Landscape Design for Virginia, Maryland and DC
Ok, your framing is up and you have the solid foundation for a deck. Now you have choices – what decking to use, and what type of railings? Decking I break decking up into four categories: pressure treated, composite, exotic hardwood, and other. Here’s a little more info on each: Pressure-treated lumber: this is the [...]
Last week I talked about the ledger board and the footers, the first steps in building your deck. Today I’ll cover the next steps. Posts The standard spec for a deck is for it to be supported by 6″x6″ pressure-treated posts. Not only are these sturdier than 4″x4″ posts (the old standard), they’re big enough [...]
My name is Dave Marciniak, landscape designer and owner of Revolutionary Gardens, and I use jargon. I’m deeply sorry. However, the fact is that when it comes to building everything has a name. It’s easier to use the technical term than a long-winded explanation. A great example is the French phrase “l’esprit de l’escalier.” It’s [...]
If you’re used to seeing what’s offered by the big box stores, you may think that your options for outdoor fabrics are really limited. Green and white stripes? Or blue and white? The truth is, there are actually some fantastic options for outdoor fabrics, as evidenced by the swatch books I received from one of [...]
Step 1: Build a square deck. Step 2: Cut off all the corners. In all seriousness, building a round deck isn’t all that different from building a rectangular deck. I’ve designed several. The basic framing has the same considerations as any other deck. You need appropriate footers, ledger attachment, beams, joists, and railings. I have [...]
I’ll be honest, I don’t really care for multi-level decks. They can look stunning, but if they’re not well designed they can be a waste of money. After all, those additional levels can require additional materials and framing. Still, with the right design – and the right budget – they can be made to work [...]
Winter is a great time to start thinking about landscape projects, especially starting the design phase. It’s hard to get folks on board with this, because a lot of people think that landscape work shuts down in the winter. The fact of the matter is that Virginia has a pretty mild winter climate, and most [...]
“I want zero maintenance.” If you wanted to know how many times I’ve heard these words in my career as a designer, I’d say to take the number of presents under a spoiled kid’s Christmas tree and multiply by five hundred. Sadly, zero maintenance doesn’t exist. You can, however, reduce maintenance needs by selecting the [...]
The great thing about treehouses is that no two are alike. Every site, every tree, and every family is different. As a result, the framing and structure of each treehouse has to be built custom, but everyone wants the amenities that are right for them. Access How will you get into your treehouse? There’s the [...]
Ok, where are we in the process? Let’s see: we’ve established that treehouses are great and everyone should have one; that was part one. In part two, we talked about all the people involved in getting your treehouse built. To recap, that was arborist, landscape designer, architect, and builder. Now we need to talk about [...]
