Excavation Begins on Pizza Oven Hardscape Landing - Priority 2 (Part One) - March 2025

The weather recently has been doing with late Winter/early Spring does around here:  Move all over the place.  Some 60's and some 30's.  I've been trying to fit in some early garden work during the warmer moments - from clean-up to bed extensions to...now...kicking off the pizza oven project for 2025.  

I labeled this my #2 priority project earlier this month and talked about getting it 'operational' was my goal:  that means getting it water-tight and getting the hard surface right in front of the oven mud-free - and...presentable.  

I am going to first address the hard surface.  

This whole project - in the most ideal state - requires A LOT of things - retaining walls, paver patio, covered roof, prep surface and (likely) a bar.  But, for now, I'm looking at what I can get done NOW - this Spring.  And something that is both cost-effective and (at least somewhat) attractive.  

There's a 26" drop between the grade of the current patio and the top of the pizza oven slab.  But, that grade-change occurs over twenty-plus feet.  

In order to figure out what I'm doing with the hard surface - in the immediate area in front of the oven - I need to start some excavation to figure out how much grade change I'm dealing with in the eight-or-so feet out in front.  

One evening this week after work, I grabbed my spade and started to get busy. The soil is still (somewhat) wet and the digging is easy.  Below are some progress shots showing the excavation process:

This photo below shows the tape measure at eight-feet-wide.  That's twelve inches extended on either side of the slab:

And, here below is that same eight-foot-stretch out from the slab to the yellow stake:

I started the excavation and the initial depth was taller than this flat shovel blade:

I kept going until I started to run out of daylight and (below) is the progress so far.  I've excavated outwards and across about 2/3rds of the face of the slab.  I'm thinking this is only about six-feet-out, so I'll have to dig out even more.  The grade (in the photo) on the left is much taller than the grade on the right, so the excavation is deeper on the left.

I have been taking the soil (mix of topsoil, loam and clay) and sprinkling it in various low-spots around the oven.  Here, below, you can see backfilling against the slab and in a line along a ridge that has developed in front of the Hornbeam trees:

I also have begun to backfill the other side (and back) with the excavated material.  See below for the backfilling on the west side of the slab:

My plan is to finish the excavation and then finalize the plan.  

The balance I'm going to try to strike is installing something here that looks 'finished' with knowing that this is not what I want to be here permanently.  That means, compromising on the materials.  

My current thinking is:  laying fabric with gravel on top.  On top of the gravel will bluestone chips to match the garden path.  

We'll need something like a retaining wall on (likely) at least two sides.  And, there's the question of access - a step being too-tall is a problem.  

The options also include edging (metal edging) to retain the gravel.  But, perhaps something like timbers/railroad ties to serve as *both* edging and retaining.  

Railroad ties (and landscape timbers) are eight-feet-long.   I could create a square of them and fill the center with gravel.  Like this below.  The green one (below) is the trouble, however.  When I poured the slab, there's some 'overflow' concrete right in front of the slab.  That makes deep excavation there...virtually impossible. 

Which means that if I ran a timber/tie *in front* of the oven, it would have to ONLY be 4.5" or so tall.  

For ties, I'd have to 'slide' one down.  And, from what I've read on the Web, cutting ties is tough - between sand and nails and other material in them, they chew up saws.  A timber - which is a true 5" square would be easier.  They both (ties and 5x5x8 timbers) cost the same.  But, ties have a size advantage:  They're bigger.  9" wide (vs 5") and 7" tall vs 5" tall.  

My first solve is to get a true grade change figured.    How much earth do I have to hold-back.  And how tall would the 'step' be from the grass to the gravel.  Does it need just one 'step'?  Or, are we talking two?  Could I cut a bed out in FRONT of the timbers?   And, do I need to/have height that would allow for deadmen in the wall?  What about drainage?  Do I need scuppers/weep holes? Or full-out drainage grates/flow-through?  I think that all gets sorted once I finalize heights.

Another option would be to *not* run a tie in front of the oven, but instead cut short one-foot sections and run those off the *side* of the slab.  Like this below.  This would make the 'depth' of the whole landing nine-inches shorter, as the timber/tie that runs parallel to the oven would now sit 'inside' the two timbers/ties that extend back from the oven.  

I could also jump to 6x6 treated timbers and run one all the way around.  They sell 10' ones, but they cost about double the 5x5x8 timbers.  They also sell 4x6x8's (treated) that I could (potentially) stack on top of the 6's - depending on the height needed.  

I also could do a block retaining wall - using those same Corbyn blocks that I posted about last week.   Eight-feet wide across the front with...I think some 'returns' on the sides back to the oven.   But, that feels a lot more 'permanent' than timbers.   My current thinking is to focus on fabric + timbers + gravel (or roadbase) plus bluestone chips.  

I'm thinking that I approach using timbers the same way I would with a retaining wall - excavate below the timbers and fill with roadbase.  And, behind the timbers - which I would backfill with gravel.  

That's the part that I have to keep reminding myself:  this needs to look finished, be someone affordable and, ultimately...be able to be removed when we build out full patio.  

Something like a 10' wide 6x6 timber across the front with 8' long ones returning back and a second level done with a 4x6x10' - seems like the sweet spot. 

That means everything from the gravel 'level' (how much do I put in - and thus how far do I excavatte down) to the type of finishes (timbers vs. block and bluestone vs. decomposed granite).