A New Patio

Hi Paul ... fascinating... added to GoYpedia :o)

I love your blog and photo's Paul..watching each stage as it progresses..they are so skilled at their job,aren't they? and NOT as easy as decorating a cake ,I'm sure :o) Is that grassed area,beyond the fence,also your property ? The Euonymus shrubs look great there..I'm sure they will thrive,and give you a nice focal point..You look as though you might have some repainting to do on the lower half of your white walls now..Love the colour of your home..Will you have some planters on the Patio eventually? Sorry,so many questions..I'm sure you have lots of plans over winter to think about exciting ! I hope you are happy with your new Patio..:o)

Nice blog Paul.the Euonymous look great there and will grow away well....I'm sure you'll be able to trim the, to a nice neat, tight shape. They are very good shrubs for that!

Great job! Did you need a permit for this one?

Marvelous what a brilliant job well done . I'm sorry I had to smile when I reached the first photo of the bricks I thought they were Lego bricks laid out to show your plan for the area ... Our son had a Tonka truck like that when he was little ....

It all looks very technical but I am sure your plants are going to love it - where are you at now or is it completed ? Jane

Thanks Terratoonie: The transformation was amazing - these guys were like an automated machine. The whole project was started and finished is just a week.

Hi Sandra, I own the property up to the fence, but I'm responsible for keeping the front looking clean and tidy up to the street. The guys eventually came over with scrub brushes and touch-up paint to take care of the splatter - that couldn't be helped. Thanks for your compliment and for pointing out that one of my Kings is actually a Queen, :).

Thanks Paul. The Euonymous shrubs are tough plants, but they didn't like the salt spray and ice melt from the street too much. They already look better after just one week. They make a nice entrance and I can actually see and enjoy them more planted in back.

Loose - No thank goodness I did not need a permit. Those could be a nightmare. This was a replacement project with a few minor alterations, but I stayed within spec.

Thanks Amy. LOL that's funny but I see your point. They do look like toy bricks. I think they will weather a bit eventually.

Jane - This project was completed at lightening speed - just one week from demo to clean-up. I'm thankful the weather cooperated - no rain.

Maybe E.king,preferred to be E.Queen..whatever..as long as they are both happy ! Lol

LOL. I only planted them. Whatever else happens between them is none of my business. I hope to see the bright orange berries once in a while :)

What a transformation! You were lucky nor neighbourhood cats etc decided to sign it while it was still wet! The driver of the tonka must have been very skilled to fiot it down that space - could it have been the hail Marys??

Are you planning containers, table and chairs etc for the patio?

Looks like they have done a fab job. what a difference.:-)

Looks very good Bathgate. I can see a table there for those nice summer evening dinners outside..... surrounded with lots of flower pots. Maybe even a lounger to snooze after dinner :-) Job well done.

Thanks Steragram. I agree the transformation is like day and night. Luckily, the new concrete mix sets up very quickly so the cats didn't stand much of a chance. Hail Mary has helped me on more then one occasion. :) Thank you.

Thanks Sandra - It's almost like adding a room to the house.

Klahanie - It's the perfect place to relax on a lounge chair with a good book and gigantic glass of lemonade. Thank You.

I like patios but wouldn't want to be involved in constructing one. All that hard work! Like the idea of lounge chair, a good book and a large glass of lemonade, though.

Congrats on a job well done.

Thank You Eirlys. This was a lot of work, coordinating with the contractors & vendors especially that cement mixer. Once the concrete is mixed, you only have a few minutes to work with it before it begins to harden.

Wow, that looks like someone has been working jolly hard. The photos are great, and my husband used to be a builder and often had jobs like this so I know how hard they can be. Your shrubs look great where they are, trust Bloomer to know which is which lol! Will you add potted plants in the summer?

Thanks Julia. Yes I might put a pot of something on the steps, maybe pelargoniums. I've seen some new varieties I think would look nice. I'm glad you like the photos. It was interesting to see the transformation first hand.

Pelargoniums? Yes, they should look nice. By the way, did you lend a hand, if so which one is you?...yes I'm nosey!

LOL, I did give a hand, mostly by keeping clear. I'm the guy holding the camera.

Ha, ha!! Coward!

:)

It's so much better when you can have contractors in to get the work done especially anything major like that.
The worst part is the mess the debris leaves behind.
Love the colour of your home, do you have plans for the area the steps go down to?

Thank you. The lower level is where i have my raised vegetable bed but it's nothing to look at now. I have a heap of fallen leaves covering it which will break down over the winter with all the rain and snow we get. I also have planting beds around the perimeter. My red maple is right in the middle where I plan to set up picnic area and BBQ.

Sounds like you have everything well organised, hope you will post more pics when the plans are achieved.

thanks I only wish I could invite you over for BBQ

Now wouldn't that be great! If only I had a time machine, lol.

If you had GF, I'd be asking if I could have a lift with you...I'd bring a bottle, or two of course...

My Living room and dining room is slated for demolition starting this week so that sounds very appealing.

Demolition? That sounds rather drastic...

LOL I know, and that's exactly what's happening - more trucks, more contractors, more dust, banging, endless parades through the house, strangers using my bathroom, drilling, sawing & occasional blackouts - Maybe I'll order in a pizza, or should I try McDonald's?

Sounds horrific. I hope the end result will be really good and worth it all! I reckon you're going to need more than one pizza before you're through...

LOL yes, I think so. I'd love to find something to wear that's not covered in dust.

Oh Paul, I don't envy you living in the house while significant work is going on. What are you having done? Won't the new patio get messed up while they do it?

LOL, the patio was the messiest job I had to do, I just had some new floors put down in the living room and dining room and some painting. The kitchen and bathroom were done last year (see my blog). This will be it until after holidays.

Not total demolition then - what a relief!

not total, just ripping up and replacing the old floors & re-routing some steam pipes, trimmings, painting.

Goodness! So that's living & dining room, bathroom, kitchen, patio & garden ............
actually that's pretty much what we've done too. We took the old heaters out, laid insulation, underfloor heating & Italian travertine throughout the ground floor. Kitchen was hardest & because today we have so many appliances it needed rewiring. Added a conservatory too. Bathroom is still to do but has to wait for funds.
Your neighbours fire must have been a big worry to have wrecked your garden & especially with being clapperboard house.

Yes, the fire was very troublesome. It killed a few of my trees, but they were very good at rebuilding the fence so I took as an opportunity to do some redesigning. I'm glad it's behind us though.

You don't do things by halves do you Paul? I hope
you're going to post on going pics/blogs as the work goes on. I bet things are going to look fantastic when you've done.

Wow - that's a lot of work, and lots more to come by the sound of it! Interesting to see the progress. I bet you're glad it's done, though.

nice job mate, but don't you need a soakaway between the house and patio edge besides a bubble slope to the patio?

I have a leader system in place to channel rain away from the house.

Job well done Bath, and only a week....incredible! Lovely house too. I remember when my late husband concreted our patio, we made sure both cats and little dog were kept well away till it set and dried. When we checked it a few hours later, a blackbird must have enjoyed the whole afternoon making a kaleidoscope of footprints all over it!

LOL Janey, I remember when people used to set up chairs and a radio so they can guard the concrete until it sets. The contractors today use a new formula that sets up very quickly. I wont have to look fossils this time.

Ha ha....and every other sentence was Mind the Concrete!!

I don't like the step.

What don't you like about it, aside from personal taste?

Sorry about that Ladysexx1. It's easy to design your own though with bricks & mortar. This design works best for me.

Sorry but my Dad was a property developer and he used to design flowing steps to patios, in my minds eye, I think an extra step & deeper steps would of looked nice so the going would be easier but that's only my option, hope you don't mind in me saying what I think :o) Ha! My Dad may not be here any more but he always seems to be telling me the way to do things LOL X

I don't mind at all. Freedom of Speech is what the USA is founded on. I exercise it quite liberally too. That's what this forum is all about.

You seem to like the "feminine touch". I'm 6'1" tall with long muscular legs. The shorter, higher step is more inline with my stride and I find it more aesthetically pleasing. However, after the contractors left, I did add and extra step. It's more of a level platform I built because the ground there isn't exactly level. I think your idea would be a nice alternative though.

I tried to Edit my post but they say it is too old.
Where the slab is extend with two rows of bricks is what I mean and have two steps so the drop down is not so high.
:o) Just think it would finish it off nicely after all the nice work that's been done :o)
Plus if you had children or elderly people visiting it would be safer :o)

I see what you mean. Yes an extra step would make it easier to climb. That's a good point. thanks.

In keeping with the situation may I suggest a poem that you both might like to read the title of which is " The Top Step In The Hotel In Junin" by Jimmy Stewart. You can find it in one of his books of poetry or on the web.

He's quite a talented guy -that Jimmy!

Jimmy Stewart and the Step
Whilst in Mexico we stayed at a hotel for one night. My friend. Julie, and I kept tripping over this top step on our way to the dining room. Trying to solve the why, we realized it was a tad higher than the others……which made me recall this poem penned by Jimmy Stewart……..

The top step in the hotel in Junin is mean.
Like the Devil is mean.
And it lies at the top of the other steps,
So quiet, so still, so serene.

But this top step has something quite special,
A very ingenious device:
It’s half an inch higher than the other steps,
A whole inch to be more precise.

And it uses this inch as a weapon,
The guests of the place to harass:
For when you reach the third floor of that hotel in Junin,
The top step trips you right on your ass.

Now I’ve had my share of knocks on the head,
I’ve felt enemy gunfire in war.
But if you want my opinion of what’s really bad,
I’ll be glad to give you the score.

Of all the degrading, inhuman, mean things,
That I in my life have yet seen,
The gross, most despicable one of them all
Is the top step in the hotel in Junin.

Glad to be of service :0))
My Mum calls me Practical Jackie.... I get it from my Dad LOL, He was brainy & practical, I just ended up with the Practical bit LOL.
Loosestrife. Very apt that poem LOL.

Love that poem! A new theatre was built here in the 60s. I'm afraid it was a corrupt job, earned by paying a backhander to those who should have behaved better. It had no dressing rooms, and the steps down from the stage to the auditorium were all different heights! One entertainer, whose act involved descending to the audience whilst singing, came out with a ruler on his last night to demonstrate the (potentially lethal) difficulty he had faced. Needless to say, the various shortcomings have long since been dealt with. (When Marlene Dietrich arrived for the inaugural show, they had to knock through to the neighbouring public toilet block and furnish it from a local store so she had somewhere to change. There was no scenery dock, either. Nice job, eh?)

I hope you have survived the weather!

wow. I would never want top set foot in that theater Melch...I'd be the fist to flop on my face.

Thanks for your tip Ladyessex1: I'm starting to like your idea better than mine.

Oh! I'm glad I put my thoughts forward, so are you going to Re-design your step, maybe worth going onto Google and putting in "Brick built step designs pics" and see what comes up :o)) I had a look & there are loads of ideas :o)), I know the half moon ones can be a bit dangerous for the elderly, my Mum of 94yrs finds one can loose their stepping because of the curve as she misjudged her step and toppled over, luckily my Hubby was there to save her. :o))...
Jackie

I will take a look, but that's definitely a project for the warmer weather. Thanks again for your ideas Jackie.

At least you have a project for the warmer weather :o))
I've put a few Blogs on here of the work I've been doing in my garden through the years but slowing up now, age is catching up with me LOL. :o))