I did not originally plan on levelling the patio on the weekend, but that is exactly how I spent my Saturday after a week where I learned – again – that the yard that kept in adult dogs, doesn’t keep in Gabby.
We skirted the front of the deck as an afterthought but not the ends. The reasoning at the time, no way could the dogs get through underneath with all the joists in the way. Gabby is a world class digger though and she persevered until she could. I tried barricading it but she was still getting out.
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How it Started…
I could not work on the end of the deck and leave the patio as it was. Concrete pavers are affordable but definitely not trendy. They do the job – if they are level. Mine was looking pretty sad.
Levelling the Patio
So I went and bought 20 bags of limestone screenings – over two trips since they weighed 18 kg each. Roughly 40 lbs each for the non-metric crowd.
I pulled up all 40 pavers. All of the landscape fabric, because landscape fabric is terrible stuff. There were a bajillion ants living under it all.
Change of Plans
The first plan was to move the patio to the left and put a gravel path from the stairs between the garden and patio. I wanted to make the patio feel larger by separating the patio from the path to my side yard. But 20 bags of limestone screenings wasn’t enough so the plan changed.
I spread my limestone and levelled it as best as I could, trying to keep it slightly angled away from the stairs and house. No picture, I forgot.
Still too narrow for a table and chairs, but it’s no longer full of trip hazards and more importantly, it drains. The next time I pull out my pressure washer, I’ll be able to clean up the pavers without flooding the patio.
Closing off the end of the deck didn’t exactly follow plans either. The stairs are sound for now, but won’t be for much longer, so this is a temporary solution until I get to rebuilding the stairs. As you can see, the entire deck needs to be stained again too.
Now I just have to figure out how to stop Gabby from digging up the rest of the yard. Any ideas?
