Backyardigans

Okay, I am only borrowing the title, this post is not about the cute sing-song, dancing characters from Nick Jr. Rather, it's in reference to our family and what we'll be doing most of the time this summer - play in the backyard. If you saw our backyard last month, it looked the same as when we moved in - a lot of nothing. Actually, our back sliding door led straight down to the ground! But if you came over today, well, it's quite a bit more welcoming to say the least.

It'll be 3 years since we moved in this coming June and we've now got a patio!! It was started in mid-April and was completed by the first of May. To show some comparison I would've posted before and after pics, but since our computer crash I don't have old pics of our backyard anymore. But here are the pics of during the patio construction and after it was completed.

Before: (If I had a pic, you can use your imagination here, you'd see it's a threadbare lawn and a flat, boring yard with no character or dimension.)

During: By the way, we had professionals do the work so we take no credit whatsoever of what you see here! We decided to go with stamped concrete. We liked the look of a paved patio with slate stone in an assymetrical pattern, but pouring and stamping the concrete with the "paved look" saved us big $$!

First day: Prepped area - dig up top layer of soil with a Bobcat, outline shape of steps and patio, tamp down soil, spread filler gravel. Steps are poured and stamped.

Project day 2: Pour ground level patio concrete and stamp. Andersen had a great time watching these guys work. The cement mixer truck was fascinating and the Bobcat, well, I think he wanted one!

Project days 3-4: Touch up stamped concrete after it has cured over a few days. They took the pieces of wood that were shaping the patio off, filed off ridges left from stamping the concrete, texturized the sides of the steps to match the stone look, and finally, took a chainsaw and put cuts into the main patio concrete (this allows for expansion and contraction of the concrete due to temperature fluctuations throughout the year).

Final day: Grade the lawn and patio with a truckload of fresh dirt! Not all patio installers will include this part with their project, so I consider us blessed to have chosen the right people. They also filled in the tracks left in our yard (front and back) from the Bobcat and cement truck coming and going. Great job!

Sorry these pics are so dark. They were taken on a gloomy late afternoon. And it's not quite panoramic in view. Hendrik took them from left to right, standing in the frame of our sliding door.

And here's a preview of the completion of the patio: