Backyard Oasis

By Chase Erwin, Turftenders Landscape Services

The overall backyard patio area, including the pool is about 3,000 square feet. The pavers used are Belgard Dublin Cobble. The pattern consists of multiple color blends using their 3-piece modular system laid in a random pattern and a 6x9-inch soldier course border around the pool and outside edge of the patio. The patio construction took 500 hours using 5-6 employees.

Turftenders Landscape Services turns a Raleigh, North Carolina design/build project from an uninspiring walkout basement lot into a year-round backyard oasis. The project's scope included retaining walls to alter the awkward sloping elevation, drainage improvements, irrigation, and a swimming pool/spa complete with a water slide created from 15 tons of natural stone.

The pool is an in-ground gunnite pool. It has laminar jets that shoot water across the pool. The spa has MasterCut stone veneer and bluestone coping.

 


The fireplace was constructed using an Isokern 42-inch vent-free firebox. Additional concrete blocks were used around the firebox to construct the finished shape and hearth. The veneer stone is MasterCut stone, which is natural stone that has been sawn cut on the back to give it a thin, flat back surface for easier workability. They used 2-inch thick blue stone that is rock-faced for the hearth, mantel and chimney accents. A gas line was run for the fireplace and an automatic starter for convenience. The surrounding plants are Nellie Stevens hollies that were 8-10 feet at the time of installation.

Turftenders Landscape Services constructed this design/build project in coordination with a landscape architect (for permit drawings), the pool contractor, engineer and the homeowner. The total project took six months from initial consultation to completion and required more than 3,600 man-hours of in-house labor to complete. The contractor also worked in coordination with a licensed electrician, pool contractor, engineer, and a plumber.

This particular fixture is a low voltage Vista 2133 path-light. Workers installed the entire low voltage lighting system, including transformer, timer, fixtures and all wiring. The lighting system ties into an existing electrical receptacle on the outside of the home.

The contractor planted spring-fall perennials around the slide, to add, ''colorful impact during the peak pool season (May-September).'' They complemented these with evergreens for year round landscape. Plants include: Daylilies, verbena, sedum, creeping jenny, junipers, purple coneflower, black-eyed Susan, salvia, and scabiosa.

The contractor employed six workers. The project involved using a Case 85xt loader, Case 1840 loader, Bobcat 334 excavator, Toro dingo mini loader, Boxer 526 mini skid-steer, Stihl demo saw, wacker plate compactor, Trenchmaster bed edger and Dewalt and Bosch power tools.

The installation of the fiberglass slide involved adding 20 cubic yards of soil, 20 tons of fieldstone boulders and setting the slide in a bed of mortar. Workers used a Bobcat 334 excavator, a Toro dingo mini loader, and Boxer mini skid steer to build up and position the boulders. Workers also installed drip irrigation for the plants and wiring for the low voltage lighting.

Roughing in for irrigation lines and the channel drain was needed for the pool deck. Also shown is the rough grade for the paver patio which took 5-6 workers 500 hours to complete.

Challenges Faced

Access to the site was limited and required the construction of a temporary road for the purpose of transporting materials and equipment to the backyard. Upon completion of the project, the gravel access road was removed and replaced with sod.

This photo shows workers installing the soldier course around the pool exterior as well as making cuts to the patio body, which consisted of a random 3-piece pattern

The project also required coordination with a landscape architect and engineer to perform impervious surface calculations to ensure all proposed hardscape was permissible. Multiple change orders were requested, which impacted the progress of other projects.

Materials Used

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