How we spent our summer vacation, or how to lay a patio in a month.

hen we purchased our home, the backyard wasn’t much to speak of:


The previous owners unfortunately mistreated their dogs and penned them off in a gravel filled enclosure which was quite an eyesore.



There was also no place to sit and enjoy a fine summer night so we decided that we needed to lay a patio. My father came by and helped us design a space that would make sense. The first step was to remove all the grass where the new pavers would be. Throughout the job Scott was able to use many cool machines such as a sod cutter, allowing us to pull up the grass more easily and repurpose it in the gravel pit.



Once that was cut out the stairs had to go; the original design had you exiting the house and walking down the stairs directly to your left. I thought it made more sense to widen the deck a bit allowing more than one person to stand at the top, raise the platform to make a less awkward step down and have the stairs lead straight down. This allows for easier entertaining and access to the house.



The ground was tamped down.

Then a layer of gravel was tamped in place.

(As you can see from the photos the swing set was removed and I planted a nice vegetable garden in its place.)

Then a layer of sand was set.



Pavers were laid.



A special sand and cement mixture was swept between the pavers.



The deck was built and furniture added.