About three weeks ago, I wrote a post on "Designing a New Patio or Deck". Well, the project is still going on and slowly nearing completion. I thought I would update you with the progress of the project. In my last post, I showed pictures of the before. Here are pictures of the last three weeks and what has been going on with the project.
I removed all the furniture, old stepping stones and plants that would be in the way of construction. The decision was also made to remove the hot tub. We did not use it and felt this was the ideal time to eliminate it from the design.
I decided to do a change in the location of the deck stairs and how they came down off the deck. Rather than a straight run, it became a "L" shaped run of stairs. Before the patio installers could start, the old stairs were removed and new post were installed and set into cement.
We did have a few surprises like this slab of buried cement that had to be removed. We also had to disconnect the old electrical line that went to the hot tub.
Then it was time for the BIG dig. All of the dirt where the patio was going to be located was hand dug out and removed. The next step was bringing in gravel and refilling the dug out area. All the gravel was compacted and a layer of sand was applied over the gravel.
Next the pavers were installed. Many of them had to be cut to fit in the area they were being used. The pavers will be sanded in the future when the temperatures are higher.
I have several areas for plantings. Two are around post where I will have climbing roses. One is under the deck steps where I will plant hostas. There are several beds next to the house where I plan to plant ground cover for year around color. Adding the planting beds helped to break up the hard look of the pavers and cement. Planting will soften the look and define room areas.
We did have some delays. In the picture above, they had just started installing the decking when it snowed.
And we had more snow!
After the snow melted the project was back on schedule. The new decking went down and the new rails went up.
The stairs are installed and as I write this blog, the railings are being installed. The next part of the project is installing the under decking. This will allow us to use the space under the deck as a nice dry area. That should be installed next week.
The last part of the project will be plantings, installing a fish pond, painting, staining and decorating, which I will be doing. I can't wait to see the garden leafed out and in full bloom with the project complete. It is really exciting to see the design that was on paper coming to life. Check back for future post on the project.
Are you a follower of "Garden Thyme with the Creative Gardener?" Become one!
Happy Gardening!
Debbie