Update on Retaining Wall Fountain

I've gotten some more done on the retaining wall fountain this past weekend.  Previously I made a polyurethane rubber mold of the clay fountain head that I made as shown in the picture below.

 

I cast one out of concrete using the polyurethane mold and mortared it in place.  I also cast a base for the lower basin and cast an upper basin using some bowls that I sourced from a dollar store and cut in half.

Now I need to get the lower basin form assembled and get it cast.

Stone Raised Garden Bed Completed!

The coping along the top edge of the raised bed are some concrete pavers that I picked up at the local home center.

The next step will be to build a frame over the raised bed for netting to cover the plants, so that my family can enjoy the vegetables instead of the deer.

Fountain Head Prototyping

So here is the blank slate that will eventually become the fountain in my stone retaining wall.  I will install a basin at the foot and a smaller basin directly beneath the spout.  I originally planned to just do a bent copper pipe for the spout, but then decided to do something a little fancier.

Out comes the clay for some prototyping.  Here is the progress thus far:

Still needs a lot of refinement.  I will finish the clay model and then pour a silicone mold to create a concrete casting that can then be mounted to the fountain spout.

A look back at some completed projects

Here's a look back at a few completed projects a year or two later.  First up is the back patio barbecue command center.

Looking north towards the front of the house:

Looking over the counter to the fireplace:

Looking south towards the chicken coop:

As I have done the projects, I have tried to maintain consistent, repeating elements in the hardscape design to create a sense of unity in the yard and gardens.  Both the front and rear patios incorporate the concrete pavers set in a diamond pattern and use concrete columns and baluster railings.  Both patios also use stone (for the counter in the back, and for the patio surround in the front).

On to the front patio!

Here you can see the walk to the front door.  The first concrete columns that I made form a small pergola that frames the garage doors.

Coming up the front walk is the pergola that frames the entry door.

Here is a look back across the front patio to the front walk.

Progress on Driveway Retaining Wall

Making some progress on the driveway retaining wall.  Excavation is done for the first section and you can see the wall fountain panel and the layout of a little wall niche that I am including.

I am using a leftover piece of sonotube as a form for the arch.  The fountain still needs castings made for the basins (one upper and one at the base).  I also plan on building a nicer spigot for it.  Right now it just has a piece of junk copper tubing as a mockup.

Here's the completed niche and a few more stones added to the wall!

Driveway retaining wall ideas and plans

I'm turning my attention to my driveway retaining wall this summer since the wooden landscape timbers are well past their prime and rotting away.  I am planning to do this retaining wall out of stone to match the others in the yard.

I want to incorporate some functional features as well as some to add visual interest to the retaining wall itself.  Some of the features that I would like are a garbage bin storage area, a bench, and a small storage shed.  I also plan to add some additional parking space for a motorcycle and an integrated wall fountain feature.

So with this in mind, I made up a rough layout idea sketch in Sketchup.

I then ripped out a section of the rotted landscape timbers and did some test digging to see how far back I could go into the hill before I ran up against the sprinkler system pipes.

I then found a good area to put the fountain feature in the retaining wall.  This sparked a few ideas for re-using a concrete panel I had cast as part of a mailbox pillar a few years back.  I brought the panel out and drilled it with the hammer drill to accept the fountain spout.  I will set it in as a part of the first portion of the stone wall.

Here you can see a bolt sticking through the panel where the future spout will go.  I will likely put some kind of decorative medallion on with the spout sticking through.  It will also need a catch basin at some point too.

In the meantime, I have plenty of excavation and rock work to get started on!  More updates on this project to come.

Front Patio Update

So now that spring has arrived, I have been able to get some more work done on the front patio.  Here you can see the finished stone work on the east side and the opening for the storage area.  I hope to make a set of nice iron doors for this soon.

Here in the next few pics, the baluster railing is being installed...

The balusters were all cast first (15 of them).  They were cast with a rod of rebar projecting on both the top and bottom.  The bottom rail was framed with 2x6s and a piece of trim at the top corner to add detail.  While this concrete was still wet, the balusters were inserted and clamped into position.

The top rail was then formed in place using pieces of plastic rain gutter supported by 2x4s and a 'ladder' of 2x2s to support from beneath, in-between the baluster tops.

The finished baluster rail:

I think it turned out alright for something I cast myself!





Upper Patio Railing Completed!

I finally made some time to get the railing done on the upper portion of the front patio.  In the following picture, you can see the railing is coming together.

The posts at each end are poured first.  Then the bottom rail is poured, and while the concrete is still wet,  the balusters are set in place (they each have a rod of rebar running through the center to tie them to the upper and lower rails).  In the picture above you can see the tops of the rebar poking out of each baluster and the rebar that has been welded in place to tie all of the balusters together with the end posts and reinforce the top rail section.

I then form up the top rail section with pvc raingutter cut to fit around each baluster and pour concrete again.  Here is the finished result from the outside of the patio.

Patio and Pergola

So this fall I finished the patio that I added to the back of the house.

Here's the concept sketchup drawing of the patio.

The whole area was dug down 12" and footings 48" deep were poured for the pergola support columns.

New concrete steps were cast for the back entry.  Heres a pic of the new steps and the columns going up on either side.

On the end next to the stairs, I cast some concrete balusters.

Natural gas, power and water lines were run to the counter island location.  The whole patio was filled with crushed stone, and then sand, and pavers were installed.  I built a stone kitchen counter with a sink and gas grill and then the whole thing was roofed with a pergola structure.

Here's a few pictures of the nearly finished structure with the pergola slats going on...

Indoor Fireplace Upgrade

OK, here's a project from a couple of years ago.  We had a fireplace in our basement that was very plain and ugly.  I had a friend offer me some free stone from his property, and I already had my concrete column forms created, so I dug in. Here's the progression of the project...

My daughter loved helping me place the concrete for the new hearth, columns and mantel.

Here's the hearth and columns in place.

Next the mantel was cast and then all of the concrete was stained.  Then it was time to start placing stone!

All of the stone placed.  Now it is time for some ironwork.

Here's the design I came up with for the doors.  I think they turned out really well.

And now the finished product...