Landscape Contractor / Design Build Maintain

MAR 2013

LC/DBM provides landscape contractors with Educational, Imaginative and Practical information about their business, their employees, their machines and their projects.

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Carlsbad P a t i o T R e t r e a t he owners of this Carlsbad, California home offered AAA Landscape Specialists, Inc., the chance to completely remake their backyard. The design goal, according to the contractor, "was to create a family-oriented backyard with room to entertain. The client needed more space and wanted a fireplace, a covered patio area, a place to barbecue and room for a Ping-Pong table and darts." AAA Landscape Specialists, Inc. began by designing a new layout using the Vizterra 3D modeling software system by Structure Studios. Once the client approved the designs, the contractor demolished the entire backyard, including the hardscapes and existing landscape. In total, the company employed three crew members for the initial demo work. 28 LC DBM By David Silver, AAA Landscape Specialists, Inc. Top: The contractor installed "Unique Guardian" copper spot lights on the trees, "Unique Vanguard" recessed wall lights on the fireplace and under the wall caps, and "FX Luminaire LS" down lights on the patio cover and arbors. The patio cover was accented by a string of holiday lights from Lightcraft. The contractor laid direct burial wire in the planters and installed flex conduits under all of the hardscape, pulling 12-2 direct-bury low-voltage lighting wire powered by a "FX PX600" 12-volt transformer. The fixtures and wiring were installed after the hardscape construction was completed. Above-Left: The seat wall seat, backrest and cap were augmented with "Cameron" flagstone. The planting palate includes ornamental plum, Wilsoneii olive, white Iceberg roses, Japanese Boxwood, and "Tuscan Blue" Rosmary. The contractor constructed the fireplace using CMU blocks, with an interior lined with firebricks. The veneer on the Fireplace is "El Dorado" Stone 'Padova' field ledge. The fireplace and seat wall construction took a two-worker masonry team four weeks to complete. Above-Middle: The hardscape crew poured more than 19 cubic yards of concrete to create the 1,789 square feet of patio; they then added 230 square feet of flagstone accents. The plants shown are olive trees and white roses; all of the project's plants are irrigated with a drip system using Rainbird "MB" Micro Bubblers. Above-Right: The lighting fixtures and wiring were installed after the hardscape construction was completed. They ran a ¾-inch gas line from the meter to the fireplace and teed off to a ½-inch gas line to the barbecue. In-house electricians ran electrical line to the fireplace providing for an outlet and ran electrical to the barbecue area for the rotisserie and refrigerator and for extra outlets for utility use.

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