULOUS rocks--cepahalopods, brachiopods, trilobite tracks, worm tunnels, and what I think is a negative impression of a trilobite. WAY cool...hope we can find a way to work them in to the wall. Weather is GORGEOUS in Cincinnati--and the Honors Convocation was lovely, though the boys groused about having to get up for a 9:00 AM ceremony...and are NOT best pleased that we are going to the ceremonial dinner.

ah well--they can suck it up!

melanie/mother of the premier male freshman Physics major at XU.

Melanie, with that information it looks like the wall is built sturdy enough to hold up well. It just wasn't visible in the picture. Thanks for clearing things up.

BACK ON THE STONE FRONT--dropped a HONKING big piece of rip rap on my foot--it's turning LOTS of pretty colors. And yes, I was wearing my boots. Sunburned the back of my neck through the #40 block...I am SUCH a white woman. OTOH--I think we'll be finished with the main wall by Friday, and they started hacking the trenches for the drainage today. Scott, ever overly optimistic, thinks we'll be finished by the end of next week--as long as it doesn't rain. Camp (his dad) snorted when Scott made that prediciton...I declared myself a neutral nation (though I tend to agree with Camp on this one.) My new Mantra? "I am Switzerland."

We've already worked in about half the fossils I brought back from KY--and Camp is going to make me a table base for the HONKING big pice I brought back with the cool trace fossils in it. (Something rooting around for dinner 450 million years ago...)

I promise pics by next week--if not sooner.

melanie

Hey Melanie, I haven't posted to this thread, but I've lurked here a bunch of times. Can't wait to see the next update.

Sorry about the foot casualty, but I am looking forward to seeing the fossils incorporated into the wall. Pictures can't come too soon.
Tess

Last Wednesday it snowed three inches..... this Wednesday, my grass is six inches!!!!!!! leettle maple seedlings everywhere, errrrrrrr!!!!!!Spring with a vengence.........

MSE ( Mel the Stone Empress) sorry to hear about the foot. Fossils in the wall? ooooh yeah.

Jill there is room in this world for @ least two Stone Empresses. MHO
lol perry

Gang--the foot's fine. Another day or two and the bruise'll start getting green around the edges--lovely! Didn't even swell--just tender to the touch. And once I get my boots on I don't even notice it. Things are moving along pretty rapidly--it's exciting.

Can't use my front door--they cut the concrete pad (which was floating over a fairly deep hole--think we had drainage issues?)this morning. Of course, along with the concrete pad they cut the wire to my exterior lights--oops! Thank goodness they were OFF! I'll try and get some pictures this afternoon.

My friends keep stopping by--they are dumbfounded that I think this is fun. I'm filthy--I'm sweaty (hey, rocks are HEAVY!) and I sunburned my back and shoulders through number 48 sunblock yesterday--and I am having a BLAST.

melanie

Perry commanded, and y'all get--NEW PICTURES. If this is taking to long to load for y'all--will some one please e-mail me and let me know? I am loath to start a new thread--but I know sometime pics take awhile to load.

This is what the backside looked like before we backfilled---you get a good feel for the construction method. Not very pretty, is it?

This is a pic of where hte wall disappears into the hill.

This is a pic of the wall in all it's glory...

And this should be a rough drawing of the plan in it's entirety. The little red circles with "x's" in them represent current lighting. We plan on adding more lighting (as budget permits) and have buried conduit to facilitate such.

If you want to see EVERYTHING you can always hit the online album!

melanie

Here is a link that might be useful: Mel's album of the project

Here is a pic of the fence in place--we're coming to the "short rows" now. I'm dreading the final bill--we've added a few things to the original estimate--like this fence!

when we realized this wall was going to be several feet higher than we originally planned, I designed this fence to stop cars. (new drivers--someone might hit the gas instead of the brakes...) The whole thing is solid steel re-bar, and the top and bottom rails are as thick as my wrist. The red will tone down to a nice matte red/brown after some exposure to the elements.

as usual, youcan see LOTS more pics at my online album...
melanie

Here is a link that might be useful: online album

Stunning!
I have missed the completion here. It looks fabulous! And STRONG. Where did you put the trilobytes and cephalopods?
Tess

melanie, what a project! Wouldn't want to get the bill for that. It looks great!
Jo

The Trilobite rock did not get placed in the wall. I am keeping it as a specimin. Cephalopods are primarily in the lower wall; I will try and get a picture later. I do have a good picture of one of the trace fossils we brough back "in situ:"

450-490 MILLION years ago SOMETHING (probably a trilobite, according to the book I have) was hunting for dinner in the mud. How cool IS that? I have an even larger trace fossil--I got my welder to make a table base for it--it'll be a small side table on the patio. I'll post a picutre of that when it's finished.

NOW--a technical query--should I star a new thread when the project is complete? Y'all can e-mail (I have a clickable link on my memeber page) me with your opinions. I'd hate to take up more than my fair share of space...let me know what y'all think.

They SWEAR they'll be finished by Friday. I'm not counting on it!

melanie

Wow, I'm impressed. This project has come a looong way and it's also turning out so well.--Congratulations. A new post? Either way, I'm okay.

Melanie,

All I can say is WOW!!!
Whattajob! When you were talkin' wall, you meant WALL. Big, honkin' "side of a rock cliff" WALL!

It's looking great, and I for one can't wait to see more photos.

You ROCK. Your wall is ROCK. Therefore, Your rock wall ROCKS.

Hard to believe, but the whole project is finished. Well, except for the plants in the new beds. That's going to have to wait until the final bill comes in...and e added quite a few things during the process. *gulp*

I will try and get pics today--will add a new album tomorrow. It came out JUST as I envisioned it...down to (almost) the last detail. The only thing that looks even a LITTLE different than my vision is the curve around one of the beds. It is a TIGHT curve--and we used SQUARE pavers to edge it, and hey, there are only so many cuts you can ask guys to make in cement paver blocks.

I really am thrilled--and if we ARE 10-15 grand over budget (my own fault!) it will have been worth every penny. I may, however, have to start that 1(900) service: GARDEN BABES GO WILD! Whaddya think? Would it fly?

melanie

So. . .
Do we have the new pictures/album?
I wanna see the finished EXTRAVAGANZA! I'd also like to see pics from an aerial view to really get my bearings of what's where, but figure that may not happen. :)

Love the fossil, btw.
Tess

I'm sorry--no new pictures JUST yet--had to get the space ready for it's first PARTAY. My DH is on the Board of Young Adult and Youth Ministry at our church, and volunteered our house for the end-of-the-year "Thank You" oparty for the volunteers and Sunday School Teachers. Any group of Human beings willing to work with teens deserves a party--andn I was glad to do it--but it was TIGHT! Spent yesterdy hanging Light Scamps and sweeping and primping--but the yard looked GREAT. Will REALLY try to do a photo shoot this afternoon--should be able to post this evening (the digital camera came home from college along with The Boy.)

Thanks for all the interest. Don't know about an AERIAL view--but I could TRY climbing up on the ROOF...

If my next post is from the Orthopedic Ward at UNC Hospital it's TESSA'S fault!

melanie