Permeable Pavers Driveway Installation Last Stretch

The last pile of permeable pavers has arrived and is ready to be installed this week. The hole driveway installation is coming together nicely and we love it. It feels like walking up a paved driveway, only in heels I imagine (which I hardly ever wear) it would be a bit of a bouncing act.

Planting Privet Hedges

In coastal New England when planting privet hedges you might want to tie them down. Winds can be strong and gusty and we learned the hard way -scroll down to the last image here: Crushed Gravel Driveway and Paking

I am so glad we chose planting privet hedges over installing a wood fence. We're now solidly sheltered from the road and the landscaping bolders I think add a lot of character to the property and this "farmer wall" will only look better as the privet hedges grow -I understand privets can grow a foot a year or more.

Crushed Gravel Driveway and Parking

River rocks were delivered and spread early in the morning last week, and we had a little problem, actually two. One: wrong rocks. We had specified crushed gravel and these round rocks were uncomfortable to walk on as compared to the 3/4" crushed gravel rocks that interlock and pretty much give you an even and flat surface. Two: while hauling the load of rocks up the driveway with heavy machinery over a dozen pavers were destroyed, cracked under the weight.

The next day all the rocks were scooped up and removed and the new crushed gravel was delivered promptly, this time from the top. New pavers were ordered and should be arriving later this week from Canada. And if you look closely you see that in the meantime the hedges were planted too.

And here they are. Beautiful privets, 40 to be exact, lining our property toward Main Road, and of course the finished crushed gravel parking area that we love.

Then Saturday night the wind came, strong winds I have to say which are not that unusual here near the water and some of the privets fell over. Something needs to be done about that.

Permeable Pavers Driveway Installation

The driveway installation can begin and the slope is ready for the permeable pavers to be put in place.

Some heavy lifting is involved as each interlocking paver unit is unloaded from the truck and placed onto the prepared soil. The good thing about permeable pavers for our hillside is that they absorb water rundown, so no need for a drainage system.

The driveway installation is progressing and the permeable pavers are creeping up the hill. Once one stretch is completed pavers are being cut to fit and complete the edge.

A good part of the driveway installation is finished, just a few more rows to go. The top which is the parking space will be gravel only. And of course the openings of the permeable pavers will be filled with gravel too.

Build Retaining Wall

Build retaining wall? There are many ways to do it and stacking up large natural boulders is what we chose to do...

To build the retaining wall was the first step in our driveway/parking project. It took three truck loads of large natural rocks from the local stoneyard to cover the length of our property line toward Main Road.

We chose to build a retaining wall with boulders because we wanted something stronger and more durable than a fence and we were looking to blend in with the surrounding area as well as keep within a certain budget. There are lush hedges and trees along the roadside of other people's properties and only ours stood exposed with nothing green.

To the road the boulders are between 2.5 and 3 feet above the boardwalk. The space in the middle is approx. 2.5 feet wide and 40 hedges will be planted there. And I'm sure there will be plenty of space in the bed to add color with smaller plants and flowers next Spring. I also intend to soften up the stone look with creepers and ground coverings.

Related Articles:
"The great virtue of stone retaining walls that are mortar-less is that your “drainage system” comes built-in: water will usually seep through the cracks between the stones..." by About.com/Landscaping

Build Retaining Wall with concrete bags? "Whats awesome is it is so cheap and easy to build.. anyone could truly do it." Read it at eHow

Building a Driveway -First Pictures

The landscaping crew has arrived and started with building the driveway this morning, beginning from the top with the parking area. This is so exciting. No more walking up and down the sometimes wet and slippery grass hill. I'll probably still walk up and park on the bottom of the hill but it will be on nicely packed gravel and permeable pavers.

The old cesspool is being filled in the process...

and off to lunch...

then back with the first load of boulders to build and retain the mound. Come back next week and see the progress!

Also check this out on my other blog: A Real Estate Flip gone bad

Old Wood Floor Repair and Ocean Breeze

Sunday started with wood floor repair and ended with a drive out to the beach in near by Little Compton.

Wood Floor Repairs

A break from cutting wood in the basement on Sunday. We'll be piecing and blending the floor together where the wall was removed. The now joined rooms that make up the kitchen unfortunately do not have the same wood floor. Hopefully it'll work out.

Blue Painted Old Wood Door

With the last coat of paint I put on the old wood door in the front entry of the house the project has come to an end this weekend.


Blue Painted Old Wood Door Detail Shot:
Stripping off the old paint revealed all the beautifully carved details. We both love how the original bronze (polished) hardware contrasts with the blue.

Polishing Door Hardware

My last week's contribution was humble. I primed that stripped front door (scroll down a bit) and polished its hardware and knobs.

Foundation Repair Finished

The wet weather was perfect for finishing up the foundation repair. So Peter went for it. And Sunday when the sun was back it was time to mow the lawn again!

A Weekend of Labor -The Old Wood Entry Door and Kitchen Ceiling

But it's labor of love...and there was some sightseeing going on too as well as eating the best fried clams ever! This was the end run of stripping off the green paint. And our awesome entry door is now ready to be painted the same blue as the back door (by me).


Even though Peter had cut out the holes with the template that came with the light cans the holes weren't big enough. One more time I hung plastic to avoid dust to coat our entire kitchen area. So this is P. cutting the holes wider.

A Lot of Garden Work

Our Sunday brunch on the porch got interrupted yesterday morning by powered hedge trimmers. Our neighbor tamed his hedge and later on Peter chimed in with the lawn mower and weed wacker, spending several hours with garden work while I was preparing the papers for obtaining the driveway permit. After that we called it a day.
I didn't know but there seems to be A Science of Lawn Mowing.

About Floors and Mice

While I re-finished a stretch of kitchen floor, the neighbors cat worked on reducing the population of mice in our septic hill. Said neighbor informed us yesterday that she had received seven dead mice. That cat is on a roll and I'm forever thankful.


more cat pictures

Creating a new Kitchen -The Light will be Bright

The kitchen is our last major interior project...
and this weekend's remodel goal only required a couple of hours. Summer just isn't the time to breathe dust (if there ever is a good time for that). So while I did some touch up floor sanding to prepare for clear coating, Peter wired up more can lights and dimmer switch boxes. And off we went to the beach.
Note: can lights in the kitchen are the best.

Foundation Repair and Drainage Trench

What a beautiful weekend it was. Breezy with lots of cloud action. This is the weather that I'd like to have around forever. Peter tackled the last drainage trench and started to repair that one corner of the foundation wall with gaps between the stones. Other than that the two of us celebrated our 12th anniversary with 2 pounds of halibut and a bottle of wine.

Septic Hill is off to a New Start

Septic installer Clement Rose came back...The hippie rye grass is gone, new soil was added, seeds were spread. It's all looking good now.

Stormy Days in Southern New England

Rain clouds are hanging in the sky.

Idea for a driveway and more parking

Instead of a stairway going up the hill and up to the porch we could have a driveway going straight up to the side of the house where there is room for more parking. That we didn't think of this before still puzzles me. It's so obvious (now).

New Lattice Installed -Befor and After Remodel Pictures

And our weekend project was: finished replacing the old lattice with the new one.
The beginning.

Al Fresco, preferably on our porch

Since we live in this house moments like this -al fresco in nearby Newport last weekend- have become rare. With a porch looking over the water into the western sky and a fish prepared to our very specific taste (that seems to step over any chef's threshold of tolerance, grilled very dry and crusty that is), why go elsewhere?

Burried Yard Drains

All our gutter downspout drains need to be extended and burried so not to wash out the soil around the septic system and in general not to mess up the yard. A few more to go. And speaking of septic. In the middle of me taking down the grass we got a surprise visit by Clement Rose, the installer, informing us that he had always planned to come back and clean up the hill himself, meaning adding soil where it settled, getting rid of the dead rye grass and seeding the area with perennial grass. Of course he didn't show when he said he would, what contractor ever does, right? I put it out of my mind and one day I'll step out on the porch and it's all looking good.

It will get done eventually

I'll be posting again the week of July 14th.

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The Old Wooden Door

The old wood door toward Main Road is made over(see the old version here). We left it without the moldings and added an orbit sanded Polycarbonate Sheet for a frosted window look that provides privacy. Paint does do wonders.