Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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The Planning Process Of Building A Paver Patio

Note: For those reading this post during happy hour, feel free to turn it into a drinking game and take a sip every time you read the word liriope. Or maybe just a half-sip. Don’t want things to get crazy.

Woot. We’ve officially started to attack the side patio (previously mentioned here and here) that we want to bang out in time for Clara’s big b-day bash in two short weeks.

Patio Dig First

Patio Digging John

Patio Dig Second

That’s right, in the words of Cee Lo we said “forget you” (yes, we prudes sing the PG version) to the insane ten-ish rows of liriope. And John only had to dig about half of it up thanks to two friends of ours who came over to help / steal some for their own homes in the liriope digging party to end all parties (we were happy to repay them with all the free liriope they could grab). Everyone used the shove-the-shovel-under-each-clump-and-step-on-it-to-pop-it-out method, and it worked like a charm. I think with three people the whole thing took a total of around 2.5 to 3 hours. And I got to hang out inside with Clara, except when we were making various patio-digging appearances to boost morale and bring ice water to the crew.

After the dirt settled we were left with a nice bare area that will soon become about two-thirds of our patio (the brick path still needs to be removed before we can begin digging out and leveling the soil for the next phase of the project which involves tamping, gravel, and sand).

Patio Dug1

Patio Dig Done2

So although we have a lot ahead of us, we’re just happy to finally be getting started after lots of talk. And there’s something about looking at a newly bare area that enables you to envision things so much more easily (like, say, a patio) that you couldn’t quite picture as well with all that dastardly liriope around.

We already shared this odd little photoshopped sketch to give you a vague idea of what we’re envisioning…

Patio Plan Sketch

… and when it comes to the materials, we’re planning to use cobblestone pavers very similar to the ones in our driveway…

Outside Front Driveway

… but in order to get the best deal we priced some out at Home Depot, Lowe’s, and a local place called Southside Building Supply. The local guys won out with the best price per square foot by around 40 cents (and happily had just a two day delivery turnaround), but we’ll share more info, photos, and prices of the actual pavers once they arrive and we (hopefully) get ’em laid (that’s what she said). And you know we like to overshare when it comes to the deets, so here’s the boring stuff that we did first for anyone at home who’d like to play along with us patio-fy with us:

  • talked for way too long about possible dimensions and even used a garden hose to map out possible shapes
  • schlepped around to those paver places that we mentioned above to find the best deal (more on that when the pavers arrive)
  • called Miss Utility to confirm that there’s nothing buried under that area that we could dig into and somehow ruin (Miss Utility might be the local name, but they’re a public service group who contacts gas and water and electrical companies who then come out to mark things that are underground)
  • dug out that pesky liriope (but we still have to remove the brick path, dig out more dirt, level things, add gravel, add sand, etc)
  • made sure our bank account could support a pretty pricey project (well at least to us – the stone and other supplies like gravel, sand, & tools along with delivery costs may be around 1K, but considering we paid nearly 3K for our last patio, which was smaller, to be put in by the pros just weeks before our backyard wedding, we’re psyched to hopefully save a lot by doing it ourselves this time)

Thankfully we got confirmation that there’s nothing lurking under that side of the house from Miss Utility and we think we’ve even finalized a plan when it comes to cobblestone paver type as well as patio shape. More info/pics/sweating/rambling as we go. In the meantime, have any of you guys laid your own patios complete with digging, leveling, tamping, and lots of gravel and sand? We’re obnoxiously excited about it. Seriously, we need to get a life.

Psst- We announced this week’s contest winners, so click here to see if you’re one of them.

Psssst- Liriope, liriope, liriope. Just kidding.

Comments

  1. Elisa says

    Wahoo! Nothin’ like a deadline to light a fire under your butts! Hah. Leveling a paver patio was a beeeyoootch. But as with all DIY things, it was totally worth it!

    Reply

    • Kate says

      that’s definitely a lot of work but I think it will look good when it finishes. I see a lot of potential in your garden :) Hope to see pictures after all the work’s done.

      Kate Gasset
      International Propertiesand Investment Inc
      Visit my Website @ Homes in Wellington

  4. Margarite says

    So exciting!

    You guys might not have encountered this yet, but any idea what to do in the case of tree roots getting in your way? We’re talking about putting in a walkway along one side of our house, but there are some serious roots that might be problematico…

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We were really nervous about the tree roots right next to that outside edge of the patio but in digging up the liriope they seem to be really buried so nothing has “shown itself” as an issue yet. Not sure what we’ll do if we encounter roots other than perhaps try to dig out some area under them and gently guide them lower into the ground so we can lay pavers over them (and of course clip them if they’re tiny since that doesn’t seem to impair the tree too badly).

      xo,
      s

    • megan e says

      We put in a path next to our garage last summer and literally just took an axe to the tree roots that got in the way. They were only about 2 inches in diameter and at least 10 feet away from the 50+ year old tree, so we knew they wouldn’t cause any strain on the tree. As long as the tree is healthy and standing strong, trimming the roots (in moderation) is a-okay.

  7. Kim says

    We just put an addition on our 1950’s ranch house. We saved the brick that was removed on one side and we have made paths and a small patio where we store our trash and recycling. Some friends of ours also took some brick and made a front walkway at their house. It didn’t look like that much on the house, but it was alot! I’m glad we could recycle it! And it looks great because it’s old brick-lots of charm.

    Reply

  8. Rachael@Lovely Crafty Home says

    I feel ya on the liriope, we’ve got a ton at our house that my dad put in to “hold a bank”…and that it did. Now it’s multiplying like crazy. I do a good job keeping it at bay, but man that stuff is about the only thing I haven’t managed to kill. We’re about to do a patio too. Good luck!

    Reply

  9. Suzanne says

    I’m following your project with rapt attention because we’re building our own patio over Memorial Day weekend. I’m a little surprised you’re estimating only $1k for the project – even with boring brick just the pavers for our smallish patio are going to cost almost that much. And thanks for the reminder about checking with the utility company about underground stuff before we dig!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We definitely could be underestimating, although we feel a lot better after having gone to the stone yard and nailed down a price that was substantially cheaper than the other options we saw at Home Depot and Lowe’s. So far with delivery it will be around $800 for the stone pavers alone, but we’ll still need gravel and sand so it could creep up for sure.

      xo,
      s

  10. Steph says

    Nothing better than reading a new post from my fave strangers (hehe) at 11pm after spending 3.5 hrs watching the royal wedding :)
    Looking forward to seeing the new patio!

    Reply

    • LauraC says

      You East Coasters are lucky. Totally stayed up and watched it at 3 AM Had friends over for a “Royal Wedding Party” and we woke up our daughters (3 and 6) to watch it. So fun!

  14. Allison says

    Hey Guys! This is so great because we are in the middle of doing the same thing to our new house! We had to rip out a brick pathway that consisted with more than 500+ bricks. My question is what do you guys plan to do with all the bricks/rocks/stones that you know you don’t want to keep? We were able to put them online and found someone who wanted them – so we lucked out :) Can’t wait to see this whole process!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We definitely plan to craigslist anything we can’t use when it comes to that stuff (although lately we’ve been thinking about using some of the excess to create some raise garden beds since termites will be less attracted to stone).

      xo,
      s

    • Rachel says

      I just posted a whole slew of random bricks on craigslist – free for the taking – and got 50 responses in the first day! The first lady to inquire showed up the next morning and took EVERYTHING. It was great!

    • aluck89 says

      I did the same thing with some loose brick. Also, we had a whole slew of brick, slate, concrete, etc. that was buried in our back yard… apparently a stone foundation to a shed that used to be in our backyard was busted up and buried in the back corner of our lot. Of course it was covered in dirt and then mulch. We realized when we tried to plant back there. So I put an ad on Craigslist and a guy needed the material. He helped dig it up and loaded it up and took it away. I <3 Craigslist!

  15. Stephanie Phillips says

    Uh oh! I guess this means the hubs and I have to get our butts in gear to join in! We’re hoping to lay our patio with salvaged brick from an old tobacco warehouse that burnt down a few years ago. Woot!

    Reply

  16. Jeni says

    Hmm… am I the only one with broken pics on YHL for the last few days? Both on the site and in Google Reader. Via Internet Explorer on a Windows PC. Never had a problem before this week. :(

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      So sorry about that Jeni! You’re the fourth person to mention this problem and we unfortunately have no idea what the heck is going on. Nothing has changed on our end, but perhaps trying to view them in another browser might help (ex: if it’s an internet explorer glitch, try safari or firefox or chrome). You also might want to try unsubscribing to our site via Google Reader and then resubscribing to try to reset it. My only other thought is if you’re reading from work your office might have kicked in some image blocking software that somehow detects that our pics are from a home blog so it’s blocking them from showing up (we’ve stored them on the same cloud server for over a year so nothing has changed about that on our end). Again so sorry! If anyone reading this has other ideas why our pics would suddenly go missing we’d love to hear them!

      xo,
      s

    • Lindsay says

      The work blockage seems the most likely cause, but maybe it’s due to an update on an ad-blocker you’re using, perhaps? Try turning off any you have running and restarting your browser? (for the record, I use Firefox on a PC and both the site and the site through Google Reader show up fine for me…)

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Thanks so much Lindsay! John and I were chatting about it this afternoon and we both agreed it was probably a blocker of some kind (since the photos weren’t showing up in reader or in the post directly). So sorry for the trouble Jeni!

      xo,
      s

    • Pamela says

      I’m on a Mac at home and have been unable to tottally load your site through Firefox for the past three days ( borken pictures, no ads etc. on the right). Safari is working at the moment, but…

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I would guess you have an ad blocking software running (somewhere you opted for it to block ads, which is why the sidebar won’t load the real ads we have and it is somehow interpreting our photos as ads). So sorry but unfortunately there’s nothing we can do on our end to fix that, but maybe try going into settings of whatever software you have and disabling that and seeing how it looks? Good luck!

      xo,
      s

  17. Karrie says

    We’ve got big plans to tackle a similar project at our house. Hopefully it’ll happen next year–it got axed from our plans this year. Can’t wait for your tutorials and tips–we’re going to need them!

    Reply

  19. alg says

    OK, sorry… you don’t have to post that first one. I really am just a big geek.
    BUT, I do have something germane to say about the patio project, so perhaps you’ll forgive my caffeine-fueled enthusiasm?
    I helped my folks completely, completely renovate 2 homes when I was a kid/teen. We put 2 patio areas in at the second house. They were brick paver as well. I remember A LOT of tamping of the ground being necessary. A LOT. (Btw — tamping by hand is an awesome workout for the arms & back!)
    I’ll ask my folks if they have any other tips, if you’d like.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      You won fair and square so your first comment is up, haha. As for the tamping tip, thanks! I want to help for vanity reasons (I need better arms) but somehow I think John is going to end up doing most of that while I baby wrangle. You never know though, she might nap so we both get to go nuts on that dirt.

      xo,
      s

  20. AnuK says

    We moved into our house last June and it did not have a patio or deck…The quotes that we got for a patio was way over our head…Finally my husband decided to go at it himself…Took a few months of working in the evenings and weekend…He started in August and was done by November…
    I do not have the final picture with me right now…but here is a before shot
    https://picasaweb.google.com/anuja.kattukaran/AugSep2010?locked=true#5530832502656570098
    (Not a true before because we had already started removing the sod. The local home depot did not have a sod cutter for rental on the day we needed it, but that did not stop us from using a kitchen knife to cut the sod and my husband rolled it up into the wheelbarrow.

    Here are a couple of ‘almost there’ shots!
    https://picasaweb.google.com/anuja.kattukaran/Nov2010?locked=true#5546266563192221506
    https://picasaweb.google.com/anuja.kattukaran/Nov2010?locked=true#5546266564593422402

    I will post the final picture when I get back home…Can you tell I am very proud of my husband to build this 400sq.ft patio all on his own!!!

    Reply

  21. Adriane Wacker@FortheLoveofPainting says

    I have to say, that I just love following your progress everyday…I don’t know how you feel about moss in your cobblestone, but I have to say it is just so enchanting. It is probably one of those things that can be bothersome, but I think it gives a lot of character!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We got some pretty moss on our cobblestone patio at the last house and loved it, so we’d definitely welcome some charming old moss if it decides to pop up.

      xo,
      s

  23. Bryn says

    Hi
    We did a patio about 2 years ago. It was a small patio so we splurged and used travertine pavers, which look awesome.
    And we did the whole tramping, gravel, sand process. We actually rented a tramping machine (can’t remember what they are called??)ours didn’t work very well so we ended up doing most of it by hand. If I had to give any advice it would be to make sure you get your base level dirt the exact flatness/sloping grade you want your patio to be. I had the foolishness notion that the leveling sand would actually level things out, but was unimpressed with it’s leveling abilities. So get your base layer the right flatness and it will make the whole project and end result be flatter and better.
    Bryn
    PS- I am the one that send you an email a few weeks ago about our similarities:)

    Reply

  24. Amy says

    It looks awesome!!
    You guys have so much patience! I would be screaming profanity haha. Honestly though, there is something beautiful when the end product is a result of your own hands. =) Can’t wait to see it!

    Reply

  25. laxsupermom says

    Wow! It looks better already. Can’t wait to see the new patio. We had friends over to help with shrub removal last summer, and that turned into a full weekend party. I’ve heard, though, if you post what plants you’re trying to get rid of on the free section of Craigslist that people will come and remove any plant you don’t want. Love Craigslist!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yeah we did that when we wanted to clear out a bunch of bushes from our last house. Within about an hour of posting free boxwoods we had people in the back digging!

      xo,
      s

  26. Barbara says

    I will be following your project closely, as we’re also in the beginning stage of our patio! My hubby ripped out half of our rotting deck lately to make room, we’ve called Miss U (and found out we’re going to have to dig carefully around the gas line), and have been pricing out pavers as well. We have a guy coming by this afternoon to give us an professional estimate though so we can compare and decide ultimately if this is a DIY project we want to tackle. Can’t wait to see how ya’ll do it!

    Reply

  27. Sari says

    Thank you, thank you, thank you for identifying the crazy, weedy, grassy plant that we have in our front yard as liriope! I had no idea what it was or what to do with it until you guys wrote about it in this blog. Thank you! I ended up googling it, and learned that you can cut it with your mower and it will grow back fresh and clean. So I hacked it away with the hedger last night before the rain. . . we’ll see what happens!!!

    Are you planning on building a vegetable garden? I would be so interested in learning about your DIY adventures on that one (and copycatting it in our yard!)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yes! We had an edible garden in our last house and loved it (feel free to search “edible garden” in our search box to read old posts about that). We’ll definitely post about it when we get one going again!

      xo,
      s

  28. karen @ our slo house says

    Very impressive, indeed.
    I love the way ‘events’ (like Clara’a birthday) invigorate us to tackle projects that are otherwise put off for days, weeks, months…

    It’s going to be a great space. :)

    Reply

  29. Colie says

    I’m 34 weeks pregnant and nesting like its my job. I INSISTED that my husband build our long thoughtout, but never executed paver patio THIS weekend. He took today off work and is doing demo, digging and leveling as I type. I am just as excited to see how yours turns out as I am for my own.

    Reply

  30. April says

    Definitely nothing like having a bunch of people over to get it movin’, movin’! Two years ago my husband’s aunt threw us a huge backyard engagement party on their property for the sole purpose of getting her husband to fix the yard up nicely. And it sure worked, because it was spotless out there!

    Reply

  31. Rachael says

    The previous owner of the house my husband and I bought fancied himself a handyman, so we’re forever having to redo his projects to keep the house from collapsing around us (only kind of exaggerating – he removed a support beam in the basement to put in a pool table!). One of his half-planned, poorly executed projects was a patio off our sunroom, which he apparently put in over a weekend without bothering to put in sand or gravel. It was new when we bought the house so it was level for a while, but it has settled into horrible shape in the last three years, so it’s one of our summer projects to tackle. I’ll be watching this carefully to make sure we do it right!

    Reply

  32. gina says

    Perfect timing!! I am hoping to extend our back patio. Our two-way-too big dogs (I miss the ease of having a chihuahua – we had ours 19 years so you’ll be able to enjoy Burger for a long time!) have killed any hope of grass and my house is getting covered in the dust from the hard dirt and they are bringing in on their coats.

    Do you know if you have to remove the concrete slab or can you just do it on top of them?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hmm, I think it might depend on if the slab is the right slope (you want it to slightly slop away from the house so you don’t have issues with water on your foundation) and if the thickness of the pavers being laid right on top of the slab would work. In our case we’re digging out inches of dirt to accommodate a bed of gravel and sand which is usually the recommended underlayment. We’ll keep you posted with more pics and details as we go!

      xo,
      s

  33. Emily says

    Southside Building Supply? Is that also known as Home Emporium? LOVE that place. If they’ve got what we need, it’s usually dirt cheap! :)

    Reply

  34. Alyssa says

    Great start to a fun, outdoor project!! Now, can you please stop mentioning how close Clara’s birthday is?? Everytime you post a “countdown” I’m reminded of Dallas’s birthday and how close it is, so much to do!! Hehe! Are either of you secretly sad that your baby is about to be one? Because I am:( he’s walking around like crazy, I miss my little baby!!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      It’s more like shock than sadness. I can’t believe it’s already been a year! It’s flying by. And I agree about the party stress. I want to make a bunch of stuff and time is dwindling. Ack!

      xo,
      s

  35. Danielle says

    Congrats on all the work you’ve already accomplished! And good luck with the next phase – I’m sure it will turn out great!

    When we first moved into our house, there was an octagon shaped deck floating in the backyard – literally, it wasn’t attached to anything and was a couple feet off the ground. Within a couple years we tore it out (yay!) and installed a flagstone patio ourselves (ok, with lots of help from our Dads), complete with built-in benches and a trellis for some privacy.

    I would highly recommend building some seating, if you have the room. We also built a table at one end and it’s nice to have the extra spaces for parties.

    Reply

  36. Julia says

    Okay Sherry, since I know you are the Bravo queen…did the drinking game idea come from last night’s Watch What Happens? :) Andy Cohen suggested you drink everytime they said the word ‘Harry’. He was drinking whiskey from a teacup and being hilaaarious.

    Reply

  37. Jen @ The Decor Scene says

    What a great area. Will you be removing any of those small thin trees or are they staying? What great shade you guys get in this area.

    My one advise would be make sure you sloping away from your house in the tree area. It’s just the slightest of slopes, but you don’t want any pooling of water next to your home. ;) Otherwise, have lots of water on hand and lots of patients. ;) Can’t wait to see it finished.

    Lots of luck getting your “tamp on”. ;)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yes! John is obsessed with the rule of the slope away from the house (I think it’s a quarter of an inch for every 4 feet of patio that you install). So important! As for the trees, we’re saving them since we love the charming shaded look they lend to the whole area.

      xo,
      s

  38. Jane in STL says

    We have a 2 level brick patio that we installed as a family some years ago. Now, with a room addition it’s getting skimpy. Spent last week-end removing ALL of those bricks so we can start over. Oh man, my thumbs hurt. I guess from overwork.
    To Gina-don’t be afraid of a jackhammer. Get rid of that slab.

    Reply

  39. Laura says

    But if you had a life, we’d all miss our favorite blog!

    Thank you for posting this, we’re trying to get motivated to redo our own porch. Luckily we’re just relocating pavers but we still need to level out where we’re moving them to. And we totally did the laying-it-out-by-hose method.

    Reply

  40. Kim S says

    I love all the green in your photos! I’m just getting buds here in CT.
    We put a little 10×10 patio last summer, with free pavers from a friend and the base, sand, weed block, edging cost over $500. We were surprised at how much it cost us to use those free pavers. The hardest part for us was cutting some of the pieces to fit at the edge. We used a regular circular saw with a stone cutting edge but maybe renting something bigger would have been a better idea?
    Good luck with you patio, can’t wait to see the results!

    Reply

  41. Carolyn says

    I had thought that this whole little area was fenced in but it appears that the fence just sticks out from the house and ends. Are you planning to keep that fence and gate or change it out/remove it when you add the “future 6′ fence”?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      That entire area is actually fenced in, but there’s just a thin and see-through wire one along that back expanse, which we plan to replace with a 6′ wooden one (to work with the existing wooden fence and gate that you see on the left when you face that back area with the trees).

      xo,
      s

  43. Paige says

    nice–very excited to see the results!

    question: I know one of you is on baby duty while the other one is working away (for obvious reasons) unless Clara is napping, but do you ever put her in some sort of jumpy thing that confines her to the area where you are working, so you both can work? haha, I’m not a mom yet, so maybe that’s not the best idea…aaaand maybe she would totally hate that…but just wondering how you guys do huge projects (like this patio!) together now that the bean is here and is very mobile…

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      She’s just too mobile and spirited to be corralled. Haha. She loves to move around too much to stand for being contained for any longer than about ten minutes when she’s engrossed with a toy or something (although when she was younger she loved her swing, and it almost always lulled her to sleep). So yes, it means that usually just one of us can work on big projects unless the bean is napping or in bed for the night, but her schedule is pretty reliable so we know the “sweet spots” during the day and night when we can go to work on something together with my trusty baby monitor by my side as she naps or sleeps. Haha. Somehow it works.

      xo,
      s

    • Paige says

      hahaha, yeah she seems a bit too spirited to be confined…well, you guys manage your time well!! Can’t wait to see the final result of the patio…these posts will give me some juice to persuade my husband one day to tackle a project like this ;-)

  44. Little Brick Ranch says

    Yeah!! The Liriope breaking has begun…I couldn’t figure out to do a strike through for ground breaking! :)

    You know we will be following closely as this is our project for the summer. We plan to do either huge stone pavers or maybe even a wood decking (the smaller pavers look strange next to our blondish brick) but either way our prepping will be the same. I happen to know we have a sewage pipe running under where we need to dig so I am hoping it is far enough down to not interfere…it should be…

    Keep up the posts…I am counting on you to inspire my husband!! This link has already been sent and I am waiting for feedback. :)

    Reply

  46. Jenney says

    Good luck with your paver patio! My hubby just put one in off our deck last summer and it looks great. One thing he said really helped with the leveling was using a couple 1″ pvc pipes (or maybe broom handles would work) and using a 2×4 board to run across the top of it. Also, playground sand works really well for filling in the seams at the end. It’s super easy to put down and cheap (one bag goes a long way).

    Reply

  47. Claire says

    Years ago when I was living with my parents between graduation and my first job I took on the task of relaying the brick paths that lead off of their patio. Some tree roots and weeds had pushed through and made them all whopper-jawed (technical term, hee hee!). After pulling up all the bricks I attacked said roots and weeds with the proper tools (hatchet and trowel), laid some extra sand and potting soil that we had around the garage to make a smooth, flat surface, and laid those puppies back where they were. Many years later they are still pretty flat and weedless so I say it was a success. For two small paths it took a few hours and a lot of sweat so I’m sure your adventure will be much more involved but it will be satisfying. Have fun!!

    Reply

  48. ErinJ says

    Oh I am excited to read this! We are just finishing off a diy flagstone walk and just got quotes for pavers to finish off the top of our driveway (yep scope creep!)so will keep my eyes peeled for your progress and tips!

    Reply

  49. Barbara says

    Are you really getting rid of that old brick? It’s worth a fortune! Maybe John can build a bbq out of it…

    Reply

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