Patio! Patio! Patio!

It's finally time! Tomorrow starts the next major we've had on our to-do list since we moved in over two years ago - a patio! The crew from Pavers by Design will start work on our 27th (and final) revision of our plan for something in our back yard. It's been quite an ordeal.
Initially, we had plans for a deck. A simple deck. Isn't that how everything starts to go bad? We knew we didn't want the standard Ryan homes deck, but we didn't want something huge either. Our initial thought was something like this:

Our starting point

We wanted an open, unobstructed gateway to the yard, without railings, drop-offs or anything that would impede the flow of traffic. I'm not sure why having a catwalk extending into the yard was our initial plan, but there it was.
The problem with a deck was that in order for it to fit our primary requirement of minimal maintenance, it would have to be made of some kind of composite material - we didn't want wood we'd have to stain every year or two. Yes, we are just that lazy. Another problem is that our final grade meant the primary level of the deck would only be about 14 inches off the ground. It seemed a little ridiculous to build a deck that was going to be that close the ground.
Those concerns pushed us to consider a patio. And so we did. I sketched up many variations, some curvy, some rectangular - just about every shape you could image. However, the size of iteration kept increasing - and then we started thinking about materials. Stamped concrete was our first choice - maybe something that resembled wood. By now we were up to around 1,000 square feet - and we weren't prepared for the cost.
So we started redesigning and shrinking our plans. But we still had an issue. Due to all of the construction, getting someone to 1) give us an estimate and 2) actually schedule the work, proved to be more challenging that we expected. Concrete contractors seem to only do these projects on the side and really prefer to do foundations and driveways. At this point, we'd pretty much given up on a patio for the near future and resigned ourselves to living with the pea gravel we'd put down to cover up the mud for a few more years.
Then our neighbors mentioned they were considering a paver patio and we wondered if we piggy-backed off them, maybe we could both get a break on the cost. Sure enough, we found a paver installer who was willing to work with us and give a small break on the cost. Here's the design that we finally settled on:

Our teardrop design

It's not huge, but it should provide us with something better than pea gravel, which is sure to disappoint the cats who have spent many a night playing with the small stones that inevitably found they're way into the house. We wound up a little under 500 square feet, but we figure it can easily be expanded if our wants and means change in the future. The pavers we chose are from Cambridge, part of their Sherwood Collection - the Ledgestone 3 Pc. Design Kit in Sandstone.

Ledgestone 3 Pc. Design Kit in Sandstone

Tomorrow is going to be a great day!

Is That Green on the Horizon?

Just let me say how sick I am of dirt. Piles of dirt. Muddy yucky gross dirt. We've been surrounded by a dirt moat for the last two and half months - but maybe, just maybe, the end is in sight.

Take a look at what just happened!

MISSING: One big, ugly pile of dirt.

FOUND: One crap-ton of rocks. Big rocks, little rocks. All kinds of rocks. 

Since some of the rocks that have graced our site are about the size of the iceberg that sank the Titanic (I'm exaggerating, of course), we decided to try to save some of them for landscape accents. I am pretty sure the didn't realize how many of them would be uncovered in this process.

In other landscape news, we have been in touch with GreenPro - the local contractor who performs the final grade and landscaping - for about the last two weeks negotiating the price to sod most of the backyard. Yes, we are THAT sick of dirt. And the thought of having to deal with straw and seed for the upcoming summer makes us want to gag. So we're going to cover all with luscious green wavy grass. Extra money? Sure - but grass is green too, it's an acceptable trade - and the cost is much less than it would be if we waited to do it later.

I say almost because we are opting out of sodding last twenty feet of our yard that is part of the drainage easement where seed has already been planted and seems to be doing just fine. It's a drain - do we really need sod there? We're also building a deck, so I decided not to lay sod that we'd just be ripping up in a month or so.

Here's the SketchUp version of the deck - don't laugh, remember I'm not an architect:

Our planned deck

Out key concepts were multi-level and no railings. We also are trying to find the happy space between having a deck that is too large or too small. This version has steps all around that flow the deck into the yard. The 10x12 foot lower level is a step down and we think we might add a white pergola over it at some point. This summer, we're only doing the deck. We haven't decided on pavers or concrete, but either way, we want to wait until the ground around the house settles before we do the hardscape.

In short, PROGRESS! We are finally closing in on being done with the big projects and soon we'll be able to only focus on the little fun projects - like organizing the garage. Doesn't that sound like a blast?