Dirty Work

Matt and I are very excited to finally have our patio done. This last week has been very exhausting and stressful for both of us.

Our house had ugly rail road ties up along the side of our house. When we pulled them out some of the boards on the bottom were so decayed they were the size of a 2x4. I guess that explains why the retaining wall wasn't level and collapsing.

BEFORE:AFTER:

We had the concrete done by a professional. It is stamped and colored to look like stone but costs a faction of the price. I think it turned out really nice. I was so scared of choosing a pattern and the colors but I think it turned out nicely. It will also be so nice to be able to come down the deck and through out the trash without walking on grass/snow. The stairs from the deck will come down were the 4 pillars are. And I think my kids will like having a place to ride their bikes on. We also had the concrete on the left side of the house ripped out so that I have a bigger garden. It will take away our basketball court but we NEVER used it. It got so hot next to the house the concrete just made that space to hot-my kids never played on it. Plus with the new patio it would just be too much concrete in our yard.


The night before the concrete truck came Matt, Nate (Matts brother) and I stayed up until 2:00 am digging 6 holes for the pillars. Two of them we had to dig 3 feet deep into the hard clay. It was not any fun. Thanks again Nate! We had to get it done that night because the concrete truck was coming at 7:00 am the next morning. Of course they came early and the first 30 minutes was very kayotic. Matt also had to repair 2 sprinklers that got cut during the excavation. So that explains our dead looking grass. We also spent all day Saturday (which was a very hot day) patching the side of the patio with sod, and hauling junk to the dump.

So hopefully the hard part it down. We are going to put up a small retaining wall next to the house with a retaining wall stone. Then I can replant my plants and hopefully they won't die. We also need to fix the cement on the side of the house. If you can see in the picture it is black and ugly. I also have to go through the dirt in my garden and get out the clay clods and rocks. I wish it wasn't so hot. I really can't even go out and work until it is 7 or 8 because the heat just about kills me. It has also been over a week since I have taken my daycare kids outside. That is just about killing me. When it is finished we will post more pictures. This is just the start of a work in progress.