Project: Patio

A long, long time ago...I can still remember...

(Points if you now have American Pie running through your head...alright, alright! Here is the link, don't hurt yourself searching for it)

...when I posted about these photos about destroying our coal bin and old sidewalk in order to put in a patio.

Well, that patio is in!

Austin started by digging all the ground up and laying down  some  a hell ton of stone to make it level...

Oh yes, once we got rid of the coal bin - guess what we found? No siding underneath! Yay! So, we had to special order siding that looks like our historical siding, but isn't actually made from the same materials {coughcoughasbestoscough, seriously see here for more about it}and repair the window sill to our laundry room... none of which has been painted in any of these photos. The hubs has since gotten it together and painted...

ANYWAY, back to the patio.

This was the original pattern - very square and neat...then we remembered that our house is almost 100 years old and isn't so square itself...so plans changed.

Oh hey Bings - did you want to get in the way help?

That's a good boy, kick up all that gravel that Austin spent smoothing out into a level surface...he will be pleased. (Note that I took a photo instead of stopping him)

Once we realized that our house was not square, we (read: Austin and his man friends who were helping) went back and off set every row a bit, which I love so much more.

Once the pattern was set for real, it was time to put down some sand stuff...apparently it acts like cement and seals everything and keeps the pavers from shifting too much, or something.

A few days later, once all the edging stones were in place, our "little" patio that I had requested turned out to be this 200 sq foot beauty.

The stones are wet from spraying down that sand stuff one last time...the little pavers seem to hold water longer, so it doesn't really look like a checkerboard. They are all the same color and finish. Also, those are free chairs the previous owners left behind - score!

See those edging stones being finished along the, erm, edge? Now of course it is all finished and the house is painted, the only thing left is to replace that back door and hang a light fixture (that we already bought) to the right of the door. (I wish we could move that power box - maybe someday I can convince Austin to do it)

It already looks so much more finished than this photo - I will get one up once the door and light are installed - but still, from a gravel filled backyard complete with coal bin to this? All on our own?

We are feeling like home improvement rock stars.