While it's had taken us a while to get around to writing a post, we greatly enjoyed our new patio this summer and it has been such a wonderful upgrade to the house. Our old deck had been falling apart since we purchased the house, but we never wanted to invest much in maintenance because we always hoped to just put in a patio. It would be low maintenance and baby couldn't fall off, so we just planned on putting one on our house someday and getting rid of the rickety old deck. Well someday came sooner than planned thankfully, because we were a little blind to how bad the deck really was. Here was the state of the old deck: Our deck was small, and a nasty brown color. I had woven chicken wire along to keep baby from falling through, since the gaps in the rails were so wide, half of them broken. Harvey used the steps as a surface to dive from, taking out anyone or anything below, making it kind of a safety hazard for everyone. I was convinced our mosquito problem was because of the plastic under the deck that held water every time it rained. My mom said it was quite the eyesore, (I think she said one of the trashiest decks she'd seen) but I didn't realize how bad it was until we ripped it off. She was right. Baby fell off the deck on Easter and my mom told us it was time for a patio even if she had to do the work herself. She called someone the next day to give us a quote. Before we knew it we had a crew out ripping our deck off. The house already looked better with a dirt patch behind. It's amazing how sometimes you just can see what is so obvious. The work provided some much needed distraction and entertainment for everyone, and Danny set up camp with his chair in the mudroom to watch all the machines and tools they brought along. The dogs had no problem hopping up into the house, so we still used the back door until they poured the concrete. We found out we had and 8 in slope from where the patio would start at the house to the back end, which apparently is a lot. After a bit of disagreement with the crew we settled to do a gradual slope of 2 inches instead of the 5 inches they were suggesting. Our decision meant we would have a huge drop off on the back corner, but Danny came up with a great idea for dealing with the issue. After Danny made them come back and change it to what we wanted, the crew admitted we made the right choice, they just weren't going to say so with the manager around. No one wants to feel like they are sliding off their patio. They cleared the spot, leveled it, set the frame and poured the cement. Originally we asked for a nice curve on the one end, which I used the garden hose to show exactly what I meant. I came outside to find this. Obviously they weren't getting the idea at all and I decided if they couldn't see the difference between what I did and what they did, it was better to stick with a rectangle and not challenge them beyond what they were used to. In adding the patio we lost our garden and had to move it to the side yard. We also lost the dirty windows from Harvey standing up and scratching the entire glass with his muddy paws. (See picture below) I couldn't wait to no longer have a muddy sheepdog swimming against my windows and scratching the screens all up. While the cement was wet, all the critters weren't allowed out so I had angry chickens locked in the coop, dogs in the house, and two cats locked in the dog cage in the garage losing their minds. I happened to look out the window after they poured and smoothed the patio and saw huge craters in the fresh cement. I ran to the other window and saw only one cat in the cage. Miss Polly, who had unknown, hidden kittens at the time, managed to finally squeeze through the holes in the cage, and run right through their work. The workers pointed me in the right direction and I found her with red up to her belly. I failed to wash her in the tub, quickly deciding I rather have a red cat than scratches all over me and put her back under the coop where she just HAD to be. It at least provided some entertainment for baby and the dogs later. They finished stamping, and then came back to cut it and pour the steps. The guy who did the stamping wasn't happy with the turn out. Due to the shade from the tree, it dried unevenly making the stamping very difficult, but we actually like the depth variation. A real brick patio would settle and not be a perfect slab so it seems more authentic. Everything drains away from the house without puddling so we're happy. Danny had the amazing idea to build raised beds around the high parts with a railroad tie in the middle for a step. He quickly constructed them got them in place and I filled them with herbs, strawberries, and morning glories. Eventually we will have a boxwood hedge on the ones side and our grill sits on the wood cover Danny made to go over our well. Day or night the patio has been a great place to relax. Danny's table fits wonderfully and there's plenty of room for people to sit. The string lights were just the final touch and are so pretty to look at every night. We added tiki torches to the gardens and plan to add an additional railroad tie on the edge going to the chicken coop to give a more finished look. Baby loves coloring on it with chalk and taking summer baths in the shade. I've begun going out there to workout in the morning and Harvey can no longer stand and scratch our entire window and screens to come in. The patio was such an improvement on the house and has been a space the entire family has enjoyed, goats and dogs included.
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