Saturday, March 06, 2010

New Driveway

Lots of projects going on at Squirrel Head Manor these past few months. I wrote about the new doors HERE.

Some are very welcome changes, some are stressful because you HAVE to have it but didn’t plan on it…cash wise anyway.

First off, a very good project we moved forward with was the driveway. I realize most people reading this do not live in our area and you’ll never have the pleasure of dealing with Apache Asphalt company. But if you did…you would not be disappointed! The customer service and professionalism gets top marks.


Here is one photo where you can see just the dirt and a puddle. This doesn't look bad but the water continues to stand and then...we get more rain, more puddles....
And believe me...this is nothing compared to the pits of mud we ended up with after 28 inches of rain in a month and half!





With all the rain we have been getting our “driveway” was a sea of mud. Deep ruts, lots of mud, car tires sitting in 3 inches of water inside the carport…it was bad. After years of talking about paving we finally did it and we have no regrets.

Here are some before and after photos…….





Even though we are on high ground, excessive amounts of rain have saturated the ground to the point where it’s not draining.



The asphalt crew dug up some places where the dirt and soil were mushy with water, as if we are sitting on a pond. Several inches down you could see the wet soil roll like a water bed. It’s crazy.





After digging it 6 inches deeper than average and laying our fabric to solidify the base, we now have a recycled asphalt driveway!



Now, another project that has been hell to get someone out to do is a new drain field…we wanted that done prior to the driveway but the contractor didn’t cooperate…that’s a long story which may be in process of resolution. I sure hope so. It’s stressful.


Recipes tomorrow................

15 comments:

  1. Wow! That driveway looks wonderful. I know that is an eye pleasing sight each day. Totally cool.

    I was going to ask you if your dain field had been replaced as yet. The weather is going to warm-up over the next few days. Let's hope the sunshine will start to dry-up the mud and muck soon.

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  2. yea for the new driveway - don't you just hate dealing with contractors, esp ones who dissapoint ... glad the driveway worked out smoothly and no more ruts

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  3. Yay for the new driveway! Nothing worse than riding a bike down a pothole, puddle filled path :)

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  4. Thanks everyone! We are just back home from a short trip south to new Port Richey...it was a great thing to come home to...smooth driveway.

    Sadly, the temperatures were not any better in NPR than they were here but we had lots of fun. I have photos :-0

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  5. I'm sure you and your motorcycles will love the new driveway. We live close to the road and have a cement driveway and I'm so glad! The snow is melting and dirt driveways are mud pits right now.

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  6. That is a huge driveway and a huge project! I'm glad you're so happy with the way it was done.

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  7. it's the simple things we all take for granted... good for you

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  8. You do have space! What a lxury!

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  9. Velva - I forgot to address your question about the drain field - the answer is no! I was totally put off of a local company and they lied to me about doing a soil sample...as a result we are in the same shape we were in two months ago. All that time wasted!

    I have a different company working on things now.

    Janel - we almost went with a cement driveway - they are very good too. Yes, it is a relief to be able to get the bikes out.

    Joie - thank you!

    Dave - Thanks, yes you are so correct...the little things. :-)

    Laura - we are on a small piece of land and I have great photos of deer that visited the other day.

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