And replacing it with an outdoor fireplace and hand-made stone benches.

storm drain before

So what we had here was a piece of yard with a storm drain. The storm drain was installed at right about surface level, really not doing to much to catch run-off. My client had already placed a steel fire place atop the storm grate, both to conceal the grate and to provide a place to sit and enjoy a fire.

They knew they wanted benches, so I designed some benches.

And then built them. Local boulders stood up on end, with notches carved. blue stone slabs were then carved to shape and placed into the notches. I built the benches in the fall, with a plan to come back in the spring and do something about the drain itself.

Up until this point, the drain itself was surrounded by a wet patch of soil, obviously not doing it’s job. So I excavated around the storm grate and then cut 8 inches off the top of the concrete box that houses the grate. Grate was replaced, now sitting six inches lower. Covered in 8 inches of drainage stone, decorative gravel atop that and then the metal fireplace put back in it’s spot. Now the drain is hidden, looks better and performs better.

Drain hidden, wet spot in the yard now solid underfoot and custom hand built stone benches  in place.

A lot of what I do involves drainage solutions, often my drainage solution is needed to solve previously failed attempts at drainage….the soil in this part of the yard was largely clay. Luckily, part of the yard is forested and has well draining organic soil. So, part of what I did here was surround the gravel pit with fertile forest soil, thus expediating the process of ground water making it into the buried drain box. Soil remediation, french drains and good grading are all part of what goes on, behind the scenes, in most any hardscape project that I take on.