Post #783485 by Prettyman's Atoll on Sun, Jan 28, 2018 9:05 PM

Thank you, Prikli Pear, for your kind words! I really like the Alibi entrance you showed. Very creative. Thanks also for the plant ideas. We've tried hibiscus, but have been underwhelmed so far (4 inches in 2.5 years), but probably because it's in the shade most of the day. Will have to check out the palms you mentioned. We've got lots of land (well, for the Bay Area), as our lot was actually zoned for two houses but the second house was never built. We're trying to be cautious with the non-peripheral plantings until we've figured out a long-term plan. We jumped right in on the periphery, though, as we need some privacy for our tiki oasis!

Thanks also for turning me on to Ìxtahuele and Curitiba Train. I had never heard it, and really like. The train layout is going to have to pay some sort of tiki toll for taking up space in the tiki room. Not sure what that toll is going to look like. The trains are N-scale—far too small to haul a tiki drink—so I think we'll end up having an exotic tiki corner of the layout.

As for the drainage, that is indeed going to play a major role in the design of the room and the surrounding yard areas. Thankfully, the tiki room sits on the highest part of the property, so even with a floor that is 16 inches lower, we'll be able to put a drain system 16 inches below that and still have more than enough elevation above the planned outlet 100 feet away to have the water drain nicely without having to deal with a pump. Still, though, that's going be a lot of trenching.