East Shop Exterior

East Shop Exterior
The east end of the shop never got finished out due to some unknowns about the development of the northeast corner of the back yard. At one time a deck was in the plans. The deck was to have a ramp and then be on the same grade level as the floor of the shop that items could be rolled in through the double doors. A number of considerations caused the plans to change... 1. all of the major tools for the shop are already in there, 2. sheet goods are no longer placed in the shop, they are cut into smaller pieces in the garage 3. we decided that we just simply did not want a deck So we scrapped those plans and decided to...finish out the eastern edge French drain, put in a new French drain just outside of the shop, Cindy wanted to build a flower bed, and we would put in a new set of steps to enter the shop.
This is what the east end of the shop looked like.
First phase was Cindy putting in a bed. She did a great job and it looks good with the Mexican petunias...with geraniums. View is from the west. See the project build here.
The eastern drainage system had stopped short. We bought 4 inch perforated French Drain pipe in a sleeve and added 32 feet so that the run now dumps into the creek at the rear of the property. All of the dirt that we excavated from the grave hump was moved to cover the new pipe.
The "temporary" steps on the east end will go.
After pulling the steps we dug a trench for the French drain...but it was still too hot in September and we ended up stalled. In November we took it back up. Here is the trench.
One of the things that had slowed us down in the heat was a "hump" in the middle of the run. This turned out to be a spot of hard clay with a major root system running through it. This spot was definitely the crux of the project. Once removed the pace picked up.
North end, the downhill end, had the drain go under the fence and then empty into the drainage ditch behind the property. Pavers were put in just before the fence because this is the area that will pick up the most foot traffic.
Pea gravel was put in place with treated timbers to hold everything.
At the uphill end of the run will be a drain box that will receive the water from the east end downspout of the shop gutter. It will also pick up most of the downhill water flow from this part of the back yard.
Here is the drain box installed with both hoses secured.
Backfill done around the drain box.
Walk area completed.