The Patio Project: Part I

Who knows how many posts about the patio there are ultimately going to be. The patio has been under construction since the first week of May and it's very close to being finished. I really can't take any of the credit, although I helped when and where I could and dripped my fair share of sweat on the ground. The McHusband did an amazing job of not only laying the pavers, but also building a retaining wall. He dripped sweat AND blood (Tip: Don't hit your finger with a rubber mallet.).

I don't think we took any good before pictures so here're a couple from back when the fence first went up.




And I guess this qualifies, too.


The McHusband had to lay out his lines since we were using all square pavers. We didn't want to end up with a trapezoidal patio. Good thing he had his supervisors there keeping an eye on things.




The McHusband and Jeremy each used the Kubota backhoe-digger thing for projects that weekend. Jeremy used it first on Saturday, then he and Bruce brought it over to our house.




Ready to work!


The McHusband practiced his maneuvers some behind the fence then he tackled the would-be patio.


He ended up finding out that the backhoe part was better for digging up the ground, then he went back with the front-loader to move the dirt.


The dirt went behind the fence.




I was worried but the grass has actually recovered pretty well.


At the end of the first day, we had the space for the patio carved out and that plus a cold beer was good enough for the McHusband.