Landscaping For Dummies. Lance Walheim

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tools if you need to change blades or bits.

Grading Your Property

      Grading a site means leveling the soil to the desired contour — usually a flat surface, slightly sloped to allow for drainage. (Note: The land under a proposed deck site doesn’t need to be level.) Grading for lawns and planting beds may also include adding soil amendments.

      In any case, we’re talking about pick-and-shovel work. For small areas, hand tools suffice. For a large patio or a complete landscaping overhaul project, rent a small tractor with a scoop loader and grading attachments.

       The basic rule for grading for patios, walks, and foundation sites is the Goldilocks rule: not too much, not too little, just right. Built structures must rest on undisturbed soil, so don’t overdig. Where additional soil is required, compact it carefully to minimize settling.

      When you’re grading your property, start with measuring. Don’t rely on eyeballing; always check your work with a level. For larger sites, use the following steps to establish the finished grade:

       For most sites, slope the grade at a minimum rate of ¼ inch per foot, (.6 cm per 30.5 cm), for drainage. Around the house, foundation experts recommend that the ground slope away from the house at a rate of ½ to 1 inch per foot (1.3 to 2.4 cm per .3 m) for the first 10 feet (3 m) (except for patios and other paved areas, which slope at ⅛ to ¼ inch per foot, .3 to .6 cm per .3 m).

      1 Pound 18-inch (45.7 cm) stakes 6 to 12 inches (15.2 to 30.5 cm) into the ground every 10 feet (3 m) or so, with a sledgehammer as shown in Figure 4-1. If this process begins for you with the soil on your property resisting staking (due to rocks or heavy or highly compacted soil, for example), call in the pros with heavy equipment.© John Wiley & Sons, Inc.FIGURE 4-1: Pound stakes into the ground every 10 feet (3 m) or so along a grade.

      2 Identify the stake that you want to be at the highest point, and make a reference mark on that stake at the finished grade level.You may have to dig down a bit to make the mark, or make the mark several inches (cm) above the existing grade.

      3 Mark the other stakes at the same level as the reference mark.Use a laser level.

      4 At each stake, write how far below or above the reference mark the finished grade must be — 2½ inches (6.3 cm), for example.

      5 Dig and fill the soil, using the measurements written on the stakes as a guide.

       When excavating, scrape off the topsoil first and place it where you can reuse it in your garden. For more on taking out a lawn, see Chapter 16.

Laying Out Straight Lines and Shapes

      A layout is a system of stakes and stringlines that establishes the precise location of footings and borders for a building project. This could be the perimeter of your dream deck or patio, or just a fenceline.

      You normally do layout after grading the site (see the previous section), but you may need to set a few stakes, using basic layout techniques, to guide the grading. Yes, doing so sounds old-school, but the methods are tried-and-true, and you can do it.

If an obstacle, such as a tree trunk, makes it impossible to string a line between two stakes, move both stakes an equal distance, in the same direction, from their original position. Then, stretch a stringline between them. To establish points, such as post locations, where the original stringline would have run, measure an equal distance from the string to the distance that you moved the stakes. This technique is called offsetting.

       Make sure that you establish precisely what the stringline represents, for example, the inside edge of posts, the outside edge of the finished structure, the center of footings — whatever. It doesn’t matter what you choose; just be consistent. Usually, however, stringlines represent the outside edges.

       Any sturdy string will do for these tasks, but we recommend mason’s twine because it is more durable and stretches less.

      These sections help you execute these tasks in your yard. We prefer to use basic and practical techniques that many construction surveyors use on a regular basis.

      Stringing lines — The hub and tack method

      The simplest example of a layout is a string stretched between two stakes to establish a straight line. Instead of tying the line to the stakes, we recommend the more accurate method of securing the string to nails in the top of each stake. In construction surveying’s lingo, this is called the hub and tack method; that is, the stake is a hub and the nail is a tack.

Here’s how to do get started for a fence or a square or rectangular patio or deck or even a pathway (refer to Figure 4-2):

      1 With a sledgehammer, pound 18-inch (45.7 cm) stakes 6 to 12 inches (15.2 to 30.5 cm) into the ground at each end of the proposed line.

      2 Pound in a small nail at the top, in the center, of each stake — only partway.

      3 Tie a string from one nail to the other.

      Stringing out the rest of a shape

After you establish the first line, finish stringing the perimeter of the rest, whether it’s your new patio, deck, or another item. Just follow these steps:

      © John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

      FIGURE 4-2: Lay out a line.

      1 To establish a right angle and thus continue laying out the shape, go down your existing line 3 feet (.9 m) and set a stake.Using a carpenter’s square, go 4 feet (1.2 m) down in the perpendicular direction and set another stake. Put nails on top of each, as you did when you laid out the initial line.

      2 Measure the diagonal between the two new stakes.If it’s 5 feet (1.5 m), you’re good, you made a right angle (you have a good carpenter’s square). If it isn’t, adjust the stake on the line that lacks a string yet (the one 4 feet, 1.2 m away) until it all checks out, that is, the numbers form a triangle with a right angle. For checking larger distances, use multiples of 3, 4, and 5 feet, such as 9, 12, and 15, or 12, 16, and 20 feet (in metric, that would be .9, 1.2, and 1.5 m, such as 2.7, 3.6, and 4.8 m, or 3.6, 4.9, and 6.1 m).

      3 Continue down your new line the designed/desired distance, and put in another stake at the end, again topping it with a partially pounded-in nail.Run mason’s

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