Patios and Decks

[IrregularPulse]

I'm going to be putting up a fence this spring and started thinking about maybe a small brick/stone patio.

Just curious as to what you all have and maybe some guestimates on building costs.

 

[lehr]

I dont know about the cost but you are looking pretty hot on your new avatar !

 

[IrregularPulse]

haha Thanks Lehr. That was me at my sister's wedding during the ceremony in St.Peters Catholic Church




*This is of course not true, I don't know that crazy man in my avatar*

 

[ohiobrewtus]

*This is of course not true, I don't know that crazy man in my avatar*

Are you calling me crazy?

 

[mmb]

I have a deck.

Between you and me, it's fairly large and my wife loves it.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ7Ue5emo6I]YouTube - Blue Collar Comedy Tour - BIG DECK - starring Drew Carey[/ame]

 

[IrregularPulse]

Are you calling me crazy?

Yes you are crazy , no I don't want a quote on YOUR deck, It's just a tax return, i didn't win the lottery

I have a deck.

Between you and me, it's fairly large and my wife loves it.

No, I'm not looking for decks. Yes I'm sure you have a very large deck, now if only you could get all the mold off it from having too many deck parties



But serisouly, can we get this back On Topic, I actually would like some patio pictures. and price estimates before presenting this idea to SWMBO when I get home from work.

 

[lehr]

ohiobrewtus whats the story on you avatar !!!!!

 

[mmb]

DIY is fairly straight forward if you want to do a paving stone / brick patio space. The large cost is going to be labor and then the material. If you plan on doing it yourself you can save a ton of money.

It's actually pretty easy.

• Mark off area and remove sod.
• Put down a layer of sand and make sure everything is level.
• Edge area if desired, then lay pavers in a visually pleasing pattern.
• Dump some sand on top of bricks and use a broom to sweep it into the cracks.
• Wet down bricks so sand settles.

Pick up a Patio and Decks book from Big Blue/Big Orange and have at it. You can get paving bricks pretty much at any DIY/Home Improvement shop but it would be cool to find reclaimed brick from an old building that may be coming down in your area. Free too.

 

[IrregularPulse]

DIY is fairly straight forward if you want to do a paving stone / brick patio space. The large cost is going to be labor and then the material. If you plan on doing it yourself you can save a ton of money.

It's actually pretty easy.

• Mark off area and remove sod.
• Put down a layer of sand and make sure everything is level.
• Edge area if desired, then lay pavers in a visually pleasing pattern.
• Dump some sand on top of bricks and use a broom to sweep it into the cracks.
• Wet down bricks so sand settles.

Pick up a Patio and Decks book from Big Blue/Big Orange and have at it. You can get paving bricks pretty much at any DIY/Home Improvement shop but it would be cool to find reclaimed brick from an old building that may be coming down in your area. Free too.

Thanks for the on topic Post
We will be doing it ourselves for sure and I am aware of how to do it, but thank you for the instructions.
I'm just curious to see some member's patios and an idea on what the particular patio cost for ball park ideas on what you get for what kind of money.

 

[bull8042]

C'mon dude, you're from Ohio. I thought you guys just threw some old indoor/outdoor carpet out the door to keep the grass down. How freakin' fancy do you want to get?
The neighbors probably won't like you making them look bad you know....

 

[IrregularPulse]

C'mon dude, you're from Ohio. I thought you guys just threw some old indoor/outdoor carpet out the door to keep the grass down. How freakin' fancy do you want to get?
The neighbors probably won't like you making them look bad you know....

haha, says the guy from South Carolina. Outdoor carpet might as well be Marble tile compared to the old car seats and tires ya'll got sitting out front for patio furniture.

But being serious, just looking a some brick pavers layin' down. Nothing fancy. Unfortunately if you do a Google image search for patios, you every construction companies portfolio of mansions and pool side resorts.

Side note, Privacy Panels are on sale this week at Menards. Looks like those will be bought this week

 

[bull8042]

haha, says the guy from South Carolina. Outdoor carpet might as well be Marble tile compared to the old car seats and tires ya'll got sitting out front for patio furniture.

Hey, I actually saw an older house that has a commode sitting in the front yard being used as a planter! So, touche...

 

[Bobby_M]

Up in the northeast, it's pretty typical to have to go down another 4" and tamp in gravel, then sand, then pavers to keep them from frost heaving. This is especially important if you have a lot of shale/clay which is poor draining.

 

[caver95]

Up in the northeast, it's pretty typical to have to go down another 4" and tamp in gravel, then sand, then pavers to keep them from frost heaving. This is especially important if you have a lot of shale/clay which is poor draining.

We do this down south also. Brick is very nice, but a wood deck is a heck of a lot easier and cheaper. I built a 10*12 deck for about 350 last year. My deck is not real big, but I keep the bushes around it trimmed so it looks bigger.

 

[mmb]

We do this down south also. Brick is very nice, but a wood deck is a heck of a lot easier and cheaper. I built a 10*12 deck for about 350 last year. My deck is not real big, but I keep the bushes around it trimmed so it looks bigger.

It's not the size of the deck that counts but how you use it.

 

[shecky]

My deck is not real big, but I keep the bushes around it trimmed so it looks bigger.

My deck is 12 x 24. Yeah, odd size, I know. I used floating foundation posts to avoid frost issues, which bumped the cost a bit. All told cost me about $800, IIRC.

 

[StoutFan]

I would rent a small compactor to run over the whole mess after your done. It will help settle the sand/filler in between the bricks nicely. Just don't crank it up and smash your bricks to dust. We did this at my parents at it came out great. It was like the patio was one piece of stone.

 

[Laurel]

I looked into putting a patio down between our two decks and after working out the labor and the cost of materials (even tumbled concrete pavers) it was going to be way too much. To do a patio properly, you need to dig down at least 6", pour a gravel base, compact it, then pour a sand base, compact that, then lay your pavers, then put more sand on top of it. We decided to just do a low deck instead. It's cheaper and easier, plus there's no worry of moss or plants growing between bricks.

 

[HBHoss]

You can do a low deck very easily these days. Box stores sell these cement bases with an X on the top that holds the lumber. You can bury the bases a little if you want the deck/patio lower. Just put down weed cloth under neath or sterilize the ground.
If you go the paver/brick route you can also use a cement instead of sand between the pavers and wet it down to make it solid. No weeds that way.