This is the third installment in the ongoing (and well overdue!) description of our 2006 home improvement blog entries.

When last I wrote about our patio and walkway renovation, the project had not yet finished. And technically speaking, it’s still not completed! But it’s close enough for the next entry in our series.

Demolition & Installation

Demolition went well enough

The demolition of the old patio and walkway went quickly — just a day or so to get all the old concrete ripped out, including the circular tile atrocity on the patio. The crew used the combination of a portable concrete saw and a jackhammer to remove the existing concrete. By early May, crushed rock was being put in to create a new, consistent base. Post holes for the new raised bed had also been dug.

A more pleasing circle design

By the end of May, the crew had completed the base. Initially, it seemed like the base was taking a really long time — and for no good reason. But in retrospect, I came to appreciate the effort that went into getting the base right. They really nailed getting the grades right and providing an optimal surface on which to put the sand and pavers.

By early June, most of the pavers had been installed, including a simple, eye-pleasing circular design on the patio. This was our way of righting someone else’s very, very bad wrong!

It turned out that the circle and the flowing curves of the walkway were a bit of a challenge for our crew. See, we had wanted to avoid the tiny little “wedge” pieces that inevitably result when cutting-in a pattern to a curve. And thanks to the amazingly comprehensive website PavingExpert.com, we had identified some very simple and specific rules for how to do this. Unfortunately, our crew just couldn’t grasp the concepts, and it was just easier to do that part of the work ourselves. So, I spent several evenings putting down curves and then laying out bricks to be cut-in by the crew the next day. It was gratifying when the crew finally understood and appreciated the result of our combined effort.

Paver Problems

As the dust settled and we looked toward “sanding-in” the pavers, we focused on getting the pavers cleaned off. It turned out that the saw used to make all the cuts required for the circle and the curved edge produced a lot of cement dust. It also turned out that the crew was not nearly careful enough when it came to protecting the surface of the bricks as they repeatedly tracked cement dust all over the patio and walkway. To make matters worse, they would regularly try to rinse this dust off the new bricks, and I now believe this actually resulted in the cement dust “setting” into the porous surface of the bricks.

The net effect was to turn our attractive “walnut” and “graphite” bricks into “dull gray.” Over the next 2-3 weeks, we investigated and tried numerous techniques to clean the bricks. Initially, the brick manufacturer was of no help. I tried pressure washing and scrubbing it. We called a professional pressure washer to see what he could offer. We simply could not find a reasonably efficient way to remove the dust other than manually scrubbing it on our hands and knees. But with over 500 sq. feet of patio and walkway, that just wasn’t feasible.

Testing an acid wash

We finally went back to the manufacturer and “guilted” them into sending out a sales rep. to look at the problem. He tested a specially formulated acid wash designed for use with colored pavers, and it seemed to work. We proceeded to buy multiple gallons of this stuff, and over the course of several evenings, we cleaned all of the bricks. It took us about three applications to get them cleaned off.

Now, you may be asking yourself, “Why didn’t the contractor and his crew deal with this?” In an ideal world, they would have. However, we decided that this was one of those pivotal moments where it simply had to be done right. Plus, our confidence in the crew had waned a bit during the cutting-in phase, and I just wasn’t sure they would see it as the problem it was. But in their defense, we really didn’t even give them a chance to address the issue.

Filling the Gaps

Polymeric sand fills the gaps

By the time we had the patio clean, it was late June. We called the crew back to shore up a few weak points on the edge, but then the local “Tour of Homes” event and vacations delayed things a few more weeks. Finally, in late July, the final “sanding in” was performed. We used a polymeric sand to fill the gaps between the bricks. After sweeping and vibrating the sand in, it was wetted down and allowed to cure. This resulted in a hardened column of sand that is resistant to erosion, weeds, insects, etc. Shortly after the patio and walkway were sanded, some sod was placed in the areas that had been regraded. And at the end of August, we (finally!) had the exterior of the house pressure washed — they had to physically scrub it clean in a few places! — and all the windows cleaned.

The only part of the project that remains uncompleted is the steps. We have two doors, each with a single step, leading into the bonus room. Initially, we were going to use pavers over the existing concrete block steps, but I did not like the way this looked. We investigated a couple other ideas while the patio was still being worked on, but we ultimately decided to address this separately. We’re still trying to get back to it!

Nonetheless, we’re very happy with the patio, walkway, and new raised bed. Here’s a final shot for your review, but please take a look through the two photo albums below, too.

Our new walkway and patio

This entry was posted by Steve on Saturday, October 28th, 2006 at 7:55 am and is filed under House, Yard/Garden. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.