When we first moved in our yard was a jungle. Seriously, plants taller than me and ivy as thick as my arm. The patio was brick covered in a layer of moss with plants growing in the spaces between. But there was so much potential. During the summer our backyard feels like a little oasis with a stream running right through. The sun peaks through the trees, deer cut through the yard, and it feels a little magical. So we spent years cutting everything back, getting rid of dead trees, and finally redoing the patio space.
It was cute and charming, but the ivy was slowly killing trees, the fence was falling apart, and most of the bricks were literally starting to crumble. When it would rain the patio would be slick and slimy from the moss. It was also so unleveled you could forget about putting any kind of furniture out there. Far from practical.
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Pouring Concrete
Last year was a big year. Not only was the yard (finally) under control, but we made some big steps towards finishing the patio. Above was where we were at the beginning of the summer. You can see where we had already poured concrete to make a trash enclosure that connected to the front sidewalk, but the majority of the patio was still brick. We also had some new fencing started around the areas we had already finished, but it stopped there.
After removing all the brick Frank built the form work for the concrete which was no easy task in itself. Since the patio drops off a hill, parts of the form had to be fairly deep to contain everything.
Parts of the patio were so deep we ended up having to pour 3 different batches to finish it. Above you can see the first batch cured, the second batch just poured, and the last chunk still waiting for concrete! Frank then built the fence around the rest of the patio to keep us all from falling right down the hill.
Concrete Backyard Makeover
Our patio is my happy place, which you probably already know if you follow me on Instagram. This spring I’ve been not-so-patiently waiting for the weather to firmly change for the better so we can bring everything back out. We spent so many nights hanging out and having dinner on the patio last summer and I can’t wait to get back to that tradition!
So what’s still to do? Paint that fence! Hang some lights! Never stop adding more plants! I’d also like to get another outdoor rug for under the table, and would love to add some more furniture since we have so much space. my virtual Target cart is also overflowing with outdoor pillows at the moment and I regularly daydream about actually hitting the order button, hah!
All in all though, having a real outdoor space to use has been a major game changer for us and I’m so glad we’ve been able to make sure big strides on this area of the house!
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