Our Patio progress: paint, sprinklers, flower bed, and new concrete - the work

Last time I showed you the patio we had just had the whole area Power washed in preparation for painting and other work.



This is what it looked like after the power washing .

Last week I showed you the progress that had been done to the railing on the deck off the master.

Today I will show you the work we had done on the patio.

After power washing the deck and patio, the columns and railings were power washed.



The bottom trim on the columns did not look too good.



The sprinklers were hitting all four columns every day and the wood trim had suffered accordingly. So we decided to move up a project right away that had been on our minds to do for a while. I'll tell you about it in a minute.

At this time, trim was removed and the columns were inspected and while the two columns in the middle were fine, the two on the outside had a bit more damage. The bad wood were cut out and new wood was laminated in and bolted to the posts.



Then everything was covered in plastic for painting to begin.



Everything was primed using Premium Zinsser primer. 



Here we are either getting ready for our first alien visit, or our guy is still priming into the night time. You pick!

Next up, we put on our thinking caps (they have propellers) and came up with a plan to solve the whole sprinkler/column issue.

The patio the way it looked at this point.
 

As you can see there are sprinklers very close to the columns and even though they were set to sprinkle away from the columns, they still got wet. It just wasn't working out.

Here is what we came up with - The patio plan.
 

Our plan was to move all the sprinklers a couple feet away from the patio and fill in the corners next to the patio path as no grass would grow there once the sprinklers were moved. We planned to make a rock-bed and add some Boxwood next to the two center columns that would be watered with a drip line, which does not splash all over the place.

This would also add a layer of interest to the patio with new colors introduced through the bushes and rock pebbles.



With the plan mapped out we hired a company to come in and pour the two new slaps of concrete.

All the sprinklers were dug up and moved 2.5 ft away from the patio. On the left you can see the new wood that was laminated into the columns.



And the new flower bed next to the new concrete was being dug out. The grass was removed and some of the dirt.



Here the sprinklers have been moved - you can see all the sprinkler parts on the lawn still. Next to each of the two center columns we had some Boxwoods put in and edging was put along the new flower beds to avoid the grass from growing into the new beds. The Boxwood bushes ran us about $4.95 a piece at Home Depot.



On the long strips between the Boxwood and the new concrete path we had fabric lining put in in preparation for the pebbles.



Here is the new concrete a couple of days after and the form has been removed. The fabric has been secured with stakes. They are in the same area as the fabric at Home Depot.

We noticed that the new path on the right (when looking toward the house) was not poured as a mirror image of the other side, after the concrete guys left. Major annoyance. And of course I totally blamed myself for not checking it better. You could not see it from the patio side, only from the grass side.



Here you can see that the angle is all wrong.

This caused quite a hold-up in the project. And a lot of "Uarggghhhs" from me.


 
We did manage to get them back and tear it out and re-do it. Only because our Landscaper was involved in recommending them, I think. A little hiccup in the project there. I am over it now, but man, when it was going on, I was not happy.

Next, we had pebbles added to the beds, the sprinklers got adjusted and this weekend I mulched around the Boxwoods. I love how it came out. So much so, that I am going to show you - tomorrow!

How is that for a teaser?

Next Our Patio progress: - it's coming together!