We recently worked on a residence where there was little space between the house and the garage for access to the back yard areas. This access way was the most convenient for anyone who wished to get into the back yard without having to walk up and down many deck steps or find another way walking around the house or garage. The working areas were very tight. Our excavator could just barely fit and at times could not swing side to side. The steepness of the slope required us to incorporate drains for surface water run off and build small retaining walls to keep soil from migrating onto the new walkway.
A job like this is where having the right equipment is critical. We used our laser and a little math for the job layout which allowed us to know for certain where we wanted to install the first step, so that the last step would ultimately be at the finish grade we desired. We used a clamp on the excavator to help install each of the nine granite steps.
Pictured above you can see just how tight the work area was and get a feel for how steep the existing slope was. This area was all dirt and when it rained would turn into a muddy slippery mess with the water washing out certain areas of the slope.
Pictured below (not completely finished) we were able to install six granite steps, a paver landing, then three more granite steps with a larger paver area connecting the new granite steps to the existing deck steps all the way to the existing driveway. Use of 3/4" bluestone, a surface drain and small retaining wall helped keep the soil from washing onto the new walkway.
This area now makes a good transition zone from the front yard to the back. This is the natural path that one would want to take.
