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Our new brick patio started with a donation of bricks from a friend's mum over two years ago, then they sat harbouring algae and slugs until we got our bums in gear.
Picture 1: The location. The reason for a patio? I'm sick of moving garden furniture every time we mow. We want an outdoor room and I'm really not keen on decks - too much cleaning, warping, staining, and overall fannying about.
Picture 2: Patio will be 12 ft. x 12 ft. We dug out 6 inches soil. Used 4 x 4 x 12 treated lumber for the edge and the patio has a 1% slope (cute dog added for scale)
Picture 3: Getting subsoil dug out (cut & fill) & edging installed (very cute helper in frog wellies added for scale). Soil was tamped down with a wacker-plate.
Picture 4: Four inches of limestone gravel (3 tonnes used) laid down & tamped
Picture 5: One inch of concrete sand (0.75 tonnes) laid down & tamped
Picture 6: Bricks laid on top of the sand "basket-weave" design. Total bricks used: 550
Picture 7: Ed helped us, because as much as I love this stuff I had to look after Jack & Danny while Craig did the lions share of the grafting. Lesson number 1 learned here - DO NOT tamp loose bricks. In fact, after picture 5, return wacker-plate to rental place.(note: our friend Ed is not a nutter that spends his weekends dressed like Ronaldo - he had a football game after he helped us).
Picture 8: Ed & Craig were finishing up the hard landscaping then Emily came along to help plant around the edges. Jack was overjoyed as "Lemily" babysits for him occasionally.
Picture 9: After laying the bricks, dry joint sand was brushed in. Craig used 2.5 buckets (I can't remember the weight of each bucket but each covered 56 sq.ft.).My exhausted, extremely talented and fab husband stands on the finished patio. He said: I need a shower, wine, tremendous gratitude, & promise you'll never ask me to do brick landscaping ever again or I'll have to kill you. It's a fair cop.
Picture 10: Ta daaa!Last but not least (like they say at the Oscars), this project could not have been completed without the constant supervision of our lad Jack ...
2 comments:
The finished article looks great - Craig will always find a job as a landscaper!
Wow, Pam, the patio looks awesome!! Way to go, Craig, that would be really hard work.
I'm so glad you guys came - it was so much fun! And Katy was so glad that Jack was there. I thoroughly enjoyed myself watching the kids have such a good time.
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