Front Patio Project
As I write this, it is July 13th. According to plan, this project should have been completed by June 14th. The contractor with whom we had an agreement didn't show up to start the work and hasn't been heard from since. Fortunately, we gave him no money.
This is my design for the area. Pretty straightforward, right?
Well, the first guy didn't show up and as it turns out, every other contractor is too busy to even think about doing the work, part of which was to remove the pot shelf under the front windows.
While trying to find someone qualified to do the work, I got a little curious to see how these pot shelves were put together.
So I got out my hammer, crow bar, various saws, and other implements of destruction and had at it. Big mistake.
Not only was it built like a fortress, apparently rats had been enjoying life with insulated nests! So, I opened a can of worms that included a rats nest.
The good news is that the rats had cleared out long ago and left only a big mess and a lot of, um, rat pellets.
Finally, the demo was done but I still had no contractor. I couldn't leave it like this.
So I went to Home Depot and bought some stuff. New insulation first.
Then covered with roofing paper. Ahh, you may say this is not a roof, and you'd be correct, but wait!
I sheathed the structure in plywood, just like a roof. (Although, as I recall, roofing paper goes over top of the plywood sheathing. Maybe I screwed up.)
Anyway, I then attached a new 2x6 fascia to the remnants of the old pot shelf.
Then I painted it and started adding shingle siding. Will the fun never end?
Lorri pointed out that my new shingles weren't spaced as far apart as the old shingles. She was correct but I didn't worry too much about it until I started painting them.
As it turns out, leaving a little space between the shingles makes it a lot easier to get paint on the underlying shingle. I retrospect, I probably should have painted each layer of shingles as I nailed them up. But I didn't. So there.
I'm done. Now if only I could find a paving contractor....
Well, I finally found a contractor. It was a company that was doing a project around the corner on Jolina.
They were able to start the "Five Day Project" at the beginning of August and managed to complete it in about eight days!
Out with the old dirt, pavers, and various other surprises.
Adjust the drainage
Adjust the irrigation
Add more drainage
Dig a trench for the wall footing
Build the wall
Smooth the grade and compact the base
Set the pavers in the sand
Cut the edge pieces
Wrap it up
Enjoy
We added low-voltage lighting!
Finally we had our front patio!!!