The Power of Before and After: | |
DESIGN: Peter Michaels Landscape Associates, Inc. BLOCK MANUFACTURER: Rosetta Walls of New England PROJECT LOCATION: West Islip, NY YEAR BUILT: 2008 PROJECT SIZE: 288 sq. ft
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Using Rosetta to Completely Transform a Project |
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THE CHALLENGE | |
When a West Islip, New York homeowner decided it was time to renovate his back yard in 2008, he wanted a big change. The homeowner contacted Mike Minitulo, owner of Peter Michaels Landscape Associates, to create a design to maximize the backyard’s usability and aesthetics. When Minitulo came on-site, the backyard pool area was surrounded with a flat field of completely level dirt with no grass, no landscaping, and certainly no aesthetic appeal. Minitulo was faced with a challenge—creating a natural look for the project that was efficient and simple to install—all within the homeowner’s budget. The design criteria consisted of a fire pit, seating area, lawn, landscape plantings, and an in-ground pool with waterfall and night lighting. Minitulo also had to take into consideration the next phase of construction, which included an outdoor kitchen. |
Rosetta Wall System Creates Sustainable Solutions |
THE SOLUTION Originally, the design plan specified natural moss rock to construct the double waterfall features that flow into the pool. However, natural stone is difficult to install because it requires sorting, cutting, and is hard to maneuver into place. When Minitulo first saw Rosetta at a landscape show, he knew he had found a solution that gave him the look he wanted, without the hassle of sorting, cutting, and installing natural stone. “I presented Rosetta to the homeowner as an alternative to the moss rock. Even without seeing the product in person—they had only seen it in the brochure— they decided to go with it,” Minitulo explained. Rosetta is a revolutionary precast concrete retaining wall system that combines the look of natural stone, with the ease of installation and engineered benefits of a manufactured system. The Rosetta Outcropping system features 12 unique size units and 24 unique stone textures. Dimensions vary from 24 in. to 72 in. wide and from 6 in. to 24 in. tall. The dimensional consistency of the system makes designing with and installing Rosetta significantly easier and faster than with natural stone. Rosetta can also be used to create water features, fire pits, ponds, and seat walls in addition to retaining walls. |
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