We’ve been in the house for a year and a half now and we wanted to start BBQ’ing and having people over in the summer. But without a proper backyard setup that makes things a little difficult.
This year we decided that we would build a patio. We bought the BBQ a month or so ago, but now my Dad and brother-in-law are helping us build out the patio. Because our grading in the back has quite the incline and is not very level, we have a bit of a chore ahead of us to create a level surface.
We spent the past weekend, digging out about a foot and a half of top soil and sod and replacing it with a proper stone/dirt foundation so we can eventually lay the paving stone. It was unbelievable the amount of labour involved in that all. We had to bring in a garbage bin that sat on the street and we actually filled it up. Then we had two small dump trucks worth of stone dropped off on our drive way, it looked like a mini construction site.
The weather on Saturday wasn’t the greatest either, as it constantly rained on and off which made everything a bit of a mess, but we needed the breaks. I’ve never done so much shovelling in my life. I was pretty sore on the Sunday. We’re so fortunate that my Dad and brother-in-law know their business, they did a great job! Now we just need to pick out the paving stone and arrange for a date to start laying them, can’t wait!
Before:
After:
Me working the plate compactor:
3 Responses to “Patio Building”
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May 11th, 2009 at 8:48 am
Eh…did you guys do all of that in 2 days? That’s insane! Looks sweet though, and sounds like you did it right (with all the stone and compacting, etc). Now you just need the patio set, a nice outdoor bar, a little water feature (I’m thinking a nice pond), an automatic retractable awning (for those rainy days), some lights, outdoor speakers…possibilities are endless . Looking forward to having a few beverages out there in the summer.
May 11th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
Wooo that is good stuff.. I have always been trying to look for help that knows to do all of this stuff, because I have no clue but always want to do it on my own..
May 12th, 2009 at 6:47 am
Yup, Fri/Sat we did that all; long days indeed. Hoping to lay the patio stones early June so once that is done we can have a party.