The Great Wall of Grayland

I know we all had a Covid DIY project story. I've heard lots of major yard projects so ours isn't unique from those. But the stories leading up to our patio project are a lot of fun and I thought it would make for a good read!

When we bought our Grayland house in 2018 it was a nice house with a strong foundation. We hired a contractor to remodel the main living area, take out a wall, new floors and paint throughout and finish the basement. It was an exciting time putting our signature on our new home. The only thing it would be lacking after the remodel was a gathering place to sit outside. No back door, deck or patio here. My husband and the contractor didn't see this as detrimental as I did but we did bounce a few ideas around. I like to be outside. All year long. When it's a dry day I want to be outside with the dogs. When my friends and family are over I want to host happy hour outside. Plus, we have a view of the ocean! Ok, I think you get my point, I need a place to sit outside. And that's how the fun began!

I had a patio set that came with us in the move. Anytime my friends and family would come to visit we would move the set around in search of the perfect place to sit (without falling down a hill) and enjoy the view. Champagne in hand we would set that table and chairs up in a new spot for a day to see how it felt. Then we'd have a few snacks, take in the area and talk about deck vs patio. Maybe a deck on the second floor with a patio below. Sliding doors in the master bedroom out to a deck possibly? The drinks and conversations would flow around this highly anticipated outdoor oasis I knew I needed in my life. No one fell off any hills and eventually the patio set had a permanent place in a small patch of grass on the side of the house where the dogs could run around and we could watch the waves (and the neighbors, lol)! The location was set and my husband and I began discussing how to make it a reality. Our first thought was obviously to hire it out. We contacted a couple local businesses without much luck. Our next step was to reach out to our contractor for referrals but along came Covid. We all know that affected all of us, including commercial fishing. My husband decided to take this project on himself. We looked at the area, took measurements and visited an outdoor design center for some ideas. While we were bouncing ideas around some friends came to visit who's son builds patios! So we had a lot of fun picking their brains and making a lot of progress on the final design. With all this great information and measurements alongside the design catalog my husband made a supply list and we headed back to the design center to place the order for our patio! Oh man was I excited! Once the supplies were ordered we brought our first trailer load home, weighing in at a whopping 25,000 pounds!

We made 2 more trips with similar loads! Luckily we have a forklift! Lol! After the supplies were home and off the trailer it was time to dig up the little patch of grass my patio table and chairs were carefully balanced on and destroy the hill that no one fell off of. We were able to borrow some equipment from a friend and got started! I say we very loosely, this was all my husband!

After a few days of playing in the dirt, more measuring and installing drainage it was time to start the wall. Because this area of the house originally had a hill leading down to our driveway my husband needed to build a wall to support and increase the square footage of the patio area. Go big or go home, right? I definitely needed a bigger area to lounge and entertain on! Amidst the raising of the wall my family came to visit for my birthday! The weather was perfect, wish we had a patio to sit on! We made do and set up the patio table & chairs in the lower lawn! It was so fun to watch the progress together! We even helped a little by mowing, weeding, cooking, toasting to the hard work and staining the patio set so it would be ready for it's new home!

After seeing my family off we got back to work! Once the wall was at the right level it was time to finally lay out the pavers. We had worked out the pattern before we started so it was just a matter of placing them...in the right place. Sounds easy, right? Apparently it's not. The area had to stay flat, which meant no walking on it. Tell that to 3 dogs! Because of the pattern we picked some of the pavers had to be cut to a different size. I can't even tell you how many pavers my husband placed, so so many! Then he used a tamper to spread sand in all the crevices between the pavers to secure them in place! And then it was time to complete the wall! I wanted the patio to have a small border to continue keeping people from falling off. ;-) This is how the Great Wall of Grayland came to be. But we weren't done yet. It couldn't be that easy! I also wanted a staircase at one end of the patio so it could be accessed from either end. I think maybe I told my husband it was for the dogs. They don't use it, they run up the dirt hill. It was a nice thought! From start to finish it took my husband 17 days to build my perfect patio. I continually thank him for it by sitting out there every chance I get, including today with the pups soaking up some Vitamin D because it's not always gray in Grayland!