New back steps

[kyrielle]

The steps to the lower back yard are finally done. (For those who remember, yes, the original plan was to finish by mid-May, "weather permitting". Yes, this is the first time the freaking weather has permitted. It's been insane. But they did very quick, efficient, attractive work once mother nature actually let them have at it.)

Here are photos of it, first day one (all the framing done, but the gravel not in yet) and then the final product. I think they look pretty nice but I'll be happier when the yard around them is more finished also! Click through for larger views.

Comments

[phoenixscribe.livejournal.com]

Might I ask why you opted for gravel rather than something more stable? I'm tripping over my feet just looking at that!

(Never said I was coordinated, though!)

[kyrielle]

Because that's all that would work there, unless we wanted a crane, a bridge, access across our neighbor's pasture (if he'd grant it) and a bill of $11,000 or more. The only alternative with the lay and angle of the ground to a box-step approach was to border it in with a retaining wall that couldn't be placed from our side without tearing out structures.

Dirt in the boxes wouldn't be as stable and safe as gravel, and the gravel will give us some traction. (I'm actually surprised you think of gravel as a tripping thing, though! I think of it as better traction than paving or even dirt.)

[dormouse-in-tea.livejournal.com]

Did they already do the impact stuff, or are they going to have to come back and top it off once the weather causes settling? *is not up on modern step-building technologies*

[kyrielle]

Weather actually shouldn't cause settling - another plus for gravel. The steps are dug in slightly and anchored deeply, and anchored to each other, and the gravel is compacted in and the water should, I believe, run through it. We'll see when it actually gets wet, I'm sure, but in theory they should just be usable.

[phoenixscribe.livejournal.com]

Maybe I'd have to see in in RL to really get a grasp of it not being something I would fall down, then. I definitely wouldn't be putting dirt in the boxes, but I'm used to dirt simply eroding away when rain so much as thinks of coming down somewhere in the state. I guess I see the gravel and think that it's going to shift when you step on it, rather than something like concrete that doesn't move.

And $11K for a walkway???? I don't think so! *grin*

[kyrielle]

Yeah, it doesn't move at all - it has nowhere to go. It's level in each box and bounded by the sides of the box; there's no slope and it's packed tight. It's not loose gravel, and it's definitely not moving much. (And yeah, concrete has that 'solid' factor but also that ugly, lumpy, and un-alterable factor. I really do not like concrete, when it's in a setting I want to look natural and pretty. It is useful, but that's the one positive I can give it, I fear.)

[kyrielle]

And concrete has one other big drawback - if ice gets on it, the traction can get hideously bad, real quick. Granted we're not likely to want to go down there in ice, if we need to for some reason the gravel will be safer. (I'm also not sure how the concrete would weather freezing, now that I think about it. Probably cracks, but then again those aren't disastrous.)

[phoenixscribe.livejournal.com]

Point taken. I don't do ice given a choice in the matter, after the winter of 93-94.