Landscape Contractor / Design Build Maintain

MAR 2015

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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March 2015 43 Randy Bach, owner of Epic Land Design, originally planned to subcon - tract the work for the curved deck. However, the price for ordering the curved material was more than double the proposal. After some research, he concluded that the two products available to bend the materials would also exceed the budget for the project. At that point, Bach decided to make his own heat box to bend the decking and rails. Bach constructed the heat box out of plywood 2"x4"s with a removable lid, ventilation holes, and an HVAC duct. The box is about 16" wide, 16" high and 10' long, with metal strapping every foot along the length for the com- posite deck and rails to heat. Bach used a propane turbo heater to heat the composite without the rails and decking directly touching the heat source. The creation proved effective, as only one deck board and one railing were sacrificed in figuring out the correct time and temperature to achieve the desired curve. Less than two years after Superstorm Sandy tore up the area, these New Jersey residents had a new backyard with patio, curved deck, retaining wall, garden and level open space for entertainment and recreation. The commut- er rail was screened with more than 20 transplanted mature bamboo plants and more than 20 transplanted Norway spruce trees. The trees, walkways, and patio/deck areas are illuminated by a remote controlled, three zone LED lighting system. Ultimately, the team at Epic Land Design prevailed over ad - verse and extreme weather conditions to give the homeowners the backyard they were looking for. DBM LC Top: Epic Land Design cut the square corner of the existing gray upper deck and added Azek "Sedona" colored curved steps that lead to the new brownstone extended deck area. To create the curve in the steps, Randy Bach of Epic Land Design created his own heat box and experimented to obtain the correct temperature and time to bend the materials properly. Bottom: A natural cleft flagstone path leads from the lower patio area to a semi-formal garden area. The planters are lined with one and a half tons of Belgian block curbing, and contain a mix of fruits, vegetables and flowers. The walkways through the garden are made of two and a half tons of 3/8" Delaware pea gravel.

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