Joel refinished an old parking pad for us. It was loose gravel on a slope, and it was messy, slippery and worn out. I had set some stones by myself at one time, but it was too much of a job to ever hope to finish on my own. Joel did a beautiful job of remixing old and new stone, and did fabulous work in fitting the stones while achieving a beautiful random pattern in the natural variations of the stone's color. Our new stone finish is endlessly interesting to the eye and glows in the afternoon sun.
I was so concerned about the slope on the old surface, and hoped to flatten it somewhat, but it was difficult to see and feel the full potential until the stones were actually laid and the new surface took form. Joel was totally easy-going and confident about developing this aspect as he completed it. He set up line guides for the new slope. He was able to immediately reduce the degree of slope at one end, and as he completed every few rows, he then had me check it out. I walked on the new surface, and studied it from different angles, from down the hill, from the side, etc. Joel made some adjustments to the line guides along the way, and with all of this very particular attention to detail, he achieved my goal--of years-- to make this area far more pleasing to walk on and comfortable to drive up and park on.
It is so beautiful now, and so functional. Joel's mastery of stone work was evident in his ability to achieve the desired results, his ease and enjoyment in working with the stone, the speed with which he seemingly effortlessly powered through this large surface, and his total comfort at not just working with the stone, but with me, too. Every day I am so thankful for what he did for us. I am so grateful that he made it so easy and really a happy project. I never guessed that it could be so easy. Joel is a master craftsman.
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