Patio (October, 2004 - July, 2005)

Buiding new stairs for the front porch of the Decatur house.

• Starting to excavate for the patio
• Half excavated
• All excavated to the proper depth and slope
• Landscape fabric
• Starting to fill with crushed stone paver base
• Filled with 3 cubic yards of crushed stone paver base and compacted by hand
• Interlude: see Chimney Wall Demolition ...
• New gravel where the slab beneath the chimney was
• Starting to dig drainage ditches around the patio
• Laying the landscape fabric, drainage pipe, and old bricks to hold in place
• Drainage ditch filled with 3 cubic yards of #57 gravel (12/23/04)
• Interlude: see wood stove, family room, berm, clubhouse, planter, etc. ...
• Setting a corner in a bed of concrete with a "toe" (haunching) (7/1/05)
• Row of edging along the house set in concrete bed
• Three perimeter rows almost all set
• Perimeter rows set; landscape fabric down
• Granite sand added and lightly compacted
• Starting to screed the sand and lay the blocks
• Almost done screeding
• All but the last couple of rows of blocks laid
• Twelve-inch galvanized spikes to ...
• ... anchor rebar for the end concrete "toe"
• And after sweeping granite sand into the joints, and finishing the gravel path ... it's done!
• Close up