Landscaping Revisited

Maybe I should have incorporated landscaping into my initial ADU development process after all.

Because it's now been six years since I finished the ADU, and I've just now gotten around to landscaping it in 2017. It took six years, but I'm finally spending a lot of time in the back yard this summer, and I love finally having a garden that we can enjoy.


Before:

After: 


Once we had removed a large dying Cherry tree from the yard last year because, it opened up the opportunity for a much more sunlight to penetrate the yard than it ever had before. The cedar fence that separated my property from my neighbors was old and rotting and desperately needed to be replaced. Lastly, I wanted to plant a new tree and the time seemed right to overhaul the landscape of the entire property. So, I bit the bullet, and hired a garden designer who helped guide me through that process.

I managed to do all the work for roughly $8K out of pocket, plus approximately $3K in sweat equity. The job required a surprising amount of work: probably 250-300 hours total. I did roughly 80 hours of work over a 2-week period, and hired help for much of it.

First, we removed the existing rotting fence, and built a new 80ft cedar fence ($2K). For landscaping, the first stage was to remediate the yard material which involved removing a lot of dirt that had weeds in it. Weed barrier was then laid down, and about 6 cubic yards of new soil was imported to shape a slight berm where the plants would go along the fence ($3K). The lawn size was reduced, then gravel was imported and spread out on top of more weed barrier. Then, we greatly expanded the footprint of a modest stone patio and created a walkway between the ADU and the main house ($1K). The garden designer purchased $2K of new plants, groundcovers, shrubs, perennials, ferns, and potted plants and we meticulously planted them in the berms. Lastly, cedar mulch was spread out on top of the soil between the plants.

Here's a short photo album of the landscaping process.

I've never had a green thumb, so I relied on the designer's solid vision of how the garden's plants would evolve over time---how much they would grow in height and how their colors would intermingle and compliment one another. The garden designer was very studious about the light conditions, and clued in to which plants would thrive and where.

While the plants are currently spaced 2-3ft apart, they'll eventually grow in to varied heights, and be lush, colorful, and flower at different points throughout the year. I'm watering the plants daily and it's thrilling to see how they are instantly thriving in this new fertile sun-rich environment.

In other ADU news, I've just purchased an investment property in my neighborhood. This is what it looks like now; I've got my work cut out for me.

Whereas this blog (pdxadu.blogspot.com) has focused on the development of a detached new construction ADU as our primary residence, this new project is going to be focused on the conversion of a daylit basement ADU as an investment property. It's a very different type of ADU project than my first one, and I'm expecting to learn a lot in the process and I invite you to come along for the ride. 

As with my first ADU, I'll be cataloging the development decisions, as well as the costs and the permitting and regulatory process on a new ADU focused website called BuildinganADU.com. I'll be actively posting to the ADU Odyssey blog for at least the next six months on a regular basis. 

If you've enjoyed reading pdxadu.blogspot.com, you'll love digging through the new site which includes a trove of actionable information, tips, ADU images, ADU cost information, small space design best practices, and much more. 

The ADU Odyssey blog is primarily a video blog that delves into the development process of a daylit-basement attached-garage conversion ADU

Foundational Fundamentals: (Part 3) The Pour and Flatwork Finish

We poured and finished the concrete floor.

This phase of the project, more than others leading up to it, make the house seem all the more real to me. There is no turning back now.

For the concrete slab floor, which will be my interior floor, I had insisted upon a glassy finish. The tradesmen did a solid and fine job at pouring and smoothing the concrete. However, the great Cherry Tree in my backyard, for which I dedicated an earlier post, had other ideas about my glassy finish, mocking me yet again. More on that momentarily...

This five minute video is a series of nine shorter videos that capture the stages of the concrete slab pour and finish.



The concrete slab pour and the delicate steel-troweled flat finish all happen in one quick day. The concrete team doesn't work on rainy days because the concrete won't cure properly. If it's not raining, they work.

And if it's windy, they work. As it so happened, this day was a windy day. On windy days, trees in full bloom, tend to lose grip upon their flowers.  And "The Cherry tree" as I wrote in my post, "is in full bloom".

During the final sweeps and steel troweled finish of the concrete, it was snowing cherry flowers all over the wet concrete slab. The concrete guys would diligently sweep and pick the flowers off the wet concrete floor, but the flowers kept falling.

Eventually, in the arced sweep of their steel trowels, they pressed the remaining flowers under a thin layer of concrete. And, when the wind died down, and the concrete finish was done, it appeared as though the cherry leaves had been forever buried by concrete, forgotten to all but those who had seen the leaves swept under the final finish. That night, as the concrete set, the flatwork finish looked picture perfect.

24 hours later, the concrete has dried and the smooth finish has revealed its disposition. Scattered Cherry leaves have emerged through the top layer of concrete, leaving cherry tree flower fossils densely speckled throughout the glassy smooth finish. My best guess is that the concrete dried and shrank downward just enough to allow the thin veneer of Cherry flower leaves to emerge through the drying concrete.

Instead of a steel troweled smooth finish, this laughing tree has left a permanent etching of its character. Despite our crafty effort, the natural world has left another unforeseeable biotic stamp in its wake.

My eyes and feet will be left with an unforgettable memory of this day in the foundation.

The fossilized imprints of Cherry flowers in otherwise perfect concrete flatwork