LeeDavid Landscapes News and Notes...

Just a bit of a difference.

2010-12-07T15:51:00.001-08:00

Our client entrusted us to clear out some of their ‘Stuff’…

That was a pretty hard job, throwing away other peoples goods. But we managed.

Attic Venting…

2010-12-07T01:01:00.001-08:00

We are on a Multi-project – project in a nice neighbourhood in Calgary this week, working on all manners of handyman items, the least of not which is troubleshooting some venting in the clients attic.

The issues that caused concern for the homeowner included dripping through the ceiling during the summer when the AC was working it’s hardest. Upon inspection of the attic space, we found that there have been multiple layers of insulation installed over the years, along with house additions that didn’t take into account total airflow throughout the attic space.

The first thing we are doing is increasing the amount of passive airflow in the attic. This alone will probably do the trick, but to be sure we will be installing an attic fan, just to be on the sure side.

The house has plywood soffits, with not enough vents. The vents that are there have been plugged right off by a couple of factors. 1. The blown-in Insulation was just blown all willy-nilly and with no regard for venting. 2. The Insulation stops that were installed in half the house (probably during a roof replacement or home addition) were actually installed upside down. Yep. the cardboard inserts were installed so that they fit nice and snug into the rafters as opposed to the other way around to allow for airflow. There were a number of them that were nailed to the underside of the roof with the shingle nails! wow, talk about a wasted effort!

See that? The thin dark line hugging the insulation? Yeah, it should be the other way around to create an airway.

So essentially, this is what we ended up doing, but because of the high ceilings inside and the low roof angle, we had to do our best from the outside.

It took a LOT of jiggle-jerking around, but we managed to install 7 new vents and retrofit all the existing vents with the new insulation stops. Installed the correct way up to allow for unimpeded airflow into the attic. This will keep the humidity down as well as cool the attic in the summer months, saving energy as the AC shouldn’t have to cycle as often due to the high heat in the attic.

This is the same vent as shown above with the non functioning air vent, but with the new 4’ long Insulation stop installed right under the old one.

This is a shot of a new vent we cut in, then installed the ‘stop’ where there was just insulation packed in tightly against the ceiling. The angles were tough to manage but with the right amount of ‘love’ we were successful in 100% of our vents (new and existing) to open the airways.

This one shows the multiple layers of insulation jammed in there. what it doesn’t show is the blown-in insulation that is just beyond, on top of all of this! Our 4 foot styrofoam ‘stop’ does a great job of managing all of it.

The project wasn’t a lot of fun, but what retrofit like this ever is? 2nd story of the house, below freezing temps, but we managed a great day and like I said, 100% success. We believe we solved some other issues while up there as well, based on some of the water marks and black spots we noticed. This airflow is going to make a world of difference to the life of the roof on this very nice home.

All it will take is a little bit of paint, and you’ll never know we were there, however, the benefits to these clients will be many and will be long lasting!

The other major project we are working on is a garage renovation. Nothing crazy, just some re-organization, mud and paint along with new drainage and an epoxy floor.

Here is the before shot of the floor while doing a water test to see where it flows, so we can install the new drain in the right spot.

This is just after we cut open the floor to install the new passive drain.

Here is the after, just as we finished rolling on the epoxy. Note the new drain as well! That epoxy is some tough stuff. Dad got a bit on his arm 4 days ago and it still looks brand new , even after all sorts of scrubbing!

Stay tuned for the overall before and after of the Garage! It’s impressive.

Winter in Calgary Construction Season

2010-10-27T13:33:00.001-07:00

Our landscaping season has ended. It was an interesting year to say the least. We had as tough a weather year as ever, but we managed to get some incredible projects completed.

We are happy to announce our Fall and Winter offerings at this time. As many of you know, our backgrounds are of a fine woodworking and construction nature and in the past few winters we have entertained the idea of expanding our project portfolio. Please take a look below for examples of some of what we can do for you!

Construction projects we have completed the last 2 seasons include:

Garage Finishing.

Basement Finishing Including:

Designing (in home)

Framing

Drywall

Subflooring

Doors, Windows and Glass Block

Cabinets

Finish woodworking

Railings

Murphy Beds

Lighting and Electrical

And many other basement construction projects.

Let us know your Ideas and we can help make them a reality for any kind of room renovations you might require.

Please note: we are contracted for snow removal (when it snows) and this takes a priority over any other projects. We cleared snow 18 times last year, so it is not as big of disturbance to our construction projects as one might think.

In addition to the following construction services, we are available for daytime plowing of parking lots and driveways on non snowfall days.

Flagstone Patio, Calgary… Doing it right.

2010-06-23T15:51:00.001-07:00

I have to admit, that we always steered clear of natural flagstone patios, because they never looked good to me. We pride ourselves on the finished look of our projects and the high quality if our installations. The Flagstone patios and walkways that we saw out there installed by others always left a LOT to be desired, in our opinion.

That is until now. We do NOT steer clear of Flagstone Patios anymore. We actually love them, and we love the look of them, we love how much care and attention they take to get them right. Well, let me clarify that.

We stumbled upon a system of installing Flagstone Patios (while researching install techniques), that is incredibly labour intensive, but produces the best looking finished patio I have seen in a long while in Calgary, maybe anywhere. I am not going to share our new found, but incredibly smart, system, but I will show you the results.

This is Natural Rundle Flagstone, known for it’s dark color, and also know for it’s uneven thicknesses and sharp/irregular edges. These two things combine to make Rundle one of the most difficult Flags to work with making it hard to match up edges, and even harder to provide an even and smooth top surface.

See for yourself. on the left is Concrete Pavers, and on the right is Natural Flagstone. both very flat and useable.

So, if you want you patio to be uneven, with large gaps, and be totally unusable, don’t call us. We waited until we knew we could install these amazing features to our always higher than industry standards, before we made them available to you! No Flagstone patio is cheap, but it is frustratingly more expensive when you have to install the same patio 2 or 3 times because of installation defects or poor workmanship.

Interlocking Flagstone…

2010-06-15T21:53:00.001-07:00

The Customer likes Pavers, AND the customer likes Flagstone. Lets do both!

Can't wait until we're finished! stay tuned.

New Website coming soon...

2010-06-08T23:48:00.000-07:00

e are working on a new and dynamic website, which is the reason there hasn't been any updates lately. Have a look at our new Flickr slideshows and check back often to see more projects!

Tell us what you think! info@leedavid.ca or comment below.

Dry Well Water Management...

2010-04-16T23:25:00.000-07:00

Our current project had some significant water issues (as usual on our projects), that we had to look after to ensure the quality of the project. We routed all the roof water to the low corner of the yard via underground drainage, then we installed positive drains under the deck and also in the yard on the lowest point on the high side of the new pathway (if that makes any sense). The water from the neighbor and the surface water on the high side of the pathway would have nowhere to go, except into the ground next the the path, causing all sorts of heaving and sogginess, hence the positive drain. These drains were also tied into the underground pipes, directing the water to the low corner of the yard.

Now this low corner of the yard is the low corner of the neighborhood. It is a soggy mess when it rains and for days afterwards. We decided to install a dry well for the retention and dispersion of excess water into the ground, taking it's own sweet time, out of sight and out of sog.

We performed some tests, just to make sure the ground would accept the water. We dug a 4' deep x 8' wide x 1' wide hole, then filled it up with water. The first day it didn't really go down, but in the second day, all but a foot of water had drained away, and the the third morning the hole was dry again. That was good news, so we proceeded to complete the dry well.

We pickup up a 4' long chunk of 12' dia sewer pipe, 30' of perforated drain tile, a 12" round valve cover box and a 15' x 15' sheet of geotex seperation fabric. The Geo-tex fabric is placed in the hole to seperate the dirt from the hole fill material, we drilled holes in the sewer pipe then placed it vertically in the hole, cut the Drain tile into 3' chunks and placed them vertically in the hole as well. The Sewer pipe is in the hole, just in case the homeowner wants to lower a sump pump in and drain the hole manually for any reason.

We then placed a drain pipe and emmiter coming out of the hole, to allow excess water in times of heavy rainfall to drain away normally and easily. We then filled the hole with old herringbone bricks (they leave the most amount of air (water) space. The Drain tile pipes do the same job, giving more space to hold water than if we just filled the entire hole with the bricks. Over the entire hole we folded the excess fabric and then filled the top of the cavity with the material we dug out of the hole initially. The 12" round valve cover box is placed on top the the sewer pipe then backfilled so that the top of the box is level with the final grade. The cap is put on the box and that is the only thing that gives and indication that something is under the ground there! Nice work team, it's the best part of this project that no one will ever see!

We also finished the Pergola, with all it`s little bits and details. It looks great!

Update in Heritage Pointe…

2010-04-09T18:55:00.001-07:00

We got a LOT done the last few days before the snowstorm hit last night. The work we completed will allow us to continue as soon as possible, because all the underground drainage is in place and the roofwater is not a factor to our project anymore. Since we were making such drastic changes, we also re-ran the irrigation system to be more efficient and fit the new layout.

This little drain ensures any of the water that collects under the deck is able to run away in the drainage system we installed

The Pergola turned out really nice. We love to take the vision of the customer and make it reality right before their eyes.

A great start to the season!

2010-04-02T17:44:00.000-07:00

We are moving right along on our project in Heritage Point. had a great day today, finishing the deck and getting a great start on the pergola!

Nice work Team!

Now Booking for Calgary Landscaping Construction Season, 2010

2010-03-04T12:42:00.001-08:00

We are accepting calls for your outdoor construction projects, for the 2010 landscaping season. We are booking fast, so please don’t hesitate to call us right away and get yourself into the queue.

We will provide you a ‘full’ yard project or we can look after your hardscape projects only, so you can look after the soft stuff yourself. feel free to call with any questions you may have!

Call or email

403-819-1948

sales@leedavid.ca

We will talk to you soon!

LANTA Award winner…

2010-03-04T12:38:00.001-08:00

we submitted 1 project for consideration for LANTA’s awards this year. We were given an award of excellence for the project, we scored the highest of all the projects submitted, and are nominated to compete in the 2011 National Awards through the CNLA. We are super excited!

The notes from the judges were as follows…

The overall design is beautiful
The deck compliments the overall landscape
What a change from the original ‘non-landscape’
The aspen grove is a nice touch of Alberta
Hardscape Excellent
Choice of plant material excellent
Very well done, good attention to detail
Good creativity and continuity
Great design element, shows creativity
Great craftsmanship
Very functional

Thank you judges, thank you very much!

2009 Calgary Landscaping Season Highlights, LeeDavid Landscapes Inc.

2010-03-04T12:21:00.001-08:00

We are revamping the website and haven’t posted any of out 2009 projects. Here is a sneak peek at what you will see on the web soon…

And here are some more…

No Failure here…

2009-09-03T11:23:00.001-07:00

This is the exact reason why we go the extra mile to put in the geotextile under our patios and walkways. The lot was still empty next door when we finished the project. Later this summer they started the construction next door. They dug the foundation, making sure that they dug RIGHT next to our fence and our clients finished yard even though they have 4 feet to the new basement. Well as you can expect, the hole gets larger as they weren’t very timely in backfilling the hole. Some rains came and the hole got even larger. The fence stood there, with a post in the air and the earth fell away from our clients yard.

Well… the hole STOPPED falling where we have engineered our pathway. This is probably the reason it didn’t get MUCH larger. The geotextile fabric at the bottom of our constructed base knits the entire path together into a unit that is VERY hard to remove or undermine. We will have to replace this portion of the pathway as the ground below has sunk a bit, but as you can see the bricks and the constructed base have performed amazingly in staying together as a unit! What a unique perspective at our over engineered patio!

Notice the fabric at the bottom of the gravel, right where the cavitation stopped? The base is almost vertical from the fabric to the paver edge. incredible!

EVEN in one spot where the base did undermine a bit, the path structure is still solid! At this point, I am told they had the bucket of the excavator, pretty much UNDER the fence.

Hand designs…

2009-07-15T16:44:00.001-07:00

Back to the basics… it seems to do the trick tho… It’s privacy for a hot tub in the deck…

Quite a progression…

2009-07-09T09:15:00.001-07:00

And some other photos of our latest Cranston Project…

Please… email me again…

2009-06-28T19:05:00.001-07:00

I had a huge computer blow up and lost a ton of stuff. If you have emailed me in the last week. Please re-send your note…

Thanks…

Catching up…

2009-06-11T22:24:00.001-07:00

Hoo boy, have I been remiss in posting to this journal… Sorry! especially to Jane in Salmon Arm, who is our most faithful reader. She checks the journal diligently every single day! I will work harder on this, just knowing we have at least 1 loyal reader!

So, what is up? Well we moved on from Elgin Village, completed a project in Cranston and are looking after the last bits of 4 smaller projects in Evanston, Airdrie, Evanston, and Richmond (NO! we do NOT work that far north!). We are now moving into Elbow Park for some pre-work on a future project, starting a full yard renovation in Cranston and looking at 2 more projects on LeeDavid Street in Elgin again. We are also in talks for projects in Aspen Woods, Springbank Hill, Cranstonx6, Douglasdale, and so on. We are pretty busy right now,and If you are waiting for design or quote, please do not despair, we are getting back to everyone in order, and be ready because when your number is called we are ready to GO! The weather has been fabulous and we are banging out projects like crazy.

So, Speaking of projects. Here is a fun progression of photos on the last project in Elgin Village.

And, remember the grass on the first project in Elgin? Well here it is then and now! what a difference a month makes!

Additionally, we completed a ‘Hardscapes only’ project in Cranston. The Homeowner is a very good handyman, but just needed some help as they just had their 3rd beautiful child and time is scarce. He did build the nice deck, boardwalk and fence prior to us building the Retaining wall, drainage, patio and planting the big trees for them. I am looking forward to seeing the finished project when it is complete.

Nice detail work on the patio, team!

I did see some pretty interesting stuff as well. Like, I thought the city instituted the Final house and lot grading certificate, so homeowners could proceed with their landscaping, confident in the fact that the lot has indeed been graded properly. Sadly, we see this quite a bit these days… (Ed note: not a LeeDavid Project)

I will leave you tonight with this last photo of a really nice mature yard here in Calgary. I thought it would be nice to show the future potential of what a properly landscaped yard will look like in 15 years when the secret ingredient is employed in the annual care of the yard. The secret ingredient is… love!

2010 Nissan Cube…

2009-06-05T16:09:00.001-07:00

Everyone, meet ‘Rubi’, ‘Rubi’ meet everyone.

We had too many trailers and not enough trucks. Dad got my truck, the crew got his truck and I got a cube. All I do is run around doing customer consults, banking, site visits etc. I never carry anything, so, we now have a cube. It will be branded with LeeDavid Logos by the end of next week. Should be a head turner.

Glass Block in a Pergola, who-da-thunk-it?

2009-05-28T19:17:00.001-07:00

…sure looks nice!

Almost finished… again!

2009-05-27T07:46:00.001-07:00

There are just a few items remaining, the shrubs, the sod, which is arriving today and the ‘high design’ portion of the pergolas, can’t wait to see the finished product. The long pathway is complete from the front to the back as well.

Mrs. Homeowner had a complaint the other day, not about us or our work, but because random people were trespassing into her yard on the weekend to look at the new landscape.

She would look out her window and someone would just be standing there looking around. She went out for an errand at one point and when she came home there was someone walking around her yard. She didn’t know if she should get out of the vehicle because she was worried it might make the guy feel embarrassed. But in the end she was like “wait a minute, this is my house, and why are you in my yard?”

In the following picture, we have a really good look at why we use the expensive aluminum edging to define the beds and features. This product does not rely on any earth material to support the shape, so we can pre-form our areas and then fill with the correct material. This allows us to pack the soils to the proper specifications without worrying about and movement or support issues to the garden edges. The 5” depth of the edging also keep the grass root from migrating into the beds, so maintenance over the long run is much easier.

(oh, by the way, Ryan is installing some really cool lights, that add a bit of whimsy to a fairly formal landscape, but will probably be removing as the homeowner HATES them. I did choose them for a little flair and thought the kids might like them, but I suppose I am wrong sometimes, and we will put a different feature in there if they don’t warm up to our way of thinking, haha)

In other news, if you ever get a chance to put in a back door to your garage, DON’T. This has caused us and the homeowner some pretty major water/drainage grief. The grading is meant to be built up at the point where they put the door in to the tune of about a foot higher, so there was significant negative drainage in that spot.

We were able to bring it to to just ‘level’. Level is not good enough though. So we installed a positive drain and connected it to our downspout drainage.

This will take care of most of the rainfall that lands here, but there still may be some ice build-up during the winter and spring. At least this way the water won’t stay there once it melts.

A special request for grass…

2009-05-22T19:48:00.001-07:00

An anonymous reader has requested a photo of some grass! While we are not at the grass stage of the project the request was made for, here are the photos of the grass on our most recent completed projects, keeping in mind this is early season still. If you are in Calgary, have a look around to see what most of the grass looks like, and this is right on par. Maybe better. We have some HOT weather coming, so that will green everything up nicely.

Remember when it was like this?

Our next patio brick pattern in Elgin Village…

2009-05-21T23:39:00.001-07:00

And again, more rain…

2009-05-15T00:02:00.001-07:00

… but we just keep on plugging away. I really do have to commend the crew for their cheery depositions during all this cold and rainy weather. We are making very good progress in the face of some very challenging conditions. As a comparison, we lost 10 days to weather by this time last year, this year we have only lost 3, and the weather has been pretty much the same.

All the things we are doing differently that allow us to proceed this year are:

- taking care of surface water and runoff, before it becomes an issue... That’s it.

That entire list, of one items is the reason we can ‘giv’er’ We are taking incredible care, even to the extents of going to the next project and pre-grading, just in case it rains before we get there. Again, great job team.

I drove into the neighbourhood today while it was raining, and pulled up next to the other landscaper working on our block. I rolled the window down and he says “what the hell is all this, man?'” referring to all the rain.

I took his picture and asked if I could quote him, because it pretty much sums it all up. What the hell IS all this… man.

Our crew seems much smarter. they get out of the rain…sometimes… hehe.

Just Friday left and we are off for the long weekend. This is one of the valuable perks for our crew. Guaranteed long weekends off. Have fun and be safe team, be ready to ‘giv’er’ on Tuesday!

Done… almost, just some grass left…

2009-05-12T19:27:00.001-07:00

We completed our first two projects today, yippee. The rain started about 1 minute after though, so that was it for the day. Everyone went home pretty happy I think. Especially since it is a long weekend coming up, AND we finished. I always ask the crew “what was your favorite part of the project?” they always respond “Finishing it.”

I understand. Because this is what ‘during’ the project feels like:

and this is what ‘after’ the project feels like:

Our new guy Jake seems happy whenever I see him. Keep up the good work Jake. (he’s not really that tall, it’s the 4 inches of mud on his boots)

Here are a few other pictures of our ‘almost’ finished project. Thursday the grass will arrive and then it’s all done! As I said earlier, Yippee! So now we have moved 4 houses down the block to start the next one.

Lots of rain…

2009-05-07T22:04:00.001-07:00

We had over an inch of rain today, it is plenty to shut us down. It always seems like we can keep going, and then it seems to rain just enough to make it really hard to work. It’s that thing about 6” inches of mud and being very cold and wet. No fun.

We were so close to putting in the bricks on the front path, darn it. see the screeds still in the sand? ohhh soooo close.

The conjoined path would have looked great, the raised bed turned out very nice too!

We have most of the limestone rock in place around the boardwalk.

The backyard of yard #1 has been graded, so the water is much less of an issue than if it hadn’t been finished. We almost ordered sod for Friday, but we won’t get there now. too bad.

Another shot of the nicely draining yard.

Here is a good picture of the Mudmats we use. These are fibreglass sheets with big bamboo pipes in built in sleeves that we lay down on areas of high traffic or muddy areas so we don’t cause undo damage to the terrain or our equipment.

Rain control…

2009-05-07T21:39:00.001-07:00

The little green thing in the picture is a drain emitter that goes on our underground drainage. We connect the downspouts on the house and trench for "’Big O’ pipe. This allows us to get all the roof water from the corners of the house, and move that excess H2o to the edges of the water. But not right to the edge as the city of Calgary requires that we stop 2 meters from any property line to allow *some* of the water to be absorbed by the landscape. This keeps a bit of the water from going straight into the storm sewers. Good idea.

Busy busy busy...

2009-05-04T21:01:00.000-07:00

...and woooooo-wee does it feel good to be busy. Our first 2 conjoined projects are wrapping up. It may not look like it in these pictures, but as I said before, once these hardscapes are complete, it is all soft and smooth and easier! There is alot going on on site these days, here are Dad (on the mini-digger), Elton (on the saw) and Hedi (behind the mini-digger) just a working away!

It is great to have some decent weather finally. Whenever we get a run of good weather, it is really amazing to see how much we can get done in just a few days.

Here is Hedi (look closely) working in both yards at once!

The pathways in each yard even match. You won't see them both unless the gates are open, but still looks cool.

These poor buggers, who are with another landscaper working on the block, are hand digging 3 tree holes. Yikes, I remember those days well, before we got the Skid steer with the 36" tree auger. These 3 guys worked all afternoon to plant 3 trees.

Ryan has been doing an amazing job as our expediter. He goes nonstop all day getting our materials, and the site crew gets to work uninterrupted. This is a great way to get our work done! Great work Ryan! Here he is unloading some very nice garden mix soil!

Elton is providing the finishing touches on the small path in yard #2. There was a lot of cutting to get the bricks to make the tight turn, but as always, it looks great!

I took a picture of Homeowners #1 coming home, and even in the reflection of their car, Elton is working hard. Great work Mister Elton! Keep it up! (he is fixing the pull start on the rock saw)

Captain, Thar be a patio here...

2009-05-01T20:19:00.001-07:00

heh, little Star Trek reference... (remember the whales?)

YAY, Our First before and after pictures of the year.

We had a very efficient day, thanks to our new hire. Hedi and Elton are certified for patios and retaining walls, and are at their best when they work together, uninterrupted on site. This is why Ryan is so valuable for us. He spends a lot of his day providing us the materials and tools so that we can get the job completed much quicker. The patio turned out great! Can't wait to see the yard in the next 4 days as it will be GREEN! woowoo! Fresh sod has started to ship so, we are moving forward, all guns a blazin'!

I still find it amazing how we can turn a big square pallet of big square bricks, into this flowing and inviting curvy patio! This pathway shown here is a little wider than we would normally use, however, one of the homeowners uses a power wheelchair and among many other accessibility items we have designed, the pathway is nice and wide for easy navigation.

Again, we sure can't wait until it's graded and 'greened'

A great job as always team!

A really good week...

2009-05-01T07:20:00.001-07:00

The week has gone better than expected. The weather has been cold, but not unbearable. Today is our first patio install. Woowoo! I love patio installs, it means we are nearing the end! Also, we had our first tree delivery yesterday and, as always, Jim out at Eagle Lake Nurseries has selected incredible trees for us. Thanks Jim.

And further to Hedi's story, here are a couple of teaser pictures.

I have a pretty interesting story about...

2009-04-28T15:26:00.000-07:00

... Hedi.

I will post it in a day or so. Gotta get it just right... to protect the innocent...

We don't care anymore...

2009-04-28T15:14:00.000-07:00

...about the snow and cold. We have to press on, and so we are! We are on site in Elgin Village working on project 1 and 2 of 4 scheduled on this block. We actually have our first Trees of the season arriving on Thursday, along with 4 pallets of bricks to finish the patios and pathways. Once those items are completed it is just some softscapes and sod to complete! Yay. Completions are the best!

We had a not so new addition to the team today. Some of you may remember young Ryan M. from our first and second seasons. He went off to explore the world through some other company and is now back with us as our equipment/maintenance/site/irrigation and repair tech. Ryan will also be in charge of vendor relations as he is responsible for expediting all our required products to and from the work sites.

Still....

2009-04-26T21:24:00.001-07:00

....snowing....

1 year later...

2009-04-22T16:08:00.001-07:00

It was April 18th last year when we got stopped with a snowstorm.

http://leedavidnews.blogspot.com/2008/04/snow-day.html

It is April 22nd this year and the same thing.

HOWEVER, we are on call for plowing! so everyone is happy... er ... I guess except our landscape clients who we have started their projects.

Calgary, whatr ya gonna do?

--------------------------------------------------------------------

On a brighter, warmer note, we received our first brick order. This is Cam, he may be the nicest crane truck operator in Calgary and area. Always ontime and always smiling! Thanks for your attitude Cam!

Here, Hedi is placing the drainage rock around the wood boardwalk between our first 2 customers houses. What a cool idea! Share the limited space between the houses and put a maintenance free boardwalk. It looks REALLY good!

Drive safe Calgary! it is mucky out there!

Updates...

2009-04-19T19:13:00.000-07:00

...We started landscaping last week, and it is great to be back!

We are in Elgin Village Estates and will be for a bit as we have 3 projects to complete there.

From there we will be in Cranston for a couple. We will make a trip to Airdrie and NW Calgary for a couple of quick jobs. Then we will be out in Millerville building a huge wall!

This wall is 17' high at the top, and will be 190+ feet long with stairs up the side of the house at one end and a cool private firepit alcove at the other end. Looking forward to working out in the mountains!

We have a few spring clean-ups as we are providing maintenance services for our own customers starting this year, Including Kenny the Dog's yard in Bel-Aire.

He wrecked his dog run and we are being hired to go fix it. And they thought Kenny wouldn't hurt the turf. heh.

Hedi and Elton are both VERY happy to be done with the long cold winter, as are Dad and I.

We really like doing projects we like doing. That includes all of our landscape projects, no matter how difficult or how bad the weather is. It all beats plowing snow for 2-3 days straight.

HOWEVER - the forecast is for FREAKING LOTS of snow come Wed-Thursday..... YEESH!

we are close...

2009-04-05T19:37:00.000-07:00

We are close to starting the new landscaping season. I see around the neighborhoods that some landscapers have started building decks and fences, drilling through the frost layers and working in the mud and snow. We won't even consider that. It is too hard to ensure a solid product when we can't rely on the thawing ground for structure.

We should be able to get going in a week or so with the forecast. We would start on projects that have south facing backyards and typically are bare dirt (new yard projects) as they tend to absorb the suns heat better than existing landscape renovations.

We are VERY much looking forward to starting our 2009 season!

so... much... snow...

2009-03-23T22:09:00.000-07:00

woo... looks like it will be a late start to landscaping... thankfully we get to plow the damn stuff this year...

Garage Opening...

2009-02-14T11:23:00.001-08:00

We have immediate openings for garage insulating and finishing. Please call 403-819-1948 for your next day quote.

Awards Banquet...

2009-02-05T20:18:00.000-08:00

We had a great evening at the LANTA awards banquet. We were presented the award of merit for our Bel-Aire project, alongside many other terrific projects by some great landscape companies. The entire team attended and enjoyed a great buffet meal and a very entertaining and informational event.

We learned a number of things during the presentation, including the fact that we are pretty good at what we do. This event gives us an opportunity to 'measure up' in our industry. We keep our head down the rest of the year and have never wondered or worried about what other companies are doing, we just mind our own business and try to grow and improve every day. We had no idea what to expect from the evening, but were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the projects we are grouped with along with the quality of the presentation. Great job by the LANTA group to make all of us feel great and proud of our projects.

One great item that deserves mention is that LANTA took the time to make sure our name on the plaque was capitalized properly. You see, LeeDavid is one word, however the L and the D are capitalized. This is how is it engraved on the plaque. We strive to achieve a level of consideration unmatched in our industry on all our projects, and it is incredibly nice to see the voice of our industry seems to have the same mandate. Thank you Marnie, Nigel and the staff at LANTA for your incredible consideration on this seemingly little detail, it means a great deal to us!

Hedi and Elton enjoyed the event which is meant to recognize the accomplishments of our company, but truly our success couldn't be achieved without them. Thank you. Management felt it necessary to reward their efforts on this night as well and presented them each with a Tomtom GPS for their vehicles. (no more getting lost excuses either).

Notes for future award submissions

Provide more staging of furniture and props to achieve a more lived in look in the photos
Submit mature projects. Plants that have grown up to their designed potential allow for a higher judged score (obvious to us now)
Submit more details in the written essay portion. The judges take a great deal of care to understand the project, and all details are important.
Keep shooting pictures, in this digital age one can never have enough pictures.
Start all projects with the thought that this is going to be an award submission project, this keeps the end result in mind at all times and keeps us focused on doing the best possible job even in tough goings.

Another one bites the Drywall Dust...

2009-02-03T20:35:00.000-08:00

We are finished in Silverado, and Because Mick said we could, we are posting some of his garage photos.

Here's a good look at the difference a single coat of primer can make on the finishing of a garage interior. Keep up the good work Elton!

Final Clean up and painting underway.

The new sub panel goes in, set into the wall. This can only happen before the garage is finished, otherwise all the wiring and the panel sit on the surface and look ugly. Great choice to include electrical now Mr. Homeowner.

These are a couple more detail pictures of the heater, the hookups and the venting outside. Looks really neat and tidy.

Here's Hedi Cutting in for Elton.

Great work team!

Facebook...

2009-02-03T18:42:00.000-08:00

LeeDavid Landscapes is now on Facebook. Check us out and become a FAN!

Be careful out there...

2009-01-30T22:31:00.001-08:00

Sunday...

2009-01-29T18:14:00.000-08:00

Need I say more?

GREAT NEWS!!!

2009-01-28T14:36:00.000-08:00

For immediate release.

Home Renovation Tax Credit - Win for Green Industry
In the weeks leading up to the announcement of the 2009 Federal Budget, The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance requested industry consultation. The Canadian Nursery Landscape Association (CNLA) responded in a major way by providing Minister Flaherty with an action plan to stimulate the Canadian economy by investing in green infrastructure. Michael Murray, CNLA President, was very pleased that Minister Flaherty took the recommendation seriously. “This is a great development for Canadian home owners and our industry. We hope this is just the beginning and look forward to this government’s support in the future”, said Mr. Murray.

Canadian homeowners are now eligible for the Home Renovation Tax Credit outlined in the Harper Government’s recent Federal Budget for 2009. Families will be eligible to claim a 15% non-refundable tax credit for eligible expenses made in respect of eligible dwellings. The credit will apply to expenditures in excess of $1,000, but not more than $10,000, resulting in a maximum credit of $1,350 ($9,000 x 15%).

Examples of HRTC Eligible and Ineligible Expenditures:

Eligible
- Renovating a kitchen, bathroom, or basement
- New carpet or hardwood floors
- Building an addition, deck, fence, landscaping or retaining wall
- A new furnace or water heater
- Painting the interior or exterior of a house
- Resurfacing a driveway
- Laying new sod

Ineligible
- Furniture and appliances (refrigerator, stove, couch)
- Purchase of tools
- Carpet cleaning
- Maintenance contracts (furnace cleaning, snow removal, lawn care, pool cleaning, etc.)

CNLA is national federation of nine green industry associations representing over 3,600 companies in the landscape, independent garden centre, and nursery sectors. CNLA’s members are thrilled with the Home Renovation Tax credit as they are the growers of trees, shrubs, annuals and perennials; retailers for all garden products and plant material; and professional service providers who will create stunning gardens and landscapes for homeowners across Canada.

The green industry that CNLA represents contributes $14.48 billion to Canada’s economy and employs 132,776 people across the country.

Garage update...

2009-01-22T11:59:00.000-08:00

In between the major snowfalls, we have been successfully finishing the interior of garages. To date we have completed 8 garage projects, 4 of them with heaters and 1 of them with some nice shelving.

Here we have installed a unit heater, which is critical to a quick project, as paint and mud dries much quicker in temperatures above freezing.

Elton and Hedi are installing the final bit of insulation and will be completing the gyproc portion of this project shortly.

This project had a special requirement for insulation, as the bonus room above the garage had walls exposed to the cold attic space above the garage. We can't put insulation batts here as there would be an amazing amount of redundant framing required in a really tight space, so we contacted Tiger-Foam and purchased a DIY kit of insulating spray foam. The product comes in 200 sqft and 600 sqft application packages and includes all the necessary hoses, spray nozzles and instructions required to provide a proper finish. The foam is rated at R-7 insulating factor per inch of finished thickness, and we were able to put on 2 inches and provide a factor of R-14, equivalent to a 2x4 insulated wall. Success.

The foam, the heater and the finished garage will help keep not only the vehicles warm, but will allow this family to enjoy their bonus room more, as the chief complaint was that this room above the garage was consistently 5-7 deg c colder than the rest of the house.

Winter wind...

2009-01-22T11:53:00.000-08:00

They are building a commercial retail center in Cranston, and have been constructing this fire break wall for about 3 weeks now. It looks like they completed it and had taken down the one side of the scaffolding. Well wouldn't you know it, the wind picks up from the East (rare) and rips down the other side. Now we know why they spend a significant amount of time supporting the wall itself with guy wires prior to the rest of the building being built against the wall on both sides. What a mess to clean up...

LeeDavid Landscapes is now "Award Winning!"...

2009-01-05T15:35:00.000-08:00

We were just informed by LANTA, that we have received an Award of Merit for our Bel-Aire project. More details to follow once we receive our award...

here are the criteria we were judged by...

The Landscape Alberta Nursery Trades Association (LANTA) Landscape Awards
reflect the Association's commitment to the development and promotion of high
standards of excellence in the landscape contracting industry.

The program is designed to reward independent landscape contracting
companies that execute quality landscaping projects in design, construction or
maintenance, and the citizens who underwrite such work. LANTA’s Awards Program
also strives to increase public awareness of quality landscaping, to encourage
the contractors’ use of quality materials and workmanship, and through example
and recognition, to encourage all landscape contractors to pursue excellence.

Each landscaping award entry is evaluated independently against a list
of industry-set criteria. A jury of industry experts judge the entries: the jury
is comprised of professionals chosen from the fields of landscape architecture
and design, education, landscape construction and landscape maintenance.

2008-12-13T23:41:00.000-08:00

Here is an email I received from a client this evening. I love this picture. The lights are amazing all the time, however with the snow cover they are breathtaking!

Hey Neil - hope you are doing well. Thought you might like to see your
work, still looking great in the dead of winter. Out there tonight in the
hot-tub with my frozen hair!
Have a good Christmas.
R.
Nice.

Past clients, you should always feel free to share with us your pictures of your yards, and also include pictures of you, your friends or family enjoying the yard!

Thanks R, for the nice email! Merry Christmas!

Updated website...

2008-12-11T13:32:00.000-08:00

We updated the website today with project from:

Bel-Aire

Great day for a plow...

2008-12-07T15:21:00.001-08:00

We complain like crazy when it snows on us in the spring and summer,

But we are REALLY happy when it snows on us during the winter!! LeeDavid Landscapes FINALLY gets to plow! We are officially going out to look after our route this evening. There is about a foot of snow on the ground, so it will be a LONG night, and that is just good business for us.

Woowoo, have fun and be safe out there, the roads are a mess!!!

December Update...

2008-12-04T16:51:00.001-08:00

We are very busy right now, which is new for us as a company as winters are normally slower. We decided this year to keep Elton and Hedi on staff and come up with ways to generate the business required to support all of our commitments.

So... we are finishing garages...

And... plowing driveways...

So if you or anyone you know are looking for these types of services, please don't hesistate to call me at 403-819-1948

Residential Snow Removal

2008-12-02T14:41:00.001-08:00

We are now equipped to provide Residential Snow Removal services to homes South of Fish Creek park in the Southwest and South of 114th St or Anderson Road in the Southeast.

Our 08-09 Contract Rates start at $100.00 per month or $40.00 per time for frontyard driveways and sidewalks to the property line. This pricing also includes ice-melt application where required.

We have space for about 35 contracts depending on locations, and all work will be completed between 7 and 11am on the day of snow events. emergency and special occasion callouts are available outside of normal snow removal times as well. (ie. when you are having company over and its snowed all day)

Please call me at 403-819-1948 to book your snow removal, because it WILL snow this winter. It is a deal right now as there is only 4 months left of potential snowfall left!!! you have received 2 months free already (Oct-Nov) hehe!

Our feature project has grown wings...

2008-10-04T21:14:00.000-07:00

... and has been published in another magazine. We were featured in the July Newsletter for Allanblock Contractors. Now the NCMA (National Concrete Masonry Association) Based in Virginia has picked up the project story and published it in their September Concrete Masonry Design Magazine. This magazine is self described as follows:

Concrete Masonry Designs Magazine provides the latest and most
useful examples of concrete masonry construction around the world. Case studies, building features and best practices are all part of this monthly four-color magazine. Specific issues provide focus on commercial, residential and hardscape projects.

Click here to see the entire magazine in PDF form. I have also ordered a few for our records and our direct marketing plans.

Here is the rundown of what this magazine is published for:

Concrete Masonry Designs magazine showcases the qualities and aesthetics of design and construction using concrete masonry.
Concrete Masonry Designs is devoted to design techniques using standard and architectural concrete masonry units, concrete brick, unit concrete pavers, segmental retaining walls, and other concrete masonry products around the world. We welcome your editorial comments, ideas, and submissions.
Concrete Masonry Designs is published monthly by the National Concrete Masonry Association (NCMA), and distributed to advance and support the concrete masonry and hardscape industry and public interest.

Our project is published in this issue alongside 3 other projects based in; Sacramento California, The Army Corp of Engineers in Jackson Mississippi, and Richmond Virgina.

We strive to maintain considerations for all parts of our little enterprise including our staff, our clients, the neighborhoods we work in, our equipment, and very importantly, our vendors. Without our very good working relationships we keep with our select vendors, we would not have achieved the goals we set out for ourselves. Without the support and dedication of Daryll, our Allanblock vendor, we would not have the opportunity to be 'published'!

Thanks to Daryll and his boss Bruce at CCI Industries for giving us the opportunity to be featured in these fine industry magazines.

Golf Day...

2008-10-01T20:14:00.000-07:00

LeeDavid Landscapes had it's 1st annual Presidents Cup golf tournament today. Dave and Hedi were matched up against Neil and Elton in an 18 hole best ball championship to decide this years cup winners.

On the first hole, Hedi showed us that girls can SMACK the ball just as well as boys, and proceeded to out drive her partner Dave for the right to use her drive on this, the first hole. Elton whacked his first ball due south, but his team had to use his ball as Neil cranked one into the trees on the left.

The hole played out until Neil and Elton took one extra stroke on the green.

Team davehedi 1
Team neilelton 0

Hedi continued to impress with her long straight drives and accurate chipping, Dave continued hitting greens, and Elton and Neil continued to hit it into the bush.

Without much effort Dave and Hedi took a 7 - 2 lead over Neil and Elton at the turn. What seemed like an insurmountable lead became even bigger by hole 11. Dave and Hedi took the next two holes to make it 9-2. Neil and Elton looked like the big losers on this day needing to win the rest of the holes just to tie... pretty boring for the rest of the tournament right? wrong.

On the 12th Hole Elton pulled a rabbit out of his bucket hat and earned an unlikely birdie on the par 3. It was his drive and his 20 foot putt for a 2 that got his team rolling again. Neil and Elton won the next hole to pull to 5 holes back with 5 to play. game on.

The game was neck and neck for the next 4 holes as the teams traded amazing drives, incredible chips and great putts to halve the next 3 holes forcing carry-overs of the points to the following holes. On the 17th hole it looked like Neil and Elton we destined to win the 4 big points to come within one of Team davehedi. Neil and Elton had a 25foot Eagle putt while Dave and Hedi were over the green in the rough with a chip for birdie. Advantage Neil and Elton. wrong.

After Hedi chipped 155feet past the pin, Dave chips in for Birdie!!!! Yikes. Now the 25 foot putt is looking much longer. Neil takes his stance and proceeds to miss the Eagle putt and the 4 points by mere inches. well... huh... I guess it's another carry-over. 5 points to be had on the final hole. Either the score is going to be tied, or Dave and Hedi would win 14-4.

Well Elton Drove into the woods right and Neil drove into the bush left, Dave drove into the bush left and Hedi drove straight down the fairway to effectively finish off Neil and Elton. By the time we got up to the green, Dave and Hedi had 2 strokes less than Neil and Elton and Neil and Elton weren't even on the green yet. So Neil takes his stance, the only chance is to sink the chip and force Dave and Hedi to take 2 strokes to tie and force overtime. Well Neil skulls his chip and almost takes Hedi out with the missed shot (serves her right for all the straight drives and timely putts..grrr) , and Elton, while endangering no one, misses as well, thus giving the 1st annual LeeDavid Presidents Cup Championship Golf Tournament to Dave and Hedi, along with $25.00 Subway gift certificates. Neil and Elton shared an old 2006 roll-up-the-rim *win a bagel* coffee cup, for a consolation prize. too bad for them.

What a fun day, it was 27.1 degrees outside on Oct 1st, no wind and we played the incredible Sirrocco Golf Course in South Calgary. I would probably have to say, this was the best landscaping day we have had in 2008.

Happy postday...

2008-09-22T15:43:00.001-07:00

This is the 100th posting for LeeDavid News and Notes.

To celebrate, we may purchase this mini-truck. 45mpg. It will save approx $500.00 per month in run-around fuel costs.

Truck...

2008-09-21T20:56:00.000-07:00

...was on Bleriot Ferry.

Where in the world is the truck?

2008-09-19T19:27:00.001-07:00

Two projects in One day!

2008-09-17T19:19:00.000-07:00

We broke a record today. We finished the project in Discovery in the morning and then started and completed another project in Mount Pleasant in the afternoon. yay for us! We had quite the caravan driving across town.

My truck was is the lead with a 15 foot Elm tree in the back, towing the dump trailer full of loam. Dad's truck was following me with all the small tools and weedmats etc in the box with the flatdeck trailer loaded with the power wheelbarrow, a pile of pallets, the mini excavator, the porta-john and various small bits of wood etc. Behind him was Hedi with the 1/2 ton that had the dumper loaded with Sod rolls, towing the van trailer. And behind her was Elton on his crotch rocket. We did pretty good, no one got left behind at lights or anything, which was fortunate as I was the only one who knew where we were going! hehe.

Ok, back to the project in New Discovery. or... Waterworld! lots and lots of water. I wonder what the long term implications are of this neighborhood, due to the fact that it is built on a swamp with water running out of the ground everywhere. On the bright side, it is BEAUTIFUL down there.

The project finished really nicely. Very neat and clean. We have to return in the spring to plant out the 100-130 perennials and shrubs, but other than that it looks great. The customer is happy, except for a tree that Elton planted in the wrong spot. Only about 2 feet wrong, but the customer will probably lose sleep all winter thinking about that... elton. In Eltons defence, the customer was out of town when he put it in the ground.

Before

After

Looks great.

BIG wall, natural pathway, brick stairs and walkways, grass.. very tasteful and functional. There is a phase 2 for this project, where we will be building a big deck and patio below the wall.

The front yard always has the potential to be less than stellar, as the customers usually put most of their resources into the backyard. Not here though. It looks great up front.

We really tried to tie in the design of the house. We think we did a good job of that.

Great job crew! Oh, and Allanblock is the sole supplier of pre-cast concrete products on this job, and it turned out fantastic!

More stairs...

2008-09-11T15:27:00.000-07:00

Geez these look great! Stairs. what a feature. And what a great way to place them. The homeowner needed access to the yard for our machines, so he went to the neighbor and asked if we could take out what he had done, in return for a shared set of stairs. So instead of 2 - 4 foot walkways, you have 1- 8' walkway. Well done!

Holy Crap!!

2008-09-11T14:33:00.000-07:00

Now, I am a worry-wort for all things structural. Ask the team. I am constantly worried about the bases of patios, about the backfill against walls, about proper drainage and anything related to sinking, falling, tipping or twisting. We go to great measures to use all the tools that we have to allow for the greatest possible structural integrity of all things compacted.

Well, not naming names, I visited a landscaper, who we have been watching remove truckload after truckload of material from a relatively small backyard. We wondered where the heck is all this material coming from?

Well, from here.

The decision, I am told, to excavate to china, was because of some flowing groundwater. well... huh... So if there is flowing ground water, digging deeper will fix that? huh. I am not sure how much deeper those teleposts holding the deck up are in the ground, but since the excavation is actually below the footing of the walkout basement, I hope for their sake that the wind doesn't blow very hard. We have seen in other peoples houses in the past where a post has failed (tipped under load) and it almost ripped the deck off the house.

I am not sure how they plan to ensure the fill now that it is all new, aside from packing, packing and layers of geo-tex, along with some positive drainage system. If they hadn't dug so far down they would have been able to get away with just some additional drainage. but now....hoo boy!

Discovery Ridge update...

2008-09-10T19:09:00.000-07:00

Again with the rain... I was away last week, but I understand that it rained and rained! It is getting to the point where we should do 1 of 2 things. Estimate for 1/2 the work in the allotted time or charge double the price. heh. Our customers may not be too thrilled about either, but I am sure they would take the first one over the second.

Anyhoodiddlydoo...

We are making nice progress in Discovery despite the unseasonable weather. The hardscape portions are almost complete as we are finalizing the stairs tomorrow and probably getting a good start on the front yard walkway. The team has been exceptional during this the "dog days" of the project. They did an amazing job on the big wall too!

Look, Hedi is the only one working here!

Notice a design trend?

In the mean time though, we were able to finish a couple of lingering service issues that have been outstanding for a while now, so there is that...

Winter working...

2008-09-09T14:30:00.001-07:00

LeeDavid Landscapes is having a very good 2008 building season despite the incredible amount of rain and bad weather we have had. This success is due in part to our very experienced and competent staff that have come back to us each of the last 2 springs. Time can only tell if we will be able to keep them long term, however we are doing our part and keeping them on full time over the winter months, giving them a career option with instead of a job option. This is both exciting and nerve wracking as we must now create enough work to carry all of us through to next spring again when we start our outdoor projects.

This has created a unique opportunity for us.

We have openings this winter for a variety of projects you may need completed. Examples include:

- Basement framing, finishing, and general contractor services
- Garage construction, framing, finishing, and general contractor services
- Skid-steer and excavator services
- Snow and Ice removal services
- Hot-shot delivery and emergency hauling services (short and long distance)
- Furniture re-finishing, construction and special woodworking projects.

Our combined skills in a variety of disciplines allows us to be the contractor of choice, carrying our great reputation from the summer into our new exciting projects during the long Calgary winter.

Please call me right away to get started on your project or to discuss your needs, as I am sure we will find ourselves very busy as soon as the snow flies!

Truck...

2008-09-09T14:29:00.001-07:00

...was in Kamloops.

Where in the world is the truck?

2008-09-03T22:47:00.000-07:00

Large Leggo wall...

2008-08-22T07:10:00.000-07:00

I spelled "Lego" different to avoid litigation...

Allanblock has been good to us this year, so we have been good to them in return. This is a Europa wall that we are constructing in Discovery Ridge. There are 4 different block shapes, with 3 separate sets of stairs, rising a visible total of 35 inches. It is quite a curvy wall.

It is the main hard scape on this project, that splits the yard completely in 2 distinct sections there fore we have utilized all the structural additions available to us. We have built a 10" thick base supported by geotextile between the clay layer and the new crush base. There is a full 8" high base of "dover" blocks that is fully buried to eliminate any erosion under the wall. We have installed 3' wide Geogrid above the base layer and above the 16" mid layer. Each 8" high layer of brick we place has been backfilled and packed with "wall rock" which allows water to drain through the ground behind the wall into the socked weeping tile and out the positive drain in the front of the wall. The wall rock also creates an interlock where we have utilized the Geogrid, so the wall now becomes 3' thick instead of 1' thick, giving an incredible amount of strength and durability.

whoops...

2008-08-22T07:08:00.000-07:00

yikes, i bet this went bang...

bad news...

2008-08-19T08:57:00.001-07:00

... the guy never made it.

A little perspective goes a long way...

2008-08-18T19:36:00.001-07:00

Warning, the following photos are graphic in nature.

So you think you have a bad day, nothing goes right, or something little happens that sours your mood and you think why me. It just isn't fair, or the stress of Calgary life is too much, maybe your job is seemingly driving you to the brink... well my day wasn't bad at all, in fact I had a pretty good day, with a few minor hiccups and yet these minor hiccups had me brooding.

Until I saw this... (warning, graphic)

Calgary Police shut down both directions of Deerfoot Trail during the afternoon rush hour Monday, after a serious crash in the southbound lanes near 130th Avenue southeast.
The crash happened at approximately 4:45 p.m. (side note, I was there at 4:49) and two people were injured, one of them critically.
A man believed to be in his fifties who had been ejected from his vehicle and sustained a significant head injury. He was transported to the Foothills Hospital in critical life-threatening condition.The second patient was a woman also believed to be in her fifties, who suffered minor injuries and was transported to the Rockyview Hospital in stable non-life-threatening condition.Both patients were the only occupants of their vehicles. The driver of the semi truck was uninjured.

Slow down people, it's hard enough to drive on Calgary roads without all the dangerous driving tendencies.

Here's what else is making news in Calgary today... if the above wasn't enough perspective...

Serious Crash Closes Deerfoot
Hot, Hot, Hot: Calgary Sets Temperature Record
Bridges Development Soliciting Affordable Housing Builders
Police Warn of Break-and-Enters During Warm Weather
Fatal Shooting In Beltline
Four Homes Destroyed In Two Separate Fires
Boy Dragged After Being Struck By SUV
Home Filled With Natural Gas
Senior On Scooter Dies Of Injuries Sustained In Crash
Gang Violence Claims Life Of Woman On First Nation Near Edmonton
Greyhound Bus Catches Fire In Calgary
A Fall From A Window Leaves A Calgary Child In Critical Condition
Health Officals Say Flesh Eating Disease Not The Cause In The Death Of A Child
Empty Home Hit By Fire
Home Hit By Bullets
RCMP Probe Bus Attack in Northern Alberta
CMHC Predicts Drop In Housing STarts
Rash of Early Morning Fires In Southwest Calgary
A Firefighter's Worst Nightmare Comes True
Insurance Company's Office Goes Up In Flames

Spider-elton...

2008-08-13T17:23:00.000-07:00

Spider-elt, spider-elt, does whatever a spider-elt does...

Actually just a little trick photography, we are laying erosion control mats on a freshly grass seeded slope... in the Slopes! Springbank Slopes that is. The straw mats are made from coconut branches and will decompost in about a year, leaving a nicely rooted lawn. The mats are on top of the seeded loam and will keep mother nature from blowing, raining, washing, birds eating the seed away. All it needs is a little water and a little time.

A couple more pictures...

2008-08-07T20:10:00.001-07:00

of the Cranston Project...

Done done done, another one bites the dust...

2008-08-07T19:12:00.000-07:00

Wow, when the weather is good, we can power through projects.

This project in Cranston went very well from start to finish. Off to the Slopes of Springbank and then Discovery Ridge. These are a little outside our service area, but are very nice projects.

Nice note..

2008-08-04T21:23:00.000-07:00

We received an email on another subject from a past client and they included this note..

Thanks also to you and your crew - all were most professional and enthusiastic
and the results are par none... We love the yard and are so glad we found you
and your team to "build" it for us....

nice....

Again... wow...

2008-07-31T21:29:00.000-07:00

that was 3 incredibly hard days of patio building. Fantastic work Hedi and Elton. It looks fabulous and the homeowner is ecstatic! clapclapclapclap!

Bravo! Hedi, Elton and Dad... Bravo...!

2008-07-29T17:04:00.000-07:00

This patio in Cranston we are working on is among the finest, if not the finest we have installed. There is a very strict pattern here, made to look random... get it? Very hard to get it just right. They did! This still has to have the polymeric sand tamped in, so it will look even better in the next day or two. What a feature! Terrific job you three!

Hedi went home this weekend, so...

2008-07-25T19:23:00.001-07:00

... I thought I would give her fans something to see back in S.A.

(if you scroll to the bottom of this post, you will be rewarded)

...I'm not looking...

...still not looking...

...ouch, the hand...

...cowgirl up...

...still not looking...

...hahaha, made you look... ...at a really cute bunny.

Lest we forget...

2008-07-25T19:10:00.000-07:00

For the benefit of our current and future clients, I have included the following pictures. One picture shows Dave in a veritable pile of crap. Future customers, please expect this and probably more mess and mud. The benefit we had on this project is it was still frozen. No Mud (until later). Current customers, you can empathize. The second (after) picture is the beautiful skin of a well planned, built and finished landscape.

FInished Stairs and Flower Bed...

2008-07-25T14:14:00.000-07:00

Very well done team! This looks great! We still have to put the little patio at the top, that comes when we put the main patios in.

Built in BBQ, so far...

2008-07-23T19:56:00.000-07:00

The surround for the BBQ insert is almost complete as well. There is an opening for the BBQ as well as a fridge. There will be a custom stone counter installed to top it all off.

And here is what it will look like

Still single...

2008-07-23T17:12:00.001-07:00

c'mon ladies!!!! sheesh, he is a really nice guy!!!!

Half circle stairs...

2008-07-23T17:01:00.000-07:00

... Here is a really cool set of entry stairs under construction. It will be 4 steps up and a landing when it is done.

We start by laying a huge sheet of geo-texile material under the overall pad, then at every stair level there is geo-grid that knits the entire stair together. It created the equivalent strength of a solid poured concrete block. every part of the stairs are tied together with these grid materials.

The black sheet in the last picture is waterproofing membrane because we are bringing up the stairs beyond the stucco. We would never pack earth against any house without waterproofing it first.

23% of our season gone... a monologue/rant.

2008-07-18T21:04:00.000-07:00

We are officially 6 weeks behind. From April 15 to October 15 is a pretty typical landscaping season, with about 15 days of rain or snow stopping us. We have had 30 days of rain or snow already this year that has stopped us. This is CRAZY.

26 weeks is what we get per season and we have lost 6 weeks already. That is 23% of our season. That is 23% of our revenues. That means we would have to work steady completing projects until December 1st to make up the time. Last year we went until Nov 1st and then it froze solid. Lost time in this business is just that, lost time. It does not matter how much harder we work, because we already work incredibly hard. There is not much more to give.

23% of our season gone, and we are only in the middle of July. That means we have only worked about half the amount of time we should have up till now. This means, to stay at 23% lost time for the season, we would have to work EVERY day available until Oct 15th. Not one more weather delay day. We work more than other firms due to weather too. Imagine the entire outdoor construction industry in Calgary missing half it's revenues already this year... yikes.

Happy thoughts, sunny thoughts...

very rare to see one in the wild...

2008-07-18T07:26:00.000-07:00

... in the southeast Calgary village of Douglasglen, there is an oasis not far from the never ending flows of the mighty deerfoot, and just west of this asphalt jungle lives an animal unlike any urban creature seen in these parts.It is a cat.

a big cat. a strong cat... a yellow cat.

It has arms as strong as steel and can lift whole trees as high as the sky.

It has tracks instead of feet and detachable work tools instead of paws.

It can see at night, can travel incredibly fast over any terrain and can turn in an instant.

Oh my goodness RUN it's right behind you!.. never... NEVER... get in this cats way...

This cat has a brand, maybe it's a tame cat... what... does ... it ... say? oh... Cat is a '257b2'... i looked it up, this cat comes from the Finning ranches of northeast Calgary, but now resides in the jungles south of the Anderson Road great divide.

This cat also has a name, the fine South Calgary landscape ranchers at LeeDavid have tamed this beast and named him.... Felix

Who reads all the paper anyway?

2008-07-17T20:50:00.000-07:00

huh, you'd think someone would have told us this ran in the paper last year.

Again, nice to see.

The gas man cometh...

2008-07-17T19:33:00.000-07:00

...so we have to wait a day for the inspection. Meanwhile we got the irrigation installed and the first lift of gravel moved into the backyard.

Here is the project now...

... and what it will be in a few short days.

The best days...

2008-07-14T21:32:00.000-07:00

...are when we finish a project! This was a gooder! 8 days and done. Complete backyard renovation. Didn't replace the deck but it didn't need it. Great job team! The homeowner is very pleased. Off to Cranston we go for the next 3 weeks.

good grief...

2008-07-10T21:49:00.000-07:00

Productivity tool...

2008-07-09T18:41:00.002-07:00

pro·duc·tive
Pronunciation: \prə-ˈdək-tiv, prō-\
Function: adjective
Date: 1612
1: having the quality or power of producing especially in abundance
2: effective in bringing about
3 a: yielding results, benefits, or profits b: yielding or devoted to the satisfaction of wants or the creation of utilities

The work tools we purchase have one purpose. To increase our productivity.

Our new tool is a Dump box insert for our Crew truck. This will allow us to provide more productive hauls to the dump, and picking up small quantities of earth material. This also helps us be more responsive for our existing clients service needs. (this also has a wireless remote, cool.)

Awesome! (This post has been brought to you by... obviously... BRI-MAR)

I Googled LeeDavid Landscapes and this came up...

2008-07-08T20:21:00.000-07:00

http://www.makeawish.ca/wish_stories/news/read/949

I didn't know it was on the Make a Wish Canada page until now.
Something else we are very proud of.

We are honored...

2008-07-07T20:02:00.000-07:00

...to have been selected to be the cover story for the July '08 Allan Block contractor newsletter showcasing our '08 Bel-Aire Project. This newsletter is published 4 times a year and is distributed all over North America. We were informed we were being considered back in May, and today the issue has been released on the Allan Block website, and is currently in print to be ready for distribution in a couple of weeks.

Here is the link to the PDF as well as the Residential Contractor section of the Allan Block website that features the newsletter.

We were told we were selected because of our creative use of Allan Block walls, combined with the Allan Block Courtyard collection and how we are able to incorporate this system into our total landscape design. We have used this system in the Calgary Neighborhoods of:

Discovery Ridge

Maple Ridge

Canyon Meadows

and of course Bel-Aire.

Not surprisingly, these are some of our favorite projects.

Thank you to Daryl at CCI Industries, Our local Allan Block dealer/manufacturer for nominating us and thank you to Danelle down at Allan Block Headquarters in Minnesota for putting together such a nice write up!

The things we do that no one ever sees...

2008-07-06T21:13:00.000-07:00

Interesting picture. could be mistaken for a crime scene.

What makes this little under deck project ok for Hedi is that we did such a good job of keeping the underside of the deck tidy and dry. She spends quite a bit of time under decks routing lighting wires and irrigation lines.

Back to Bel Aire, before and today - 1 month later.

2008-07-05T15:29:00.001-07:00

Wow... click the picture for a larger version.

That time of year...

2008-07-04T14:15:00.000-07:00

I almost forgot it's Stampede time again... Thanks for the subtle reminder Hedi!

Working mainly out in the suburbs of Calgary, it's easy to forget the greatest outdoor show on earth is happening just a couple miles away.

I wonder where we would rank on the list of outdoor shows...? Because, really when you think about it... of all the outdoor shows on earth... we are one of them!

New worker...

2008-07-04T13:53:00.000-07:00

We welcome <insert name> to LeeDavid Landscapes. <insert name> will be our laborer for the month of July then <insert name> will be jetting off to <insert vacation destination> for some fun and sun after a hard few weeks of work. <insert name> comes to us from <insert town>, where <insert name> is a <insert level of schooling> student. <insert name> enjoys long walks brochuring cars, great conversation at lunch, and site visits from Mom. <insert name>'s passions are rolling diesel beetles down mountains and wearing blue jeans on the hottest days of the year. <insert name> is a welcome part of our staff as we have run out of things to yell at <insert Hedi or Elton> for.

Welcome <insert name> and good luck!

We cannot reveal the identity of the person in this story because this person is fairly tall yet still under the age of majority in this jurisdiction.

We are mean...

2008-07-03T22:24:00.000-07:00

... to the the yard when it is destruction day! Day one on the new project in Glendale. What a crazy day it is when we take out the existing landscape. Many trips to the dump, wood flying, dirt moving, concrete breaking, hammers swinging, saws cutting... it's a wonderful day!

It is the total opposite to landscape installation as we get to be carefree to a point! No tiptoeing around in our socks on the cedar, or walking flatfooted on the new patio. Just a bunch of breaking, pulling, crushing, scraping and digging! Fun!

One of Dad's favorite days when he can work the machines to the max!

I ran the 126 yard dash in 9 seconds...

2008-07-01T20:06:00.000-07:00

This blog is not of a personal nature, usually only LeeDavid Landscapes related items...

...However...

I was having a very average game until the 5th hole of the Aspen 9 at Innisfail's beautiful Golf Club, then it became the greatest moment I have had in golf. I saw the shot the entire way and so did the rest of my foursome. It was 126 yards, I used a pitching wedge. It hit the green once then disappeared. I ran to the green and it was in the hole.

I then had to walk back to the tee as I was the first shot in the foursome. The moment was sort of foggy, as I almost tee'd the ball up on the next hole until my buddy Greg reminded me that I should keep this ball. Thanks Greg.

I had never even seen a hole in 1 until yesterday.

Ladies...

2008-06-26T18:41:00.000-07:00

He's single...

4 years of homeowner toil...

2008-06-24T17:59:00.000-07:00

Well, we can finally say our own yard is finished. We had the all the woodwork stained last week. (We had to use a solid colour as we left the wood age too long, we are very happy with the result though)

March 2004

August 2004

June 2008

Most of the major work was completed in year two, deck, retaining walls, patio, shed, irrigation, but it has only been since last year that it became really pretty, the big trees were put in (highly recommend the largest trees you can afford) the shrubs grew up etc.

April 2006

We can now sit back and enjoy our yard. 4 years is not too long to complete everything from new home to finished yard, time sure flies.

June 2008

Flipp'd 'er on the Deerfoot...

2008-06-24T16:04:00.001-07:00

Wow, the things that were going through this guys head. (pens, paper, pop cans, glass, metal, asphalt) and then imagine what was going through his head during the crash!

Some people think trailer safety and vehicle weight rating are bit of a joke. While this truck may have been 'sort of' in control at 50kph, the physics of the car and trailer that is too heavy tend to take over at highway speeds. I assume this guy tried to slow down quickly or change lanes, and the trailer just decided to try and pass him. Very lucky the trailer stayed attached.

Here is a quick synopsis of this situation

- 2005 Ford Ranger 4x4 weighs 4064lbs

- Factory rated truck towing capacity is 2339lbs

- The 1991 Ford Thunderbird weighs 4318lbs

- The car hauler trailer weighs 2000lbs

- Total trailer weight is 6318lbs

6318lb is 3979lbs over weight to safely tow behind this vehicle. It's a wonder he didn't kill someone. Notice the bungee cord holding the car on the trailer as well.

YIPEEE!!!

2008-06-18T19:40:00.000-07:00

YAAAAAAHOOOOO!!!!!

WOOOOWOOOOOO!!!!!

The pride of Elton...

2008-06-14T22:14:00.000-07:00

... is his Multi-level flower bed. This was the second time he built the bed. It's always better the second time we always say. Great job, it looks fantastic!

And Hedi, you did a wonderful job on your... uh... flat... ground... um... thingy thing.

Seriously, we always seem to show the big features, but the projects are really made up of hundreds of little parts fitted together, including Hedi's base structure for the rain barrels. We are installing a pretty unique system for the rain barrels.

There are 2 barrels connected to allow for more rainwater storage, but instead of having a tap right at the barrels, we are running a line underground to the veggie garden wall and having a hose bib there where the water is needed. Very cool indeed. Great idea Mr. Current Client! Also any overflows are run into the underground drainage system in the yard.

Veggie garden stairs

2008-06-13T23:06:00.000-07:00

A really nice looking set of stairs, me thinks.