A Changing Home: Transform the Yard! - A Patio, Wall, Walkway Story

OK, so some projects you just need to hire the pros to get done. We have been wanting to do this for several years but we knew it would be expensive so saved, saved and saved to transform the backyard. We love having people over and with two small kids and their friends it was becoming a real pain to deal with sitting on the deck and watching small kids play in the yard. There was nowhere to sit and relax and talk while still being close to the kids and it really looked like crap. So we hired a local company who had done some work for us in the past. Company is called Grass Roots Inc. of New Fairfield, CT. Great group of guys, very professional and know what they are doing. They do a lot of work in the area and I can't say enough about the job they did here. If any of you read this, THANK YOU!

The choice for pavers was Unilock. My wife spent a lot of time looking through the books and website trying to put together a nice color match. We also needed a retaining wall at the edge of the house where the ground was about 3-4 feet higher than the door area.

The style block we chose is Stonehendge and the color is Sierra. We also had an insert band put in of Copthorne and the color was a mix of Burnt Clay and Burgundy Red. Then the soldier course around the outer ring is Brussels Block and the color is Sierra. The wall is a Brussels Dimensional System Wall, color is Sierra and a band of Copthorne, mixed colors, cut in half and inserted upright.

Before and After Photos and the story and detail below that.

Here is what the back area looked like before. Dirt/grass/weeds, basically crap. Now that we had a finished basement and a usable door it made even more sense to put in a patio.

Under the deck before picture. Dirt, weeds, exposed concrete for the deck posts.

We also had a walkway from the driveway to the deck that was some broken blue stone. Not nice at all.

The delivery!!!! That's a lot of stone.

Let the digging begin!!!

And once the digging began they almost immediately hit a pipe. CRAP! It was coming off the gutter and running out through the lawn and into the woods. It needed to be rerouted around the outside of where the wall would be and reattached at a point that was out of the way of the patio. Wasn't a problem for the crew though.

Finally the digging is done, the new pipe is in and the ground is flat!

Lots and lots and lots of processed stone at the base for the patio. Compacting along the way. A concrete pad added where the pillar at the end of the wall will go.

And the wall starts to form!

The wall and pillar are taking shape.

Adding large gravel behind the wall for drainage and conduit pipe on the pillar for future light on top of the pillar cap. We chose to use the wall bocks for the top of the wall and the cap for the pillar instead of using the standard coping. Liked the look much more.

The sand and the patio start to go in. Brussels Block Sierra soldier course on the right, Copthorne Burnt Clay and Burgundy Red as the insert band and then Stonehenge Sierra as the field in the center. Stone is wet so the color is darker that normal.