Patio: Before and After

We spent 20 or so years of wishing our outdoor entertaining area was not only more attractive, but less dangerous,  Finally we went ahead this year and hired Dave Moore, a friend of Rob's, to do phase #1 of the rennovation.

We had done several improvements in the past.  When we moved to this house in 1973 there were two big elm trees in the back yard. We debarked them, so we could get rid of  the source of all the little seedlings they send out in the garden and flower beds.  Ringing or debarking kills the food source to trees, and eventually they die. This picture also shows a wire fence around the little Maple tree which Pete and Charlotte Black had planted shortly before we bought this home from them.  It is now a large tree.

There was also a big elm tree on the north side that we debarked as well.  On the north was a larger maple tree which the Blacks had also planted.  The south lawn was planted in grass.   I can remember having a sleep out on the south side with the kids a couple of times, and facing TV to the window and opening the panes, so we could watch a movie outside. 

One Sunday before we took the elm trees out, Aaron was sick and had stayed home.  He was probably 7 or 8 at the time and a big wind storm came in and blew the tree over; fortunately it blew into the closeline and not the house.  We were so thankful that it didn't break the window or hurt Aaron in some way.  It was scary enough for him as it was.

At one time Steve built a three- tiered strawberry bed about where the pond is now, but it was too shady for the plants to do well.

About 1983 there was a flash flood which washed away the wooden decking out at a marina UNDC was building, and Silvia Stubbs and I went down to the UNDC lumberyard and bought some of the plankings which you can see in the picture above.   We used these as  "temporary" sidewalks and part of the patio on the south side, and so it remained until this year. 
    Rob helped me put the flagstone the fall of 2000 prior to Autumn's wedding.  Steve put the fishpond in about 2003 before Andrew's reception.
Here is what the patio looked like prior to its face lift the summer or 2011.  Pretty hodgepodge.

 A few years ago, Steve and I added sand to paint, hoping to create a stucco texture to the west wall of the garage.  It looked great for about 2 years, but then it started to flake off as you can see in the picture above.  In this year's refurbishing of the patio we also added siding to the garage.

During the two weeks I was in Northern Utah helping the kids, Dave and Virgil Steve did most of the concrete and siding work.  Here is what it's like now.

Where once we had wooden walkways we now have a nice red stamped cement sidewalk, which wraps around the corner.

I plan on painting the rest of the back porch cement on the west, to match the side walk.  But that may not happen until next spring.  They also took out and then repoured the section of the side walk that was jutting up on the south; it had been such a hazzard.

This is how the cement looks now in the patio.  As you can see in the picture, they also poured a nice wall on the south where the grill will go.   The empty space on the garage wall is for a painting which Steve will do.  We're still looking for the perfect scene for him to paint, so if you find a good one, let us know!

The garage looks lots better now, though was taken before the flashing went up on the eaves.  We don't have a new window in yet.













                                                     Looking west on the Patio.

Our other project this summer included a tiled entry way. We bought the time last December in Farmington, but evidently that the guy who helped us at Home Depot in Dec. didn't compute enough tile for the pattern I wanted.  I tried, several plan "B" patterns in the process of trying to make what we had work, but I didn't like any of them.

In July when Anthony and Ashley made a quick visit, we made a flying trip to Corez to try and find some matching tile.  At House of Carpets we found lots of free tile in their boneyard, and hauled home about 25 pieces.  I did end up using some of them, but the light colors didn't match, so Steve and I made a 2nd trip to Cortez in September, and got a totally different center color, which he liked better.  It had more red in it. 

Next I got my free tile pieces out and kept moving the them around, and experimenting until, I was able to come up with  a Navajo type design, which Virgil was able to replicate.

I think Virgil Steve did an excellent job on it. I'm so happy with the design and color.  The center blue tiles were the ones we found in Cortez on the first trip.