Landscape & Gardening

Backyard Progress (days 8, 9, and 10)

The back steps after the forms were removed on Friday, day 9. Eventually, brick pavers will be installed, covering all the concrete. Click the photo for a larger version.
The back steps after the forms were removed on Friday, day 9. Eventually, brick pavers will be installed, covering all the concrete. Click the photo for a larger version.

A tragedy unfolds. Not a real tragedy in terms of the world and humanity, but a tragedy that turned into a pain in the derrière for everyone involved. Especially me. It’s all been downright intrusive and isn’t over yet. There’s more to come tomorrow, day 11.

Day 8. The concrete was poured only after waiting for the mixer truck for three hours. Three hours AFTER the scheduled time. First was the pad in front of the garage and greenhouse, and the second and longest pour was the complicated tiered back steps which now look like some kind of wedding cake. I was instructed to not allow my dogs on them until later that night. We coped very well and went to bed thinking that progress had been made and all was right. WRONG!

Day 9. First thing the next morning, Friday, the crew showed up to remove the concrete forms. In the mean time, I kept my dogs inside and left the crew alone to do their job. Two hours later, they had finished and decamped. Then the head landscape contractor appeared, did a check, talked on his cell a bit, then disappeared. Right after his departure, the concrete crew returned, made some noise, then split. And in the meantime no one has bothered to discuss anything with me, and I’m the client — the one who writes the checks. When I finally ventured out there I discovered this:

backyrd_1393

WTF! After calling the landscape contractor/foreman, I learned that he had rejected this one panel. During the removal of the forms, the corner and edging had been damaged and was unacceptable. Hmmmm. So why did they come by and sledgehammer it? Retaliation? It seems to me that time and gas was wasted to perform this drama, because they returned yet again — seven of them — around 5 pm, and jackhammered most of the pad up, loaded the debris onto a trailer, and again bolted. THANKS FOR THE HEADS UP! Mind letting me know what the heck is the plan?

An educated guess. Since I am not worthy and deserve to be kept in the dark, I had no choice but to have a cocktail and think about it. My guess is that the crew could not guarantee an exact color match with the new panels. Yep. That’s right. There’s a color additive involved. My landscape architect and I had decided to add a color to deepen the hue. We now realize that it still isn’t dark enough, but I don’t think the concrete crew will want to hear this after all they have been through. So we might wait and apply a stain when the concrete has had a chance to cure completely.

Day 10. It’s Saturday. There would be no more racket until Monday, and the weekend would be completely mine. Wrong again. Seven in the morning, the opening of my front gates woke me up. I made a mad dash to the back door to call my dogs in before they bolted towards suicide on Preston. Thanks again for the heads up! I appreciate your aggressive “can do” mentality, but there’s a limit, you know, and I’ve reached it. They finished busting up the pad, built new forms, and were out of there by 11:30. Now we’re back to where we were on day 7.

Today is Sunday, and so far no one has shown up. Tomorrow, I hope to be bettered informed and prepared. Going with the flow is difficult for me, so I’ll probably sleep with one eye open tonight.

3 thoughts on “Backyard Progress (days 8, 9, and 10)”

  1. Margaret Downs-Gamble says:

    Well, the back steps look great. That’s a plus. When your designer or foreman saw the garage pad was wrong, he determined to fix it. However bizarrely, you have had immediate action taken. I’ve known people wait weeks for a foul-up to be fixed. I’ve waited at least weeks. I’d say that in the midst of disaster, things are going VERY well.

    1. Patsy Ann says:

      Margaret, I’m afraid to leave the house not knowing when these guys may or may not show up. They don’t care about my dogs. They have cell phones. So why not use them? Oh, that’s right…. It was the weekend and professionalism and courtesy were out drinking beer some place.

  2. Babygirl says:

    Home remoeling and improvements are HELL! Hang in there…you don’t have much choice! LOL (but it IS looking good now!)

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