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If you are concerned about your existing patio, do not put a fire pit on it. Locate the fire pit adjacent to the patio (preferably downhill and downwind from the patio), draining someplace that can filter wet soot, bbq grease, etc. A fire pit in the middle of a patio as seen on HGTV should be connected to a subsurface drainage system that…[Read more]

Beyond a fire barrier I imagine that you need to know something about the stone used in the patio and it’s reaction to heat. You may keep it clean but can you be certain you won’t crack it or cause it to discolor?

downloaded e/solidworks on my imac… application crash when open dwg file!
currently using autocad ws… not great but durable until i find something better   

Thanks, Jason.  I don’t like the elevated fire pits because of having no air flow beneath the fire.  I would prefer to use a fireplace grate inside my firepit (which is ringed with retaining wall block).  What about putting 1.5 inch thick concrete square “stepping stones” underneath the grate to protect the original patio?  Thanks again.

Here’s a suggestion in the Chicago area:
 
Fall LARE Session in Chicago – Illinois Chapter ASLA
Saturday October 26, 20138:00 AM – 5:00 PM
IIT College of Architecture3360 S. State StreetChicago, IL 60616http://www.iit.edu/arch
Illinois Chapter ASLA Education Committee is pleased to announce two tracks for the Fall LARE sessions for Great Lakes…[Read more]

Thanks Robert… Going to used it with the same intention as you do!

Solid works has a free application that allows you to control layer visibility and use of layouts. I only use it to make sure that my Vectorworks exports can be seen properly.

I would very highly recommend using one of them steel elevated firepits in this case, such as the type below. If you are at all worried about the surface underneath, this is the only way to go. The heat of the fire and coals, along with the moisture in the natural stone or mortar will definitely crack the stone, and the stone may even “explode”…[Read more]

It isn’t necessarily that they are dumb (though that does happen). From my personal experience in interacting with lots of engineers, architects, and LAs on site issues, there is STILL a general misunderstanding or plain ingnorance of the ADA regulations. Some of it is unscrupulous contractors as I recently reported to a local mall who had some…[Read more]

I owned one, sold it and went back to intuos 5 touch. Cintiq felt too small for detail work, low resolution, and cumbersome with the ac converter etc. Also the distance between the tip of the stylus and cursor due to glass thickness kind of annoyed me. Waiting to try 24.

This sometimes happens when one aspect of a design is valued more than is reasonable. It is a university in a time and place where political correctness and “being green” may be more highly valued than practicality. It may be possible that several people, maybe the designers themselves, pointed out that this would be a problem.
 
This may also…[Read more]

Great points that I concur with in both Andrew’s and Nick’s comments – stick to schematic on lower budget projects and use an hourly fee calculation.
Our firm does not use the percentage calculation for fees unless required to by the client (some govt. agencies / municipalities). We use a structured fee proposal (Schematic, DD, CD, CA, Bidding,…[Read more]

Congrats, and welcome to the club.  I normally don’t use initials after my name – my email has my title ‘landscape architect’, but I’ve left it off my business card.  I figure anyone who needs to know if I have the necessary paperwork will ask, and most should know by job title anyway.
It gets a little hard to decide what post-nominals should s…[Read more]

Pretty sure licensure is a state jurisdiction and not federal, so don’t hold your breath on Congress intervening (even if they were a more organized bunch).  It’s up to professionals to get their own act together – and it seems from the comments here and on ASLA’s website that there are enough people who have little or no interest in a common…[Read more]

Just be sure not to use PLA whenever you are in China as it stands for People’s Liberation Army 🙂
Next thing you’ll know is that they’ll be asking for your rank and division:)

Congrats anyway:)

http://www.asla.org/land/LandArticle.aspx?id=33951

Scroll down to the comments until you find a long one by robmcginnis@me.com for some clarification.
I need to look into this as well because I will shortly be applying for reciprocity in VA. Oh, and congrats on getting the license!

10-4

Virginia says “Licensed Landscape Architect. I thought hard about using LLA for that reason, but it seems its just not used by most in the community, and its not even easily understood by many LAs who just dont care. Whatever happened in the process of making Practice Acts and Title acts is so odd, and it would be nice if it didnt take an act of…[Read more]

My seal in Tennessee, where I do most of my work, says “Registered Landscape Architect”.
So, I use RLA for that reason.
I could care less what ASLA wants….