Land Grading

October 5, 2020

Over the last several weeks, our land has been changing a lot.

They used an excavator fitted with a 5 ft. wide, 2 ft. deep rake which pulled piles of roots and hundreds of giant rocks out of the soil.

After the loggers finished, the field was still very rocky and filled with roots. We had a grading company come out and rake the field to make it smooth, flat and free of debris.

The logging company actually did an amazing job considering, but loggers tend not to be focused on details.

We also had them clean up and shape the pond, which the loggers left covered in debris and only roughly the right shape.

I used cardboard as a weed barrier under the 2 ft. wide strip of gravel along the front of the house, which helps reduce erosion and backsplash when it rains.

They also removed the giant stumps and raised the grade of the front-yard over a foot to help the water drain away from the house.

The studio pad was also expanded a bit using dirt from the pond.

Finally they used the rocks pulled from the field to build retaining walls around the side yard of the house and the studio pad to prevent erosion.

The silt-fence, which delineated the wetlands setback, can now be removed.

The field is now very smooth, ready to be planted with grass and worked with a small tractor. There are also now pads for a barn and two poultry houses.

Rafter Sheathing Started
Rafter Sheathing Continued