We are getting a patio!! Tim and I were busy bees last week preparing for our new patio.
We decided to put it beside the house, next to the screened porch.
*Ignore the ugly paint colors of the house........we'll paint soon (hopefully!)
This is a view from the back yard:
It's kind of hard to see but there is a giant "flower bed" on both sides of the fence. It was full of weeds and huge roots when we moved in 5 years ago, and I haven't done much with it since then.
There are giant spiders in there, and so many weeds! Some little trees grew into the fence and couldn't be removed without cutting the fence. It was really going to take a lot of work to make this a usable flower bed.
I was really happy when we agreed to put the new patio there, it's a perfect solution!
To prepare for the patio, Tim cut the weeds down.
The bed was lined with rocks, which Tim removed and put into a pile.
I got to use my lawn mower/tractor and my wagon to move the rocks to the back of the back yard.
(I love my tractor, it's one of my favorite things!)
There were also some old stepping stones that made a half-buried pathway from the screened porch to the gate. Tim dug those out and I moved them to a pile in the back. They are all in good shape so I'll re-use them somewhere else. I already have 2 of them in my flower bed in the front yard.
Timmy used orange spray paint to mark where we wanted our patio.
Here is a view from the front yard:
I called the "Call before you dig" phone number and let them know we would be leveling the ground on the north side of the house. They sent some guys out over the next few days to put flags and more spray paint to let us know where there were lines or utilities underground.
Late last week a big load of gravel was dumped at the end of our driveway.
On Friday, Tim started working on taking the fence between the front and back yards down.
I was so excited to see this fence come down!!
My son Chris and I had front row seats from the screened porch while they leveled the ground.
I was SO happy to see him rip that awful weed bed out.
It took about 2 hours to get it like this:
All the dirt was put in a pile in our yard. That pile is up to my shoulders! I had no idea there would be that much dirt removed.
We'll use the dirt to fill in some holes and ruts in other places in our yard.
Next, he brought the gravel around and spread it out
The back step is still there because it is attached to the foundation of the house. Tim decided it would be easier to leave it there and cover it with a new step. I have a few ideas of what I want to do with that step, but I'll wait to see what I have to work with after they are finished with the patio.
This is where we are now. As long as it doesn't rain, they plan to build the forms and pour the concrete in the next day or so.
It's really a lot bigger than I thought it would be when Tim first spray-painted it out.
After the patio is in, we want to put cedar privacy fence around 2 sides of it.
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