Do you like back-breaking manual labor that makes you curse the day you started a project? Then, BOY, do I have the renovation for you! Enter, our back patio project. We knew we would eventually need to do a complete removal and re-installation of our back patio and walk way when we moved here. The previous owners had taken a curious "artistic direction" that truly made no sense. They appeared to have DIY installed it using discarded interior bricks, random bits of poured cement, and what appears to be the "lost and found" of cement pavers. It wasn't graded, flooded every time it rained, and to be totally frank, it looked like sh*t! Earlier this spring some of our wonderful friends got engaged and we wanted to host their engagement party in July. Spenser said "that's plenty of time to finish this project and DIY!" We were so optimistic back then haha! We got started demo'ing the existing patio Memorial Day Weekend. Conveniently, none of the bricks were even cemented together... they were just loosely placed in sand. Removing them wasn't much work, but there were a LOT of them, and it was heavy as hell wheelbarrowing 40-50 loads of bricks 10-15 times. God Bless Burn Bootcamp for keeping me strong! We made a huge pile of them in our front yard (which I'm sure our neighbors loved) so that our junk hauling crew would be able to easily remove them. The walkway demo'd pretty easily (aside from the wheelbarrowing) but the patio portion was, in fact, poured in concrete. We spent hours sledge hammering, digging, and hauling off bits of mortar, cement, and stone to our junk pile. Meanwhile, the temperatures were starting to rise. It was getting HOT. By June, it was averaging 90 degrees during the day, so we had to wait until it was late evening to do any work. It was was sweaty, dirty, and exhausting. We'd manage 1-2 hours of work per night, and feel like we were getting nowhere. It definitely wasn't going as fast as we planned. Once we finally got all the bricks up, we needed to dig down the pathway a few inches so we had room for gravel and sand for drainage. Spenser did this part by hand ((Bless him)) and gave us another few inches. In our crunch to finish this by the party in July, we had some friends come over and help us tamp everything down so it was nice and level. Thank you again, Sarah and Daniel! We appreciate you! We also decided to expand the foot print of the patio a bit, too, so we had more room for some chairs and a fire pit down the line. While all this was going on, I was working on the design. Did we want to do cement pavers? Natural stone? I wanted to know what would be the most cost-effective while still giving us the aesthetics we wanted AND allow us to DIY (there was no turning back now). A few looks we were inspired by: Once again, Lowes was disappointing. When we added up the total for the cement pavers, gravel, and sand we would need to complete our patio, the total cost was over $3500. To get real slate stone, bulk sand and bulk gravel (WITH delivery!) from our local stone center, the total came out to just under $700. We were thrilled! We had really wanted slate stone, but had assumed that would be the most expensive route. I was so happy we were wrong! We placed our order and about a week later, 2 pallets of slate, a dump truck of gravel, and a dump truck of sand showed up in our driveway. I'm sure our neighbors loved us. Our old friend, the wheelbarrow, came back and we hauled load after load, after load, after load of stone, sand, and gravel back. Honestly this was the most exhausting part of the entire project. Shoveling things into the wheelbarrow, carrying each load back, unloading it, and starting over was so exhausting. We definitely had some choice words throughout this process for each other 🙊 For installing it, the process was fairly straight forward. We had tilled and tamped down the dirt, so then we laid the gravel (for drainage). We put a layer of gravel down over the whole area, and made sure we had even coverage. Then, we installed sand, so our stones would be able to be level once they were installed. Spenser did a method called "Scree-ing" to level out all the sand and make sure we would have proper grading for drainage. This was also backbreaking (you're literally bent over for hours) and also, sand hurts knees, FYI. This was the part where we were busting our butts every day to get it done... the party was in less than a week and we hadn't installed stones yet! Once the sand was level, we laid out all the stones. We carried each one by hand, placing them in a pattern to have even distribution, leveled them, and made sure they were where we wanted them. The end was in sight! We were so close! The next step was to install an edge so that the Polymeric Stone Dust we were going to put between the stones had a clean edge to bond to. We had debated using a natural border, but with weed maintenance, we decided the stone dust would be the easiest option. Installing the edge was fairly simple -- they bend easily, so we just created the lines we wanted and hammered them into the dirt. Now, it was time to install the Polymeric Stone Dust! We used this product, which was recommended to bond to large stones with gaps of 4-6inches between. Polymeric Sand is what you would more commonly see at your home improvement store, but it wasn't recommended for projects like ours. The stone dust needed to be evenly placed between the stones (we used a broom), and then dusted off the surface of each stone. Once it's in place, you wet it and it turns (essentially) into cement. We had to make sure it wasn't on top of our pretty stones or it would ruin them! It needs to stay dry for 2 days, and we had just enough time before our party to get it done. But then, the weather changed. We had rain for a week straight. We missed our window. Thankfully, the party went off without a hitch and we had a great time anyway, but both of us were hot-pissed that we missed our deadline because of weather. Especially after hustling as hard as we did in the July heat! So then.... we sulked. We decided to take a week break. And then it was August. And it was so hot. And then it kept raining. And then, it was September and we had no motivation, and then, and then... we were just making excuses. Before we knew it it was the end of September and we still hadn't touched it since laying the stones in sand. In early October, we had a break in the heat, and we bit the bullet and decided to just get it done. I think we both just wanted to stop thinking about it and move on to something else! We got several bags of the Polymeric Stone Dust from our local stone center ($20/bag vs. $80/bag at Lowes!) and swept them in between each stone and the edge, making sure the surfaces of our stones were clear. Then, we hosed it down! The light parts are where we hadn't yet watered the stone dust down. When it comes in contact with water, it turns to concrete! Now, our stones are solidly installed, they're well graded, it looks SO MUCH BETTER than it did before, and we have a beautiful, back patio that we plan to landscape over the next year to really make it a space we'll use. As a reminder, this is what it looked like when we bought it: And what it looks like now: And one throwback before we painted the house: As for our parting thoughts? I don't think either of us would recommend trying to DIY this project if you have any issues with patience, back pain, or time management. This truly was an exhausting project that neither of us enjoyed. We're so, so happy it's done but if we had to do it again we 100% would hire it out. And you know, that's the honest truth sometimes about renovating! Sometimes you get into a project that's more than you can chew, but I'm so proud that we stuck with it, figured it out, took our time, and finally got it done in time to enjoy a nice fire pit night outside now that the weather is cool! And, I would be remiss without giving my strong and diligent hubby a huge thank you! This was a project he started and managed on his own. It was a lot harder than we anticipated, but he poured all his energy (and so much sweat) into getting it done, and it looks amazing. Thank you for all you do, Spenser! I love you!