Look What We Did!

Houseblogs.net is having a little contest where we get to show off our proudest moments in DIY home ownership. It's sponsored by True Value. I could surely use the $300 prize for my house fixings!

I know what my proudest moment ISN'T... but thinking of a favorite moment is a little harder. After careful deliberation, and a morning cup of tea in my favorite space... I have an answer!

Before:

This space is right behind the house and next to the garage. It is shaded by two apple trees.

During:

While we worked, we used the picnic table as a workbench. Using a circular saw with a diamond blade, we sliced limestone slabs salvaged from my father-in-law's scrap pile into varied rectangular pavers. We beveled the edges with a belt sander to give a little more interest to the patterns.

The edges of the patio are salvaged railroad ties; we laid the pavers in 4 inches of sand.

After:

The after picture is in need of a good pressure washing to remove construction dirt, but you can see the finished patio. The shape is two interlocking rectangles. We built the patio around the smaller apple tree; since no cement was used, there is plenty of water flow to water the roots.

We have since added a patio table and chairs, and have spent many a summer evening grilling or summer morning reading the paper while the dogs romp through our jungle!

This post was written for Houseblogs.net as part of a sweepstakes sponsored by True Value.

Bought Some Patio Chairs Today...

Don't mind the dirt and apple blossoms on the patio...

They have red and orange striped cushions on them, too... nice and cheery!


It will be so nice to have actual outdoor chairs around our patio.

They need a light sanding and restaining, but were only $50 for the four chairs and a table (which isn't in the picture)! Our current table is a little nicer, though slightly smaller... we haven't decided which to keep yet.

Our Limestone Patio- 200 hours of work!

Before:

The front part of our backyard, with two apple trees, an old picnic table, and a large quantity of gravel and wood chips. Oh, and 12 bottle caps, a rusty spring, a door hinge, a bunch of broken glass, including the bottom of a beer bottle, and more!

During

What a great workbench that picnic table makes! It is serving as jack-of-all-trades in our house remodel. Notice the wonderful "gate" into our backyard, too... the vinyl lattice we wired up!

After:

How we did it:
We are very lucky to have access to a large scrap pile of stone, from which we can pick whatever we want and have it delivered for the price of a case of Negra Modelo or Bass Ale. My father-in-law runs and owns an architectural stone cutting shop. He works on multi-million dollar houses. We get the rejects, overages, and off falls!

The patio is made out of Cottonwood limestone. It is all from the waste pile, where it was headed to be ground into aggregate. It is approximately 3 to 4 inches thick, and sitting on a bed of about 3 inches of sand. It is framed in with recycled railroad ties that are dug into the ground and anchored below the frost line with 3 foot rebar. We used a circular saw with a diamond blade to dry cut the limestone, and used a belt sander with garnet sandpaper to finish the stone.

We went through a LOT of sandpaper, and a LOT of beer. A long, HOT project!

Where the materials are from:
Railroad ties- Freecycle
Limestone, Diamond Blades- Father-in-law's shop and waste pile
Sand, Sandpaper, Rebar- Home Depot

What we spent:
$20 for a case of beer for my dear father-in-law
$200 for sand and rebar
$10 or so for gas to haul the railroad ties
$40 in sandpaper
___________
$270 total cost for patio!