In Over My Head

As always I get into my head a project I want to do and go full force. Most of those projects are not always necessary but I think they need to be done. I know Jarom wishes I would just wash the windows for once. What fun is that project?

This time around I decided our patio needed to be fixed. There was an original patio there that the previous owners laid for their hot tub. They took the hot tub and left a really ugly patio remaining. Each year I just watched it slowly wash away because in my opinion it was done wrong. I needed to fix it. I also needed to add on to it, of course. Make it my own.

I quickly found myself in over my head.

First lesson learned: Just because they say that this project should be done with two men in 3 days doesn't mean you adding 3 more days you can do it yourself. They fail to mention that these men probably have someone else caring for their children, home, and providing their food. And I'm not afraid to admit but probably stronger.

Step 1: The original patio went to the end of the house and I felt it needed to be carried on to the end of the fence and some landscaping needed to be put in. I had the boys help pull up the bricks and I shoveled up all the sand. We reused these bricks and just bought the closest match we could find to fill in the additional space. You'll see how I worked it out to look decent.

Step 2: Then I had to dig down 8 inches. Lesson 2 learned: Red clay is hard. Really hard. I maybe completed a square yard and realized this is impossible. I had already come to a stopping point. Then my neighbor asked another neighbor if I could borrow his tiller. THANK YOU!!!! Lesson 3: Tillers vibrate something terrible and I was sure I used muscles I didn't know existed just trying to control that thing. What would have taken a week was accomplished in about 2 1/2 hours. Then I could dig up the dirt.

Finally I got most of the dirt shovelled up. Lesson 4: Rain and clay don't mix. Though the clay had been tilled after the night rain it clumped a lot of it back together. My tennis shoes where official 3 inch platforms. I already started to cheat at this point and only dug around 6 inches. I ran into tree roots and to make the ground level to those areas. Then I laid the barrier so my bricks won't wash away this time.

The gravel and sand. Ah, what a work out! I slept so well by this time. I guess I was about a week and a half into the project. It felt like day 500.

I had to have the gravel delivered. Cheapest way. Unfortunately, they couldn't get to my back yard and just dumped it in my driveway. . . on the other side of the house. Did I mention that day is was one of those sweltering 90 degree days? Twenty-two wheelbarrow's full later, I had my gravel and I could finally put down the sand. Jarom was getting ency at this point. That tarp and sand had been there a while and the grass was going to die.. . and I was over budget, slightly.

Hyrum would have done anything to play in that sand, even if it meant work.
The sand looks odd because, oh surprise, it rained again. It actually made the levelling easy.

I forgot to mention that before I laid the gravel I realized I needed to work out some drainage issues. See that gutter pipe coming down the house? That water had to go somewhere. I had to dig around an 8 foot trench for drainage to pass through to the other side of the patio. Tree roots again. Lesson 5 learned: Read instruction suggestions before working. Like where it says don't build your patio near a tree.

By this time I had to finish. I had company coming that evening. We were cooking out and having a party outside. Pretty essential. I needed this to be done. By 4pm (guest arriving at 6:30) I had to quite. I ran out of brick!!!! Seven short. It was just going to have to do. I still have a few things I have to take care of but for the most part it is finally done!

This was one of the hardest things I've done, especially by myself! My hands were swollen and I couldn't get normal circulation for about 4 days. I slept like a baby for two weeks. I hope to never work with sand again or brick this small.

The best part is that it's rewarding to finish such a task. We have already enjoyed several days and evenings out there.