Summer 2019 Project

It's time to work it out

Feels like I owe an explanation as to why this backyard is not quite compete yet.

summer 2018

It was a mad rush to get the backyard ready for Jun’s graduation that we did some things temporarily, for example, the gravel pathways, the dividers, the grass, etc… Those were not part of my backyard project finale. Even the green grass (shown in the picture) is not part of my final project.

I am now contemplating using fake grass/turf in the backyard to save money and time. Imagine how much water I would use on both the front and back lawns. Plus, my grands like to play in the grass so it makes much sense to install turf in the backyard for them to play in it and not worrying too much about grass being damaged.

Before and after pictures of our project. All we did, as you can see in the picture above, is extending the pavers all the way to the retaining wall. This will give us enough space for BBQing and cooking without dragging dirt all over the place, especially inside the house.

summer 2019

Summer 2019’s project involves the retaining wall. To do that, we digged about 7 inches deep, compacted the soil, covered the bottom with gravels and then install the retaining wall blocks on top of it. After leveling and installing the entire stretch of the wall, we used fast setting concrete to secure the blocks into place.

The reason we used fast setting concrete was because it didn’t require extra stuff. All you need is basically water since the concrete was already pre-mixed and pretty much ready to be used.

Before we even attempted to do the retaining wall, Jun and his mom had to work on the deck. He asked me if he can take charge of the deck and of course I was happy to relinquished that responsibility so I do not have to do it myself.

The only thing I helped with was spraying the cleaning solution on the deck which didn’t require much energy.

For the staining part, we had to do prepping first which requires blowing off dirt from the deck, spraying it down using a soft water pressure machine and using soap and brush to really clean each wood down.

Next, we sprayed the entire deck with cleaning solution, let it sit for a while and then rinse it off completely, wait for at least 24 hrs so the deck can completely dried up, then we stained it.

Before completing the backyard patio, we required our grandson’s help digging and laying river rocks. As you can see in the picture, our Rossi was busy laying out the rocks before we can pour gravel on top of it.

The gravel, compacting, then about and inch of sand and then the pavers.

Rocks and gravels play a crucial role in straining and drainage being the reason we use them. In addition, they can hold the pavers in place without sinking so plan on using it too when doing your paver project.

To sum everything up, we still have a long ways from completing our backyard project and we’ll be here sharing the details with you.

For now, please click HERE to head over to our GALLERY for albums on this project.