Picture Perfect Patio

We do a lot of work on Clear Lake the furthest eastern edge of our county another beautiful location, rolling hills, big old oaks and maples, lots of homes with glacial stone walls and features. I had my first look at this project a couple of years ago when I was called out to access the condition of a slate covered porch. The slate was installed on top of concrete, mortared but had begun to crack and separate making it unsightly and unsafe. Three years later it was clear extensive renovation was needed and I met with the home owner and general contractor to discuss the possibilities. Landscaping is a subjective art form, there are as many opinions about what to do with a job as there are designers. As I have previously said my job is to listen, make suggestions and try to help the client reach their dreams.

This home was completely renovated several years ago with the exception of the basement doors, windows and exterior facade. The original configuration of the porch, steps and sidewalk was not satisfactory, the outside door did not line up with the steps or the sidewalk, there was cavernous darkness, mud and poor usage of space. We could repair what they had or start over with a design that that optimized the space, matched the past renovation and brought a contemporary edge to the home. That meant complete demolition of all the existing concrete and sidewalk, new doors and windows, shifting the walk and door and steps.

The home is a walkout basement on the lakeside and limited access required we build a road in the narrow space between our client and his neighbor, we rebuilt the neighbors property to his specifications as we worked our way out of the job. Coming down the hill on our big John Deere was a precarious task requiring full concentration, there were a thousand trips up and down between the tear out and completion. A snap cut stone staircase belonging to our client had to have several step removed to make room for equipment, to keep our road protected we covered it nightly, if the hill got to greasy we were out of business for the day.

An excavator did the tear out while a concrete contractor poured a new foundation for us to install pavers. Generally we put pavers on top of a compacted limestone base but concrete is the cadillac of bases especially when you are on a built up porch or have steps to pave. The layout was very meticulous to ensure limited cutting for the pavers. Our photos begin with the job after the concrete was installed.