Concrete Patio

I finally have a backyard project to show y’all – 18 months in the making! 

When I bought my house I knew the backyard was going to need a lot of work. We loved the size, but it was pretty much dirt and weeds. This is what the backyard looked like during the inspection. And honestly, this is better than it really looked. The seller had hired someone to keep up the “landscaping”, but as soon as I signed that contract the upkeep stopped and the weeds took over within days.

This is a better representation of what the backyard really looked like when I moved in:

That’s just the side of the house, but you can kinda see the rest of the backyard in through the gate. Weeds galore!

Anyway, as soon as I moved in I knew that I wanted to extend the patio. That tiny slab of concrete was not nearly big enough for that size of a yard. Seriously, a quarter of an acre and I can’t fit more than a 2-person table and a BBQ on the patio? I don’t think so! I also wanted to add concrete along the side of the house to extend the driveway and make it easier to take out the trash (and no more weeds).

But that’s a big job (about 650 square feet) and big jobs are usually expensive. So, I saved up and then procrastinated calling for estimates. I seriously hate calling for estimates. And this time was no better. I called 7 different companies, none of them answered, and only 3 of them even called me back. To say I was getting annoyed with this project would be an understatement. Anyway, a few weeks later I got my estimates and picked a company.

We agreed to start the following week. He said it would take them about 3 days, so we sent Ringo to stay with my boyfriend’s parents for the week. Obviously he couldn’t stay outside while they were working and I didn’t want to leave him unattended in the house after the couch incident. But Abby stayed with us because she’s sweet and hasn’t destroyed any furniture (yet).

Anyway, onto the progress:

Day 1:

They finished all of the dirt work – grading and hauling away the excess dirt. They also were able to lay the forms for the concrete. Just seeing the shape of our future patio made me really happy!  

Day 2:

The first section of the concrete was poured. They completed the patio and the walkway in the first day.

Abby and her rawhide checking out the progress

No one should be as excited about concrete as I was that day. I went out 3 or 4 times just to stare at it.

Day 3:

The last section of concrete was poured. They completed the section along the side of the house and replaced part of the driveway in front of the house (a giant root pushed up part of the driveway, so they tore it out and replaced the concrete).  

All finished:

Ignore all of the junk on the patio – everything will be rearranged soon

I’m so excited to actually have some outdoor living space (although it’s too hot to be outside right now). Right now I’m on the hunt for a new patio set, but DAMN are they expensive! I’ll definitely be searching Craigslist for a set – I refuse to pay $800 for patio furniture.

We have still A LOT more work to do in the backyard, but at least now we have a little room to entertain (and less room for weeds to grow)!