Finally!
We started this whole process because we needed a new driveway, an easier to navigate driveway,and a treeless driveway. Our goal was to lower the garage floor and the adjoining driveway so we could easily access the lower level of house and walk right into the mudroom.
After the last inspection of the garage foundation to confirm it had been properly moisture-proofed and insulated, the excavator returned to backfill the foundation walls and regrade the driveway.
digging up the driveway to fill the moat around the foundation walls
It was a beautiful day. The crew showed up just after noon to start the project.
Once the moat was filled, the dump trucks starting bringing pea gravel
The pea gravel will form the base for the eventual concrete slab floor in the garage.
a new side yard!
Another benefit to changing the garage elevation is a new levelled side yard. Until a few weeks ago we had a virtually impassable 10 foot wide side yard that sloped 3 feet down to the east edge. We used to put up caution tape if we were entertaining in the backyard for fear of having a guest break his ankle trying to traverse the rugged terrain. We have wanted access to the front yard for the the lawn and gardening equipment without having to go through the garage to get to and from the backyard from the time we moved here 14 years ago! And wow! Now with the side yard graded and free of the jungle, we feel like our lot just got bigger! Someday soon, there will be a crushed gravel walkway through this smooth dirt wide enough for the lawn mower and our friends!
The excavators left the first day with a good start on grading the driveway. They felt that if the inspector had arrived earlier in the morning, they would have been able to haul off all the dirt the first day. Sigh.
They returned the next morning with the onset of a steady drizzle. The forecast for the day included a severe thunderstorm watch for our area. The crew made a valiant effort to haul as much dirt as they could off the site before the weather turned torrential. By noon they were down a couple of feet, and then called it a day. The 85 foot long, 30 foot wide stretch of land from the front of the garage to the road had turned to mud. The crew was afraid their equipment and the dump trucks would get stuck. Their parting consolation was, ‘we will return when the mud dries!”
The weather man was spot on for his assesment over the next few days. The rain delivered as promised! We were left with no access to the road through our front yard. What had been a very nice clay base for a driveway became a sticky mess. I imagined it would be like walking through carmel. With the deck gone in the back of the house, we were left using a ladder to climb up to our backyard so we could walk to the road behind the house, around the block, and finally to the cars parked in front of our house. After a few days, our dear neighbors behind us took pity on us, and cleared a space on their driveway so we could park our cars.
Our path to the backyard!
The rain did end, the mud did dry and the excavators returned. This time with gravel to lay the base for the eventual finished asphalt surface.
One of many dump trucks leaving gravel
A busy bobcat creating our new dirveway.
I will someday write a post about this remarkable machine, the bobcat. It was so great to watch our landscape be transformed.
Almost finished!
We had 8″of gravel spread and compacted over a space 85′ long and 18′ wide. There is a 3-1/2 foot drop off at the edge of the yard to the new surface below. We will deal with that later with a retaining wall and stairs. However, we now have an easy trip up the driveway and we can walk straight into the mudroom. The 7′-0″ climb from the road to the house, is now a gentle 3′-6″ climb to the garage. Plenty of slope for run-off, but flat enough to get up the drive in the winter.
The view across the garage to the driveway
The view from the road
After 2 months of living on and off with mud, John’s comment was, “I love gravel!”
A Dream Under Construction 