(somebody needs a pedicure.)
We bought this pile of pavers off Craigslist.
New granite pavers for $2.50 sq ft, quite a bit cheaper than store-bought!
Andrew had to dig out a lot of the patio by hand (Jake the Excavator was a bit off with his calculations somehow).
A bit overwhelming.
Andrew cleverly planned everything out with stakes and string.
Lots of help digging and pulling out rocks.
As I say, a whole bin full!
Three piles of stuff were delivered: gravel, sand, and topsoil.
The sand was fun!
Who needs a beach?
Back to work. The gravel went in first.
And was spread around.
... and compacted with a rented compactor.
Then a layer of sand (also compacted)
...and levelled.
OK, I cannot say enough about these two guys! We decided to hire some labour so that we could get some of the major yard work done in one weekend (before English rellies' arrival). After a couple of other no-shows (you know, Craigslist), we found this father/son team who were incredible: responded immediately (from another job site), came as quickly as they could, and worked hard!
It was Allan's (the dad, in white) birthday, but he worked until 7 pm and then was back again the next morning. He has five kids (here is Raymond) he will bring with him, depending how many you need!
Once the ground was prepared, the patio itself went in very quickly.
This was taken at 12:20 pm.
Woo-hoo! 12:36 pm.
12:49 pm, the girls were doing cartwheels.
And by 1o'clock the path coming down the side of the house was all done!
It was a scorcher! The girls and I (and the dolls) took off to the pool for awhile, lucky us!
and indulged in popsicles while Andrew was at home sweatin' away!
...and came home to this (polymer sand had been compacted into the joints) and it was all done!
Obviously still some finishing to do, but, that night, we had our first dinner on the new patio!
Ta-dum!
