Just a quick note to let everone know that we will be updating and adding new pics and info to our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cornelius-NC/Land-Artisans/142399949117145
Come take a look and join!
-B-
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Construction has begun...now time for a break...
The construction of the lake has begun at Ve'lke Kozmalovce!
Day 1:
The guys arrived at 8am, but were more than a bit apprehensive of the task ahead of them. They had never worked on a lake such as we had laid out for them. I think the digger was a bit worried that he wasn't going to do it right. After a bit of explaination in a mix of English and rough Slovak I realized that this may take a bit longer than origianlly thought. But, D got everyone squared away while I continued laying out the design with paint and stakes. After the guys worked for about a half hour I reviewed everything with them, made some slight changes, and then they were off and running...
Things were going pretty well until 3pm...Quiting time?!?! Really? 3pm? HUH?!?!? Come on guys, we had about 3 more hours of daylight! We rectified that issue the next day.
Things went a bit slow on the first day, but it picked up on day 2.
Day 2:
The guys seemed a bit more up-beat when they showed up on the second day. They understood what they were doing, and how to do it. I guess this is a big key to getting the work done properly... They could work on their own for most of the day as I jumped on the Bobcat and started shaping the fill areas.
Day 3:
Day 3 started a bit rough with the Backhoe busting a hydrahlic line and the Bobcat breaking a lock bolt on the bucket. After some maintenance, we were all back up and running.
After a couple long days it was nice to see the progress. The plan was to work on Saturday and start cutting in the next level down, the littoral shelf, but about 15 minutes after we quit on Friday the skies opened up and it rained until mid morning the next day. So, back to Bratislava for the weekend and get ready for a long week ahead. We leave Slovakia in about 10 days so we have lots of work to complete next week along with getting the lake liner company selected and going to pick out materials and boulders for all the features in and around the lake.
-B-
Day 1:
The guys arrived at 8am, but were more than a bit apprehensive of the task ahead of them. They had never worked on a lake such as we had laid out for them. I think the digger was a bit worried that he wasn't going to do it right. After a bit of explaination in a mix of English and rough Slovak I realized that this may take a bit longer than origianlly thought. But, D got everyone squared away while I continued laying out the design with paint and stakes. After the guys worked for about a half hour I reviewed everything with them, made some slight changes, and then they were off and running...
 |
| Scoop by Scoop the Lake Edge Begins to Take Shape |
Things were going pretty well until 3pm...Quiting time?!?! Really? 3pm? HUH?!?!? Come on guys, we had about 3 more hours of daylight! We rectified that issue the next day.
 |
| Only Took 3hrs to get 40LF of Edging Dug? |
Things went a bit slow on the first day, but it picked up on day 2.
Day 2:
The guys seemed a bit more up-beat when they showed up on the second day. They understood what they were doing, and how to do it. I guess this is a big key to getting the work done properly... They could work on their own for most of the day as I jumped on the Bobcat and started shaping the fill areas.
 |
| Day 2 - Lunch Time |
 |
| Beach Front |
 |
| Layering of the Waterfall Area |
 |
| No, I am not digging the lake out with a Bobcat |
Day 3:
Day 3 started a bit rough with the Backhoe busting a hydrahlic line and the Bobcat breaking a lock bolt on the bucket. After some maintenance, we were all back up and running.
 |
| Yep, I broke it... |
 |
| But I fixed it... |
 |
| Treasure Island - Kids' Multi-layered Beach Area Taking Shape |
 |
| If we don't finish the lake, we will have one great RC racetrack! |
After a couple long days it was nice to see the progress. The plan was to work on Saturday and start cutting in the next level down, the littoral shelf, but about 15 minutes after we quit on Friday the skies opened up and it rained until mid morning the next day. So, back to Bratislava for the weekend and get ready for a long week ahead. We leave Slovakia in about 10 days so we have lots of work to complete next week along with getting the lake liner company selected and going to pick out materials and boulders for all the features in and around the lake.
-B-
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Kids' Treasure Island Beach & Forts
I have had the most fun with this particular area....the kids' area...imagine that! The desire for this area was to be a rough, unfinished area that the kids can go play and create on their own. This is a great idea for older kids, but since we are going to have some very young kids running around this area too, we needed to balance how rough and unfinished this place should be. To keep with the theme of a Kids' Hideaway Area as it was discribed, we have designed an area that will look like the kids built it, but will have the proper structure & safety that will be needed.
Some of the ideas that we are currently developing for this area are;
Utilizing the cut trees/tree trunks for the walls and steps around a raised beach area.
Boulders placed all around for climbing and hidding.
Multiple tree forts connected together for access within the tree canopies.
Dug out areas with sand fill for digging and burying...(maybe a brother or sister?)
Large Mounded areas with creek beds that run into the lake.
A small wooden boat dock for the famous raft that the kids always play on.
Since we haven't finished the sketches of our paticular tree house, below are some inspiration photos that we are working off of.
These all represent the basic idea of a rough cut/finished tree house. We will span multiple sections with a look out and a main fort with a swinging bridge. Another two trees will be linked via a zip line.
-B-
Some of the ideas that we are currently developing for this area are;
Utilizing the cut trees/tree trunks for the walls and steps around a raised beach area.
Boulders placed all around for climbing and hidding.
Multiple tree forts connected together for access within the tree canopies.
Dug out areas with sand fill for digging and burying...(maybe a brother or sister?)
Large Mounded areas with creek beds that run into the lake.
A small wooden boat dock for the famous raft that the kids always play on.
 |
| Treasure Island |
 |
| Initial Concept Sketch of Beach |
Since we haven't finished the sketches of our paticular tree house, below are some inspiration photos that we are working off of.
These all represent the basic idea of a rough cut/finished tree house. We will span multiple sections with a look out and a main fort with a swinging bridge. Another two trees will be linked via a zip line.
-B-
Ve'lke Designs...in progress...
Here are a few updates as to the progress of the design phase for our Slovakia project. Right now the main focus is on the lake and shaping of the area utilizing the cut material but I have attached a few random sketches for the additional features that we will be adding after the lake.
The lake contouring was the most important task due to the ulti-use of the lake. This will be both a swimming and a fishing lake and will have several small children playing in and around it. The lake had to be proerly filtered without utilizing several costly filtration pumps, had to still provide adequete vegetation for the fish for habitat and "security", but still had to be relatively clean for swimmers and safe for the children. Multiple beach access points have been included and a littoral shelf with stone and vegetation will be implemented along most of the edge of the lake where there is no beach access. The slopes have been designed to be relatively "kid friendly" to the deeper depths when possible. There are several other design features that have been added to the lake but we will look at that later.
-B-
 |
| Final Lake Design with Contours |
The lake contouring was the most important task due to the ulti-use of the lake. This will be both a swimming and a fishing lake and will have several small children playing in and around it. The lake had to be proerly filtered without utilizing several costly filtration pumps, had to still provide adequete vegetation for the fish for habitat and "security", but still had to be relatively clean for swimmers and safe for the children. Multiple beach access points have been included and a littoral shelf with stone and vegetation will be implemented along most of the edge of the lake where there is no beach access. The slopes have been designed to be relatively "kid friendly" to the deeper depths when possible. There are several other design features that have been added to the lake but we will look at that later.
-B-
Kali the Supervisor...
Since this was going to be a long trip, we figured it was best to bring along Kali, the best project supervisor we have on staff. Some already know Kali personally, others may have met her through our previous blog and "Kali's Hole of the Week" segment. She is absolutetly loving being onsite, but hates the end of the day clean-ups...
 |
| This Sucks... |
Is there really 2 meters of topsoil here?!?!?!
So as I am working on the lake design for the Ve'lke project here is Slovakia we are trying to determine the best way to seal the lake bottom. Of course, the cheapest is clay, if we can find a good shaper that has worked with clay before. One snag, there's no clay anywhere...Not a problem, time to use a liner, but what I did have a problem with was the fact I was told it was completely topsoil to the ground water level of 2 meters. Now I grew up in Indiana and we had good soil, but I have since lived in Florida (all sand) and North Carolina (all clay) so I figured this all topsoil was just a bit of Slovak boasting which does happen from time to time so I was skeptical at best. There was one way to test this...dig for water.
Since we needed to verify the ground water level and soil profile we brought in a backhoe to dig out a 3m x 3m hole. When asked how deep to go, I said till we hit water then 1/2 meter past. Well this is what we got...
That's some black dirt....
Since we needed to verify the ground water level and soil profile we brought in a backhoe to dig out a 3m x 3m hole. When asked how deep to go, I said till we hit water then 1/2 meter past. Well this is what we got...
That's some black dirt....
And it kept going...
2 meters exactly until we hit 5cm of sand and then gravel mix. And then the water poured in! Water was exactly where we wanted it, and yes, there was 2 full meters of topsoil!
All my friends and clients in NC - You pay for shipping and I'll load it up!
-B-
The Slovakia project has taken off, full speed, with me tightly holding on...
Even though we have been reviewing and planning aspects of the new project in Slovakia for some time now, it has come full force and is off and running! Land Artisans was commissioned to consult, design, and manage the first phase of construction for a private estate in the village of Ve'lke Kozmalovce in Slovakia. I had been on site several times in the past but two weeks ago was the first since the client more than doubled the size of the property by purchasing surrounding farm lots. We had been given a "Wish List" of features that was to be included (if possible) in the Master Plan along with the request for phasing in of the poject.
Among the "Wish List" was:
Swimming/Fishing Lake
Water Feature(s)
Walking/Riding Trails
Pavilion/Gather Area
Outdoor Kitchen
Traditional Outdor Room(s)
Hidden Seating Areas
Fruit Orchard
Privacy Wall
Firepit(s)/Fireplace(s)
Small Cottage
Re-Organizing the Existing Features (pond, buildings, etc)
Small Animal Lot w/ Barn
Putting Green / Bocce Court
Raised Garden Areas
Extensive Landscaping Throughout
This should be a fun one!!
-B-
Among the "Wish List" was:
Swimming/Fishing Lake
Water Feature(s)
Walking/Riding Trails
Pavilion/Gather Area
Outdoor Kitchen
Traditional Outdor Room(s)
Hidden Seating Areas
Fruit Orchard
Privacy Wall
Firepit(s)/Fireplace(s)
Small Cottage
Re-Organizing the Existing Features (pond, buildings, etc)
Small Animal Lot w/ Barn
Putting Green / Bocce Court
Raised Garden Areas
Extensive Landscaping Throughout
This should be a fun one!!
-B-
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Hello Everyone!
We have done it! We have finally put all the pieces together and officially launched Land Artisans, LLC as of July 1st. We couldn't have done it without the help of support of our wonderful families and the great clients that we have met over the last several months.
Many of you know the story of how Land Artisans became; but for those that are not familiar, along with our new followers from Facebook, Twitter and this blog, we will be posting a "Story of Us" soon. Along with this post, we will be posting some project reviews from the past several months as well as some new projects currently in the works.
We will try to keep a consistant schedule of posts/updates to the blog. Our target is to keep a weekly schedule, we will see how that goes over the next few months!
Thanks again to everyone for your support as we continue to grow and develop Land Artisans!
Branden & Ryan
Many of you know the story of how Land Artisans became; but for those that are not familiar, along with our new followers from Facebook, Twitter and this blog, we will be posting a "Story of Us" soon. Along with this post, we will be posting some project reviews from the past several months as well as some new projects currently in the works.
We will try to keep a consistant schedule of posts/updates to the blog. Our target is to keep a weekly schedule, we will see how that goes over the next few months!
Thanks again to everyone for your support as we continue to grow and develop Land Artisans!
Branden & Ryan
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)