The Patio: Destruction First

One of those days turned into one of those weeks. Last week went from bad to worse and ended with me in bed all weekend due to a cold/sinus infection. Thankfully, the Lord has given us a brand new week. I'm feeling 90% better and work wasn't too bad today (for a Monday).

AND I may actually have some time/energy to put into the ol' blog this week. We have some catching up to do after being MIA for 7 days. This week we're getting down and dirty with a whole lotta patio-pouring info.

However, a story wouldn't be a story without a beginning. So, let's start at the beginning today, shall we?!

I'm bringing you back to June 2010 - when we bought the house. First thing to go? The wheelchair ramp off the porch in back of the house. I'm sure I blogged about it way back then.


With a little help from friends and family, Joey had the thing de-constructed and the wood stacked and ready for the dump within the first week we purchased the house.

What did that leave us with? A pile of dirt, weeds, and set of old concrete steps and a walkway to the garage/driveway. Not a pretty scene.


A year later, not much has changed. Joey did grind up the dirt and smooth it out to make it look a bit respectable, but knowing we eventually wanted to put in a patio, no other investment was made to the area for the past year (yes, you can feel sorry for our neighbors on the other side of the fence who got to look at dirt every day for a year).


Here's a little shot of the walkway going from the porch to the driveway. Pretty bad condition, right? I think it crumbled more and more every time we walked on it. The grass on the other side of it looks pretty bad too. The wheelchair ramp ended with some concrete and Joey removed that last year. A patch of dirt is what's leftover.


Here's another shot of the terrible looking area, including the sunken concrete steps and pile of wood and junk in the corner. What's good looking? Joey with a jackhammer - ready to tear it all up.


Joey rented the jackhammer about 2 weeks ago from the local hardware store for $30, and within 30 minutes, had all the concrete broken to pieces. He was pleased with its efficient display of power.


Joey then picked up all the chunks of concrete by hand (note: wear work gloves for this unless you want blisters) and hauled it to the dump. You can also see in the picture below how many weeds grew into the dirt area over the past year.



Joey did not bother removing the concrete steps. He left them alone for us to use for the time being. We have other plans on what to do with those (soon to come).

So, just like that (1 year and 3 months later), the destruction was completed, and it was time to get to work prepping the space for the new patio. More on that process tomorrow!