We had a wonderful weekend with friends. The weather was pretty perfect especially out on our new patio and firepit!
Our
patio was one of those projects that wouldn't seem to end. We bought
the pavers when they were on sale about 2-3 months ago. We finally started
digging about a month ago, and we finished last weekend.
Because it sucked. Dear lordy. For
someone that hates to measure, it was the fifth circle of hell. First of
all, digging up the grass was fast with a tractor but getting it to
anything that resembled an even surface was work. Then you have to try
to keep it level as you add in the different layers. Ha. That's funny.
With two children that saw it as either a sand box or a starter hillbilly
pool (depending on the day) we gave up on that myth early on.
While
we only spent maybe $300 or so on the pavers, the paver base and sand
can add another $400 to the cost. We were lucky because my father-in-law
knew a guy that could hook us up with some free rock and sand. (No.
He's not in the South Dakota gravel pit mob)
My husband decided to take a nap
at this point. I kept forging ahead. I decided to lay the paver edging
while he slept. I got all the different tools I thought I needed to lay
the patio. I worked on laying a perfect 12 by 12 square for about 3
hours.
Husband comes back out refreshed, and
the first thing he says is "uh. That's not square" I step back and look
from a different angle. Yes. It's not square. At all. Commence the
string of expletives that would make a sailor blush.
At
that moment we made a decision. How much did we value a level
professional looking patio? We decided we valued our sanity, children's
lives and marriage much more and just started laying bricks. We tried to
keep them level as we moved along, but it isn't perfect. Which is really
a metaphor of our life with two young children.
Of
course, it couldn't be that easy. Remember those free bricks we got?
The ones we just were sure were the same size as the bricks we bought?
The free bricks that were the only reason we decided to proceed on this aggregating quest?
Nope. Not the same size. Just a hair wider and longer. Shoot. Me. Now.
So
we stared at the patio in the 90+ degree 450% humidity weather. Our brains
were a burnt out melted mush. The Craiglist threat became a viable solution.
Finally I realized we could just do a border with the free bricks, and we survived. Since we couldn't use the free bricks, we were 92 bricks
short. We just made our tri-daily trip to Lowes and got it covered.
The kids were creating some sort of building with sand, bricks and wood.
Once
we laid the pavers (over several days) we felt victorious. We had
finished the patio. We had done the seemly impossible summer project. We
no longer had a hole of mud in the backyard.
Then
comes putting sand in the crevices. Easy right? Get the polymorphic
sand they said. It will be easier they said. ("They" are the online tutorials I
read and mostly ignored during this process)
Well
once I read the side of the bucket I realized the sand wasn't going to be
all that easy. Apparently you can stain the brick if there is any sand
left on the surface. (Specifically, red colored brick had a higher likelihood of staining) They recommend using a paint brush to sweep into each crack. That sounds like a ton of fun. We tried with the broom
first. It became very clear that we didn't have enough sand. Awesome.
Another trip to the store. (Face Palm)
Also, with polymorphic sand, you're racing
the clock because you need to finish and let it dry 24 hours before it
rains. We checked the weather report. No rain for days. We are good to
start. Next day I go back to do the second bucket. Weather report now
says it's going to rain for three days starting tomorrow evening. Well that's
great. I've got to get the sand down immediately.
After doing a bit more
reading on the Young House Love blog, I found I could have used
less sand and had an easier life if I wouldn't have just poured the sand
right on the pavers the first time around (which was what the directions on the bucket said
because they are capitalist pricks that want me to buy extra sand ;) ). The Young House Love blog suggested putting the sand in a ziplock bag, cut a corner and
poured it in the cracks directly ala frosting bag style. That worked way
way better. I even sat there and cleared every brick with a paint
brush. 6 hours of paint brushing and filling cracks later, the sand was
done. I wet it down and did an "anti-rain" dance
I
woke up in the morning feeling rested. My bed was nice and cool, there
was a nice breeze coming in, and I heard the gentle sound of rain drops on the
roof. Yeah. Apparently weathermen are right on par with the accuracy of
palm readers. (Bright side: I have a long life line and should have four
kids)
Would I do the project again? Sure. I would totally hire someone to do the project again. Ha!
