Who has pics of their patio?

scooter028

In 2008, we got a slider installed in the dining room and the door still doesn't go to anything.  I want a patio, DH wants a deck.

Anyone have pictures of a patio against the house foundation so we can get ideas on how to design ours (if he caves to the patio idea)?

 

~NB~

He wants something above ground, and you want something at ground level? When you come out of the house, are there steps down to ground level? How many steps? Are there any features there now, such as trees or structures, that you want to preserve? And most importantly, can you post pics?

scooter028

 

There's not much of anything.  No trees in the area.  I was thinking of a patio starting at the end of the steps.  Behind the steps and along the house I would take out the grass and plant some foundation shrubs.  That's my initial thought, although some stone stairs would be nice!

~NB~

Wood is cheaper than stones. Depending on your choices, the patio could cost a bundle more than the deck.

But you can compromise... you can do both. Decide how big the total area will be, and configure part of it will be a small deck, and the steps will go down to the other part, which will be a small patio. Would that work?

~NB~

Looks like you could feasibly connect the patio to the gate in your fence. Am I seeing that right?

scooter028

Actually that would be great.  Along the left side of those pictures, there is a small hill and another back door from the laundry room.  We could do a deck in the picture area, steps, and a patio by the other back door. Right now there's just a 3' x 3' slab of concrete outside of the laundry room door. 

I figure that for a deck we'd need to do a footer and that the frame would be a little difficult to do without some hired help.  I thought a patio would be a total DIY project.  I should get myself to a Lowe's or something to really price out the materials. 

Thanks!

scooter028

~NB~:

Looks like you could feasibly connect the patio to the gate in your fence. Am I seeing that right?

Yes, the gate is about 15' from the sliding door.

~NB~

Hey, if you can lay a patio, you can build a deck. IMO the deck is easier.

You should be able to find online tutorials for everything, including materials cost calculators.

GDLK!

~NB~

Oh, and measure carefully. You want to make sure that either the patio or the deck will have enough room for table and chairs. And that's a lot of space, so that part should be the bigger part (and due to cost, making the deck the dining area would be cheaper than making the patio the dining area.

Don't make the mistake of only allowing enough room for table and chairs when the chairs are scooted UNDER the table- allow enough room for people to push away from the table and walk all around other people seated at the table SAFELY. The deck must have a rail all around.

Another hint: you can seat more people comfortably at a round table than a square or rectangular table of the same square footage.

Hey Jellisy

I think you said there is a small hill in your yard in the are where you want a patio.  You really may find a deck easier to install if that's the case.  Leveling a yard is a HUGE amount of work for a fairly level yard, for one with a hill, it can be back breaking.  You will either be digging the hill out or filling in other areas.  You also have to level beyond the patio so there is no fall off or rise when the patio ends.  With the deck you would adjust the height of the supports.     

scooter028

Good point. 

The small hill is beyond where we were thinking for a patio...we have a split level, so there is a level area and then a small hill down to another level area.  The more suggestions I get, the easier a deck sounds! 

hoping4septimus

Here is a picture of mine. It is just basic concrete right now. I'm tempted to have it painted or stained. We've also talked about putting a pergola over it.

hollyfp

Pics of ours here

http://inthekitchenwithlily.blogspot.com/2010/05/yardwork-part-iii.html

Unfortunately now it's not where our seating fits... We got the slates really cheap off of CL (I would rec. checking on there!) and did the smaller area for now.  It got muddy with walking in & out (us and the dog) all the time by the door, and we wanted the grill up out of the grass.  We hope to add onto it in time. 

curlydoglover

I'm with NB - do both.

We have a patio that steps up to a deck.  The patio is grilling and firepit area.  Half the deck has a pergola over it and we have grape vines that grow over it.  The portion without the pergola is where our outdoor dining table is.  This year we're adding some removable privacy screens and hopefully some seating area furniture.

 

Here's an old (2007) photo of part of the deck from when we first moved in

 

strangebird

What about a deck and patio combination? You step out onto the level surface of a small to medium-sized deck, with stairs down to a ground-level patio. This is what we have and we love it.

FoxinFiji

Patio pavers are more expensive and will be more work to install (it's all about the base which takes most of the time) but it is also easier to maintain.  Depending on where you live you'll need at least 6" of base under the pavers plus metal edging to hold the pavers and renting a compactor. 

A deck would need a ledger board installed to your house, premade concrete footings, and lots of treated lumber. 

We have both a patio and deck (in two different areas) and the patio is so much more work to maintain!  Granted it wasn't very well maintained by the previous owners and was painted instead of stained.  We plan to replace it someday using composite boards.