We have been thinking of having a seawall put in right from day one. A seawall makes sense. It keeps the shoreline from eroding away, and in general makes everything more usable, easier to maintain, looking nice.
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If you recall from other parts of this web, this is what our shoreline originally looked like.
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First thing to do is to get rid of the stuff that is in the way. We had a couple of small trees right at the waterline, and while they were nice trees, they had to go. We originally were thinking only in terms of seawall, but pretty much right away decided a patio area would make the lakeside much more usable. That's Al (son of Neil), operating the equipment. He calls it work, but really seems to enjoy himself. Kind of looks like a big Tonka toy, doesn't it?
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Besides a couple of small trees and existing sidewalk, we had to remove the existing "seawall", which was a lot of rock piled up along the shore. Over time, much of it had fallen into the lake, so Al also scooped rocks from the lake.
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Neil saw how much fun Al was having and decided to have some fun as well. These two guys with their equipment were able to do a LOT of work in a relatively short amount of time!
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Digging out the seawall area as well as the patio area.
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Seawall area. Pipe in picture is rain water exit.
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Forms created for seawall foundation. These are reinforced with rebar and will be set in place.
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Hopper on Bobcat carries about a half yard of concrete at a time. Because of hill and distance to site, this is the best/only way to get the material down there. Works just fine.
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Pouring foundation for patio wall. They'll let anybody play in the mud!
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Putting footings in place. Al could "thread the needle" with the hook and chain, both hooking up and unhooking, from the drivers seat. Has a heck of a touch with that.
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Footing/foundation parts locked in place with a system of "dead men". This appears to be a pretty good system.
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Starting to look like a wall.
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Filling in the blanks. Rebar and dead men in place. Built like an interlocking puzzle. Everything is attached to everything else.
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Another view.
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Beginnings of the patio wall. On the right, you can see the walk coming from the house.
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Slowly shaping up.
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You can now start to see what this will look like. Plan initially was to have steps from the walk down to the patio. We decided that that would not be the best use of the patio space, so have decided to eliminate the steps, and go three courses higher with the block. That will raise the level of the yard a little bit, and give more patio space. The existing concrete walk will be removed and a stone path will go from the concrete steps by the house down to the side/entrance of the patio. Should be more functional, and look much nicer that way, as well.
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Another view. Seawall is a bit taller now.
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This shows another change we made. We were initially going to have the seawall going all the way across, with a step area to the lake, but decided to make the whole patio area a series of steps. Not only does that make it all more inviting, but it gives us options as to where we can park the dock.
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Just another in process shot. It will look more completed real soon.
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Another view. Each step looks a little more done. Fun watching it change from day to day.
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Steps in place across patio. After pour and before concrete is firmly set, top is hosed off to expose stone for color and texture and more secure footing.
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Pouring the patio a half yard at a time. The pace picks up a bit here to get it down and smoothed out before it sets.
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All poured, and in the process of smoothing it out. The patio wall and the sea wall will both be faced with rock, to more or less match the house.
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Floating it smooth.
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Nice and smooth.....
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Getting a good set and exposing the rock.
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From the deck. You can see the patio wall is higher, now, and the concrete path that went to the lake has been removed. With the patio wall, we can bring the level of the yard up a bit. There will be a stone pathway going down to the side of the patio. I think that will look better than that straight line of concrete that was there, dividing the yard.
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Originally, we were just going to have three courses of block. We decided that adding 3 courses would be nicer aesthetically, and would also help the yard. There will be a bit of a swale just above the patio wall to divert water.
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Showing the entire wall. I was puzzled at first about how it seemed to not be "aligned" with "my world", but as it turns out, it is aligned with the shoreline, which makes perfect sense. This wall will have a cap and stone on it, matching the house and seawall. That process begins tomorrow.
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Showing the steps to the lake. Inviting, eh?
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The process of the rock facing. This is referred to as "lick and stick".
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Most of the rock face on the patio wall. The edges still need to be cut back, and a rock cap is to be installed.
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This is the seawall. Rock face on, and some cap. The white pipe is a rain runoff from the house. Helps control runoff. Works pretty well. I think I'll gather rocks from the lake and place along the base of the wall just to cover the concrete work. Earth has been brought in to fill the void between the seawall and yard. I think this will look pretty nice once we get a lawn established.
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The other end. You can also see where we put the satellite dish. This is the only place we have line of sight. People here really like their trees.
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Getting it filled in somewhat. Couple more loads of earth coming, then a stone walkway from the concrete steps to the side of the patio.
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Lots of dirt brought in. Stone walkway now winding down to lakeside patio. Starting to look interesting.
Getting grass growing is the next challenge.
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Another view. You can see the rock face below the steps, here. Kind of ties it all together.
We have also added grass seed and straw, to try to keep the seed in place.
Also picked up, well, not literally, "table and chairs". Something that won't get blown off into the lake.
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A view of the other side. Can't wait for grass to grow and fill it in.
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Stay tuned for more pictures as work continues........