So my neighbor Richard bought a new snow thrower last year to replace an older one that was still in his possession. This weekend, he asked if I would like to have it, even though it didn't start. Those who know me know that a.) I love a...
Hope you had a great weekend! I have to say that I believe I OD'd on football on Sunday...lol. So glad that it's back! However, the weekend started on a down note: When I got home on Friday evening, my wife informed me that she received a call...
Hope you had a great Labor Day weekend! It was the first weekend at our house that we had a chance to enjoy the flagstone patio that I spent most of the Spring and Summer putting in. Fired up the grill and did some pork ribs...yum! I like to experiment...
Hey, how about this awesome weather we've been having over the last week or so? Love it! Beats trying to get stuff done in 100+ weather! Started off this weekend getting the almost-done back patio in shape. One of the few problems I've had is...
Hope you had a good weekend. As usual, the backyard landscaping/redo continued as I curved our new retaining wall and set the split for the terracing (pic attached). And, as usual, it was labor intensive but it's nice to see the project coming...
Hope you had a great weekend! As usual, the awesome weather made it possible for me to continue the backyard patio project. This weekend, it was putting together the patio furniture we bought (on sale!). No problem there, had everything assembled within...
Hope you had a great weekend! As is common around my house for the last few months, I continued work on our backyard project. Finally layed in all the flagstone, I can see why professionals charge what they do, it's not an easy job! LOL But no sooner...
Over the last few months, you've probably been aware of the back patio project at my house. I've mentioned it several times in my blog posts, and sometimes it seems as if the project were going to take forever. Can't say that now, it's...
Hey there, hope you had a great weekend! Also, hope you're doing your best to stay cool with all this hot weather we've been having. CRAZY! In spite of the heat, this weekend I managed to forge ahead on our latest DIY project (and by "our", I...
So, I think my wife has had enough of my whining and bellyaching about the demise of our grill. We've been without one since Spring, and I love to grill it up no matter the weather! So, she surprised me this past weekend with a new grill and I love...
Ola amigos! :-) Nothing like a week on the beach in Mexico to get your head together and just "chill out"! Jenn and I were fortunate enough to be able to use my mother-in-law's timeshare in Puerto Vallarta this past week! Lots of sun and surf, just...
First off, I hope everyone is taking time to remember what this holiday is about. How many thousands or millions of men and women have died in the history of our country to keep us free? They deserve more than a passing thought! Please take time to...
Hi there! Hope you had a great weekend! Luckily for me, the weather in Gladstone was perfecto! That meant getting some more work done on our back patio (that's a picture of it with this post). Probably like you, we're on a budget at the ol'...
Wow, what a busy, productive Mother's Day weekend! As you may or may not know, my own mother passed away in 1991 at the age of 49, so I tend to go whole-hog on the mother's day love for my wife, Jennifer. It's her weekend and I always try to...
Hope everyone had a good weekend! If you're like me, weekends are a time to catch up or get out! Last week, I was in Denver and Laramie, WY, visiting with my two oldest kids, can't believe how quickly they've grown up! This weekend, it was...
Escape the Ordinary with Ed & CommunityAmerica Credit Union!
Escaping the ordinary...with a finished patio!
by Ed Walker,posted Jul 23 2012 1:57PM
Over the last few months, you've probably been aware of the back patio project at my house. I've mentioned it several times in my blog posts, and sometimes it seems as if the project were going to take forever. Can't say that now, it's done! Well, done as in the flagstone for the patio is finally down. All that's left is to edge the patio with some landscaping stones and to add a small planter area at the end of it. This is actually phase one of a three phase backyard project which my wife and I have guesstimated will take about a year to finish. Phase two will be to add a two-tier terrace between our patio and sunroom, and phase three is the complete re-seeding or re-sodding of the backyard grass area (not sure which we're going to do yet). Also, as I've mentioned before, this flagstone is "repurposed" from my father-in-law's patio that he tore out of his place last year. Literally the only items we've spent money on is the gravel under the flagstone and the crushed stone that goes in between. Do the math, we've saved a ton on supplies! As with most of our projects at home, this is a "pay as you go" project. We stick to budgets and don't buy what we need until we can cash and carry it! Yes, this means that it takes a little more time to complete some projects, but it's really nice to not have the debt at the end of the project. All the work you see in the pic below was done by me, except for the excavation of the old concrete patio (which I jackhammered but had some really cool listeners take the concrete chunks to fill a hole on their property) and the beginning of the flagstone process, which my brother helped out with. Obviously, being a do-it-yourselfer, the money saved on paying labor is pretty huge. Plus, I'm getting some great experience, which always comes in handy. On the phase two! Hope you had a great weekend!
