It's done!
Nathan finished the patio out back and it's beautiful. It took a couple of months, getting worked on typically in 30 minute increments when we could carve out the time and gather up the motivation to go haul, cut, lay, shovel etc.
This patio has been a wonderful project, both satisfying and incredibly frustrating in turn. Working with 3 kids underfoot is hard, as expected. From hauling pavers to unloading them at home we'd usually only get an hour at a time before kids were falling apart or hungry or simply bored and needing a new activity. We were constantly needing to remind ourselves that the pace they can stand is the right pace as that is our family at this point in time and it's much easier to work with it than against it.
Cutting pavers was his least favorite activity as he used a grinding wheel leaving him covered in a fine dust. The rounded cuts around the stools and fire pit were by far the hardest. As he's a bit of a perfectionist with his projects he'd keep at it until he got the right cut and minimal spacing. They look amazing.
The bar stools turned out awesome. We wanted something the kids wouldn't easily fall off, that was Mama's first requirement anyways. We tossed around all kinds of ideas and ended up settling on 5" diameter steel posts sunk and a 2x12 plank cut down to size. Those poles are actually 5 ft tall- digging those holes was no easy feat...especially with little helpers filling them back in whenever we turned our backs.
Nathan then routered the pieces to round all the edges and get rid of the sharp corners so none of the soft heads running about would get split open. He then sanded them down, fire torched them, and sealed them with a high gloss varnish. It was hilarious trying to seal them as we had them all hanging from the guest house patio. We quickly discovered the difficulty of 6 wet, swinging boards. None the less it worked out in the end and I'm sure my forearms will only be stained for a few more days, ahem.
Just yesterday Nathan got the BBQ secured and the missing parts installed. Last night was the first time we used it and the burgers were amazing!
Nathan worked so hard on this patio and we are so grateful as it's wonderful and gets used every single day.
3 comments:
I just keep scrolling through the pictures...absolutely gorgeous. And you guys were a whole lot more patient with the kids/project than I could ever be. :) Awesome job on both counts!
Wow great job you guys, looks awesome!
It is amazing!!! I can't even tell you how cool it looks and I am so so very impressed with Nathan and that you guys did all the work yourselves. I just love it.
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