WEEK 50: Patio Paradise!

Hi Everyone,

This week started with outstanding progress on the completion of the BBQ area, and the beginning of the Travertine stone patio install. Last week the landscapers brought in about two eighteen wheelers of dirt, which was then leveled and pounded down with their gas tamping machine. Thankfully, that night we got a .25" of rain which really made the base solid. They then brought in sand and leveled that to the exact level to slope the patio towards the linear drains along the edge of where the patio concrete meets the dirt.

In this pic they level the sand to form a base for the Travertine stone. I thought this was novel since we've never had stone pavers before, or had anything installed over a concrete patio other than stain.

In this pic you can see how compacted the tamped dirt became after the rain. Walking on it felt like concrete. The BBQ area is now completed minus the last stucco color coat, the equipment, and the roof of the ramada. Just a few more things 😕.

Fast forward to last Friday as they started stacking all of the stone in preparation for the installation.

And, fast forward to this afternoon as more stone was relocated from the front to the back.

Here's a different perspective on about half the Travertine stone needed to cover about 2000 square feet of dirt.

Starting from the patio and master bedroom sliding doors and working out towards the pool, these guys move pretty quickly.

We ended up choosing a Travertine color that had more of a brown/beige coloring rather than the more white version often used here. Unfortunately, no one told us that it had to be imported from Turkey (thru San Pedro!), which is why it just got delivered. But, it looks good, and the coloring complements the house color.

Once this is completed, they will mud the entire surface to fill any holes, imperfections, etc which will seal the surface. And then, presto! they'll be done!

Lastly, the poor, neglected pool has been slowly surrounded by plants as the planters start to fill in.

That pretty much wraps it up for today. Hopefully by next week the entire patio will be done, plants will be in, planters will have river rock, and it will start to look like a finished product.

See y'all soon!