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blackpjensen · 7 years ago

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Story Of A Landscape: Hardscape Palette Sets Southwest Tone For New England Property

Occasionally, landscape companies get strange requests. Case in point: the Pasqualonis, who wanted their backyard in South Windsor Connecticut to look like a little slice… of Texas.

Fortunately, they knew exactly who to turn to. Besides being right up the road from the offices of Bahler Brothers, Inc., project designer Ryan King says they knew the company’s reputation for doing high-quality work on big projects.

As for the Texas motif, King says the family really loved its home in Texas, from the way it was laid out to the landscaping.

Photo: Bahler Brothers, Inc.

“They wanted to replicate a similar style landscape up here,” he says. “When they walked outside, they wanted to feel as if they were at their home in Texas. As much as possible, they wanted the whole design to replicate their home there.”

Although King says they weren’t willing to send him to Texas for a site inspection, they did provide him with myriad photos, as well as some sketches and online photos of different elements they wanted incorporated in their New England design.

Photo: Bahler Brothers, Inc.

As for the site itself, King describes it as “not too big,” although it is large enough to support a 40-foot linear rectangular pool with a raised spa in the deep end and a spillway, a fire pit, outdoor kitchen and bocce court contained in slightly more than 3,000 square feet of pavers. Still, he says privacy was an issue.

“They had neighbors pretty close by,” he says. “We had to take privacy into consideration. We needed to disguise it, so they weren’t in the neighbors’ backyard, too, because the houses aren’t that far from each other.”

The actual pool installation was handled by Aqua Pool and Patio of East Windsor, Connecticut, which Bahler Brothers uses as a sub for all its gunite pools, King says. A second story deck which became the covering from the outdoor kitchen and dining area was also subcontracted out.

Photo: Bahler Brothers, Inc.

“There’s a walk-out basement that’s finished,” King explains. “They walk out into a pretty large kitchen. There’s a 15-foot bar where people can sit, or you can set things up buffet style. Then, the actual kitchen area is separate for the cooking. There’s a lot of room for entertaining large parties.

The covered area also has additional space for a table or lounge chairs.

Surrounding the pool is a concrete paver patio, done in Techo-Bloc’s Travertina, with accents of another Techo-Bloc product called Borealis, which replicates the look of a hardwood floor.

“The Travertina has more of a tropical or southern feel to it, to match the Texas feel they were looking for,” says King. “It’s not the bluestone or slate paver you’d typically see in New England.”

Besides providing accents around the pool, the two pavers share space in the covered outdoor kitchen, and the Borealis is featured heavily in the project’s firepit area. The designer says the clients chose the pavers from the Bahler Brothers’ showroom.

The firepit is King’s favorite part of the project and the element of which he is most proud, and it’s certainly not a run-of-the-mill installation.

Photo: Bahler Brothers, Inc.

“It’s a pretty intricate design,” he says. “Rather than just a standard seating wall, they wanted a seating wall/bench around the outside of it. It’s a stone structure but it has a back they can lean against. There’s a lot of craftsmanship in it.”

Made of concrete block and a Techo-Bloc wall product called Brandon, it offers similar color tones to the Travertina and Borealis. King also estimates it can seat as many as 20 people.

“It was a challenge coming up with the design, and it’s a definite focal point,” he says. “And, being a circular space, the crew had to pay attention to detail to make it a perfect circle because when you’re sitting on the second-story deck you can see how it all lays out.”

Completing the hardscape is a bocce court that runs parallel to the pool and utilizes the Borealis product for the sidewalls.

“Whether people are playing bocce, swimming in the pool, sitting by the fire or around the outdoor kitchen, all the spaces are within close proximity to each other,” he says.

Photo: Bahler Brothers, Inc.

Lighting for the project was designed to highlight specific plants, as well as featuring path lights around the pool, and under-cap lighting in the walls, including the firepit seating wall and the bar. Both the lights and the spa are controlled through the clients’ phone.

Landscaping on the lot was done in phases. King explains that the clients had another landscape company do annual maintenance for them, and that company had put in an Arborvitae hedge between the neighboring property and the backyard for privacy.

“We did the landscaping around the pool inside the (wrought-iron) fence,” he says. “That was all ornamental plants that bloom from late spring into early fall. Our main goal was to use plants that would be blooming during the summer months when the family is using the pool.”

To further enhance the Southwest feel, the open areas inside the fence were done in decorative stone, rather than mulch. The landscape isn’t irrigated, and the pool equipment is installed off the far end of the pool patio and screened with plantings.

Photo: Bahler Brothers, Inc.

The designer says the project – excluding the pool and deck – took about eight weeks utilizing an average crew of four. It was recognized in October at Hardscape North America as the winner in the Concrete Paver – Residential – More than 3,000 sf category.

King describes the property’s drainage as the biggest challenge to the job, and rather critical because of the extensive use of hardscape.

“We needed to make sure — since the lot is flat — that we pitched the water in the appropriate places,” King says. “We needed to get it away from the house and away from the pool. We incorporated some area drains throughout the patio and along one side of the pool with the larger seating area, we utilized stepping stones to provide more drainage.”

And, for him, it proved to be a learning experience, as well.

“It’s a matter of coordination with the different subcontractors,” he says. “That can really make projects go smoothly and stay on schedule. This had a whole handful of contractors, including the pool company, the carpenter for the deck, gas and electric, and when everything is in line and organized, things go smoothly with minimal headaches.”

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blackpjensen · 7 years ago

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Story Of A Landscape: New Materials Bring A Modern Spin To Deck Project

“Sleek” isn’t a word that’s often associated with landscape projects, but in the case of a residential upgrade the Elmira, Ontario-based Earthscape did for a local homeowner that incorporates some cutting-edge materials, the same old descriptive phrases just don’t seem to fit.

Sure, the job features a timber-framed fir pergola and plenty of natural and man-made stone products, but it also utilizes clear acrylic plastic inserts to protect pergola users from the elements, glass railings, a composite deck and perhaps the most unconventional element: a polycarbonate roofing material to let plenty of sunlight in without overheating the space.

Not only did the project win recognition from the Landscape Ontario Horticultural Trades Association for a residential project from $100,000-$250,000, but it’s a marked upgrade from what the homeowners originally proposed doing.

Sam Bauman, co-owner of Earthscape and the company’s operations manager, explains the original contact with the owners came because of a project the firm was doing in the neighborhood.

Photo: Earthscape

“At that point, they were interested in having us re-lay an existing interlock patio,” Bauman explains. “We had given them a quote and then never heard a response until the next season, at which point what they wanted had drastically changed.”

Zac Wolochatiuk, Earthscape’s design manager, says at that point, the company looked upon the client’s backyard as pretty much a blank slate. Although the home had an existing deck and a paver patio off to one side, the decision was made to start from scratch with its new design.

As with many clients, these homeowners had recently remodeled their interior and were looking for an outdoor upgrade that would allow them to easily entertain guests and well as provide a pleasant space for the family to relax.

Photo: Earthscape

“There was some discussion early on about trying to use some of the existing framing for the deck – which was at the same elevation as the deck we built,” Wolochatiuk says. “But after trying to work with it, we realized it wasn’t built to our standard so we just demolished the entire thing.”

Perhaps the most interesting feature of the project is the deck-based pergola. Both men say in trying to meet the needs of the clients it expanded their own horizons.

Originally, Bauman says Earthscape envisioned a traditionally roofed pergola. However, because it would be against the back of the house, the homeowners were concerned they’d be losing natural light in the adjacent interior rooms. The answer arrived only after the company began digging into less-traditional alternatives.

“We found a polycarbonate roofing, which is plastic with a frosted membrane on it,” Wolochatiuk says. “It allows 90 percent of the light in, but reflects 90 percent of the UV and heat. When you’re under it, even on a hot, sunny day, the temperature feels as if you’re in the shade.

“It really gave us a modern spin on a timber-framed structure.”

As with any roof in an area prone to winter snowfalls, the design did have to be turned over to an engineer to set the final specs in terms of framing and the size and spacing of the beams, however.

Photo: Earthscape

Frosted plastic inserts for the pergola’s roof and the glass deck railings not only continue with the sleek modern look of the project, but also serve the clients’ desires, Wolochatiuk says.

“They really didn’t want any visual barriers to their backyard,” he says. “The property backs up on a golf course, and it’s a really nice setting. Whether inside the house or sitting on the deck, they wanted to keep those nice views without any obstructions.”

In much the same way, the composite deck provides them with easy convenience with little maintenance, he adds. As a further modern touch, the pergola includes a drop-down projector screen.

Photo: Earthscape

Off the deck and adjacent to the pergola is a lower gathering area. A double-sided glass fireplace from Napoleon at the pergola end of the deck divides the two spaces, but provides a focal area for both.

Not that plastic and glass are the only materials used in the project. The lower area is created with travertine slabs banded with Techo-Bloc’s Borealis wood-look product for contrast.

A curved seating wall also provides an additional space for guests to gather.

The outdoor kitchen, located on the deck but outside the pergola, includes a barbecue grill, sink and refrigerator faced with an Eldorado Stone veneer. The granite countertop for the kitchen island was sourced by the homeowners.

Photo: Earthscape

Off the lower seating area is also the clients’ hot tub, which is partially hidden by a wood and glass privacy fence. Jumbo stone steppers with granite pebbles in between them encourage access to the lower part of the lawn, which includes a basketball court.

As part of the approximately $175,000 project, Earthscape also planted low-maintenance garden areas.

The four-week job that involved eight company employees, plus gas, electrical and irrigation subs, was a learning experience for the Earthscape crew, Bauman says.

“Our clients and designers always push us to do things we haven’t done, which is a great thing,” he says. “The roofing material, the frosted glass panels and the topless glass railing were all components we had very little experience with at the time.”

It’s the roofing material that really makes Bauman smile.

Photo: Earthscape

“We’re glad we went ahead with the polycarbonate material that lets the light through but blocks the UV,” he says. “We’ve been using this material quite a bit since this installation.”

He adds that he’s proud that this project has led the company into more outdoor-living-type projects where they’ve been able to use the same materials and design principals.

Still Bauman says it was tying the timber structure into the house that proved to be the job’s biggest challenge.

“Fortunately, we have great carpenters and engineers,” he says. “Overall, it went quite well.”

The clients agree. Not only are they allowing Earthscape to use the award-winning project as a reference, but there may be more in the offing.

“The family has thought about adding a pool in the back of the property,” Bauman says. “But, we won’t push that!”

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