Last week was an expensive one...
Sandstone Slabs £690 (Due this Friday)
Grabber lorry to take away the earth/clay £280
Rake and 6' spirit level £50.
I need to work out where to get the MOT from and try and get it dropped in the garden. This week I may have to start buying the Railway sleepers depending on how dry the 'Gully' is and whether I can dig more of the earth away.
Monday 21st - Rain stopped play.
Tuesday 22nd - The rain stopped today and it was dry enough to get out and have a look at what I could do, I dug out some of the Gully and put in some more of the foundations for the steps see below. I can't really move ahead too quick as I need to start using the proper slabs in these initial steps to work out how I'm going to do it. Thankfully, I've got a bit of sandstone slab which is almost the size of the slabs that I will use and I've had it in placed and been walking on it and using it as a step. This has enabled me to see if my ideas work and whether they're practical and tonight I've been rectifying some of the issues.
What happened? I've tested some of the theories with the step construction and realised I need to make some modifications.
How do I feel it's going? It's progressing okay, slightly slower than I'd hoped but that's down to the weather and the logistics of moving large amounts of stuff around a relatively small space. I'm not sure whether my theories with regards the stability of the steps and the way I'm making the foundations is particularly sound.
What's good/bad? - The weather is one bad aspect and the spiraling costs, who'd have though that the MOT stuff was going to be as expensive as it is and that I'd need as much as I do! I've got a feeling the sand and cement is going to be the same. But, I am nearing the end with the costs involved in the patio.
Analysis - So, the initial design had the patio slab tucked under the gabions, but walking on the slab over the last couple of days has made me suspect that despite the weight of the gabions the patio slab might move. They're not going to be fixed using any cement and will be held in place by being held in place at the side and by virtue of their weight. What if they do move, as there's potential to move forwards potentially? I might then look at fixing them in some way. The red line is one idea, that is some form of plastic or rubber in a layer to add cushioning to stop the slab from moving as you walk up and down them and may help to keep them in position. It's experimental, but I could modify it fairly easily I reckon?
One of the things I've done differently from the original plan idea is be more precise with the leveling. Before laying the concrete slabs which form the foundations I've used pebbles/stones in the clay to level the starting point (see images). Then as each slab goes in I've checked that they're level with a spirit level and I'm laying the stones and the slabs on geotextile fabric now.
Another school boy error I've realised is that now the steps go up through the Gbaions I really needed the sides of the big Gabions to be made of 5mm or 4mm steel rather than 3mm, as the 3mm is bulging and not looking as good as it might have.
Action plan - The gully beyond the Gabions needs to be wider as the gully will be lined with railway sleepers. So the earth beyond the steps here (below) needs to be removed to a good depth so that the sleepers are embedded deep enough so as to not collapse inwards under the weight of the grass either side. So tmorrow, more digging in readiness for the sleepers and possibly build and fill the next gabion? I'm also going shorten the depth of the step a little to 11" which should mean the steps will extend a foot less in the garden almost.
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