Pics from my landscape company(warning...lots of pics)

[gator20]

Before I was in Real Estate....I owned a landscape company..Texas Earthscapes. After 7 years in business I sold it in 2006.

I was going through some old discs and found my image files from my website. Thought I would share some of the projects with you guys.

All of these were built and designed by me....my hands touched every block or bag in the retaining walls, and every piece of wood on the other projects. I was completely burned out by the time I sold it. Anyway, enjoy.....

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc279/gator_20/arbor_04after.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc279/gator_20/arbor_08after.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc279/gator_20/arbor_09after.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc279/gator_20/deck_01after.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc279/gator_20/fence1.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc279/gator_20/fence6.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc279/gator_20/firepit_03after.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc279/gator_20/wall01_before.jpghttp://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc279/gator_20/wall01_after.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc279/gator_20/wall02_before.jpghttp://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc279/gator_20/wall02_after.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc279/gator_20/wall04_before.jpghttp://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc279/gator_20/wall04_after.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc279/gator_20/wall05_before.jpghttp://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc279/gator_20/wall05_after.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc279/gator_20/wall06_before.jpghttp://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc279/gator_20/wall06_after.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc279/gator_20/wall07_before.jpghttp://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc279/gator_20/wall07_after.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc279/gator_20/wall09_before.jpghttp://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc279/gator_20/wall09_after.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc279/gator_20/wall08_after.jpg

There are a ton more projects, I need to find the pics of the harbor at my ex-wifes place, its a five sided arbor. Freakin pretty.

[dblemuney]

have any construction/method pix of the wood projects?

[gator20]

Unfortunately not.....I was only taking before and afters then.

[SniperD5]

Those are some unbelievable projects dude. Awesome work!

[pikeman56]

I can see why you were burned out. There's a ton of work involved in those pics right there and i'm sure that is just the tip of the iceberg. Awesome work though man.

[Wedge Rock]

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc279/gator_20/deck_01after.jpg

I want this deck. Kthanxbai.

[Pablo Sanchez]

Projects are nice, but I would prefer tit pics! Snap to it!

[herta28]

Just out of curiosity, what burned you out? You obviously do kick ass work. That would give me an immense amount of personal satisfaction to be able to do that.

[gator20]

Well, in a nutshell, I built the company wrong. I had built it from a truck and trailer to just under 1.3 million a year in business. Everything was on my shoulders....noone to let shit roll down too. At the pinacle I employed 42 workers and 4 crew leaders, we did mainly commercial maintenance, and all of the jobs you see here were side deals that I would sell and build myself with one of the smaller crews. The straw that broke my back was the summer of 2006, it was labor day and we were planning a pool party at the house. I get a call at 4:30 in the morning from one of the apartments I took care of, they said there was a major water leak from the irrigation lines. I get there about an hour later, the leak was behind a 8' stone retaining wall (and no I didnt build the wall) that had apparently been leaking for a long time, it had pushed over the wall onto 4 cars. So, the whole day was spent cleaning up the mess, dealing with residents and management, and fixing the leak.
At that time I was taking Real Estate classes online and knew thats what I wanted to do. The weekend after this happened I was out playing cards with a buddy that also owned a landscape comapany and we were talking about my frustrations and I was saying I wanted to sell. One thing lead to another and I had two companies bidding to buy my company. We ended up selling for .65 on the dollar, took half down and half over two years. It was the best thing I ever did. We took some of the money from the down payment and paid off my exwifes home (idiot) and her truck and bought me the H2(which is gone now.) and took the rest, divided it into two trust funds for my boys college and to get their lives going. Their futures should be set.

In retrospect, I would do it over again 100 times.....I busted my ass for 7 years, and my boys will have an easy road paying for school and getting their lives rolling as long as they dont fuck up. Hopefully they will both get scholarships and I can use the money to travel on.(in a perfect world)

[Warmage]

I want this deck. Kthanxbai.

My wife saw that pic when I was reading this thread and said the same thing.

[Wedge Rock]

My wife saw that pic when I was reading this thread and said the same thing.

I'll take her too.

[Calgary Dave]

Wow. Very interesting Gator. I love reading about ppl's career choices and how it happend. Especially when they do it by sheer hard physical work. Im sort of in the same boat right now. I've been doing tile for 28 yrs now. But my back is shot and the body is sore...and Im on the verge of losing everything. Dont know if I can keep doing tile but have no idea what to do/look for. It seems the best I can do with my own company is covering wages (barely, for just my son and I) ..which is no way a company can keep going. I've thought of real estate but its too competitive here.
Loved the pics!! Landscaping is freaking hard physical work!!

[gator20]

Thanks for the comliment Dave!! It was a long road....Im sure you will do fine. Good luck my friend!!

[vtpoker]

Gator, in the steep slope pictures and the riverside photos, what are the type of stone you used? From the distance, it almost looks like sandbags.

[gator20]

Its called R-Rap or E-Rap. They are bags of instant concrete and the bag is perforated and biodegradable. They are secured with rebar running through the bags to interlock them together. Those walls are best suited for water applications, because the wall allows for pressures to be relieved behind the wall. All the gaps between the bags serve as weep holes to relieve pressure and water can drain out. There is also a filter fabric behind the wall to retain the soils.

[vtpoker]

That's f-in cool stuff. Just looked it up, I might suggest those to my old man.