Pool Cabana

Not complete just yet, but here we see the timber frame assembling for a Cabana. This article is a continuation of my recent one: Pool Coping

When I was called in to this project back in February of this year, the home owners already had a landscape design drawn by another designer for their yard. They expressed to me that they were not too crazy about the design as they felt something did not fit right...
I had to admit that my first reaction when I saw the design was...why is there a big Cabana planned to be positioned right in the middle of the yard...blocking the view of the forest behind it and right over top of a group of 30 foot tall trees?

The trees were a nice feel to the yard and I wondered why they would be slated for removal?
I asked that question to the home owners and they expressed that they loved the trees on their property...all of them! That said it all...this is why they were not crazy about the design plan they had....

So I pushed aside the landscape plan they had...and said lets start fresh! We work around the trees to preserve them for you to enjoy and give you everything else you wanted in the yard!

The end result is the pictures above...I call it my wrap around Cabana! I am sure those trees thank me for my design every time I visit the yard! When the Architect came to visit the site to get an understanding of my layout...he smiled and loved the idea of the structure being able to work around the existing trees and having wide open views all around the yard!

I smile every time I think that those trees in the middle of the yard will grow to a big healthy stand of mature Ash trees in the years to come...

Pool Coping

Well... it is a hot summer in the Toronto area...and the landscape work is in full, busy swing! My blog posts have somewhat slowed due to being very busy these days with many clients!

I thought I would throw in an update on my last post about Owensound Ledgerock. After my tour of the facility, and the ordering of materials, the project is finally coming together! The above picture displays a close look at the Eramosa Bush-hammered coping ordered for the job.

This picture shows the Stone Mason at his craft...carefully inspecting his mortar joints and checking his level to make things look good! The important thing when using a coping like this... the edges are machine-cut and all the pieces are gauged to almost exact thickness....so you want to make sure your lines are straight and levels are equal!

If care is not put into those two important details...it will show up in the final product and you will notice that something is out of square or not level. A less uniform type of pool coping with varying edges and thickness will be more forgiving if a mason is not too careful during the installation process.

I always demand high-quality stone work when I refer a job to a Stone Mason...the man for this job in particular put the care needed in this install to make this yard look stunning! The project is almost complete...what's next is a couple of stages, one is to build a Cabana suited for a king! ...the other is to complete the planting to make all the stonework...work!!!

Owensound Ledgerock

About 2 months ago, I had a chance to visit a very special place! I figure that every landscape designer, architect and natural stone enthusiast should make it a point to visit this place at least once in their career!
The place you ask? The Owen Sound Ledgerock Quarry Facility in Owen Sound, Ontario.

Now it has been over a decade since I was last in school and going on class field trips, but when this opportunity came up to visit the Quarry, I put everything on hold and jumped at the chance to go! Consider this place, the place of ideas and wonders of what can be done with natural stone... in the picture below is a pile of limestone quarried out of the Niagara Escarpment in the surrounding area.

What Ledgerock does with it after is combine old world ideas with new world technology and provides you with a beautiful natural product. As the stone is picked through and selected for various uses, saws like the one in the photo below go to work at the stone chunks.


Computer coordinates are entered into the saw's control program and these slabs of stone get sliced and diced into different shapes.

This was the saw of all saws! I figure that blade was a diameter of 12 or 14 feet and the sound it made once it started to slice the stone was the equivalent to locking a jet aircraft inside a room and having it go to full throttle while you stood beside it!

The stream of water that showers down from the saw helps to keep the blade cool and keeps the stone dust created by the cuttings from flying around, filling the room.

Here we see some of the stone slabs being polished into smooth top counters for use in kitchens, bars or even office buildings. My one regret was that I did not get a picture of the finished counter top... the grain of the stone pattern was gorgeous! A deep rich looking mix of brown colours.

Anyway, after all that mess of stone piles and saws...the end result is packaged up into wood crates and ready to be shipped all over the place....

I would say that this has to be one of my favourite natural stone pavers. The Owen Sound Bush hammered flagstone and coping gives any landscape site a very elegant and timeless finish to the space. If a client were to ask me, what stone I would use on a project? I would say to look no further than this article!