After years of struggling to bring it back to life, we decided to throw in the towel, tear it out and replace it with a concrete patio to match the one we did in the front yard (here, here and here) along with a new sidewalk from the front patio to the back patio.
So when we ended up with a couple spare days off after our West Coast vacation, we set to work.
We started by renting a tiller from the Home Depot to tear up the dead sod and loosen the dirt. Then we dug down 6" where the concrete was to go - 2" of gravel and 4" of concrete.
Before a good portion of our yard was permanently covered in concrete, we decided to dig in a french drain system for our eavestroughs and water lines for a irrigation system - more on that another day.
Since the soil in our yard is so hard packed, we were not worried about settlement so we only put down 2" of crushed gravel in order to provide drainage under the concrete. Then we compacted the gravel with a plate tamper.
Dave was quite excited to get to use the concrete saw to trim back some old concrete around the chimney. Boys and their toys...
Once the yard was prepped, our super talented friend Dave came by this past Saturday to form up the sidewalk and patio.
Early Sunday morning, with an army of wheel barrows waiting, the concrete truck arrived. It took about two hours to pour, screed and float the four cubic meters of concrete.
My contribution? I was in charge of doughnuts and coffee. No construction site is complete with out doughnuts and coffee. However most construction sites don't have doughnuts from Jelly Modern Doughnuts. Best doughnuts ever...
Anyways... after the concrete was in place, Dave worked his magic staining and stamping.
With a thunderstorm threatening, we quickly covered the concrete with plastic and tarps and left the concrete to cure for a couple days. Tomorrow we should be able to remove the plastic, forms and residual stain to reveal the finished patio.
Stay tuned for photos of the final product!
Amy
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