Flagstone patio, fire pit, steps and sitting wall, Emerald zoysia sod, and drainage. That's the not so condensed title of this post.

Here's a project I recently designed/installed in Vestavia Hills, AL -

 

This project objective was to create an additional outdoor space to the existing deck. The middle rail of the deck was removed to allow access to the flagstone patio area.

Elevation and drainage were given careful consideration while designing the project.

The sitting wall was installed so it could be backfilled creating a slight slope away from the patio.

This drainage basin with a heavy duty plastic grate was our fix for a substantial drainage problem. There are 2 four inch pvc pipes that handle the rain water depositing it 110 feet at the other end of the property.

The fire pit will be put to good use in the Fall and Winter months.

 

My brother, John, helped me with this project which included installing six pallets of Emerald zoysia sod.

90 percent of this patio was installed using a buff polymer sand. Method: The original dirt was hand tamped. Then #57 gravel was installed follow by a 1 to 2 inch layer of #8910 gravel. We followed the addition of the gravels by tamping with a plate compactor. Finally, a thin layer of sand was added which assisted in leveling the flagstone.The polymer sand was used as a substitute for a mortar grout. The product set up great.

Here are the before pictures!

Flagstone Patio, Sitting Wall, and yes, a Fire Pit....in July!!!

I completed this project, last month, for my animal loving client. It was a large (350+ sq. ft.) flagstone patio using Alabama quarried brown stone. There was also a 12' long sitting wall using brown stack stone with a flagstone coping. I inserted three large stones into the sitting wall that my client's son brought in which gave the project some extra character. Finally, a "largish" fire pit was installed for those cool Alabama Summer nights!

A Place to Hang : Brown stack stone wall with firepit, stone benches, and crushed ore patio.

The longer I'm in the business of landscaping, the more I'm finding homeowners that are interested in creating outdoor living spaces for family and friend to enjoy. Often times, this includes the incorporation of stone into the landscape.

My most recent project took me to a home in Birmingham, Alabama. The challange was to build a wall and patio area that turned what was a sloping wooded hillside into a space large enough to use for entertaining large gatherings, but small enough for intimate get togethers. The inclusion of a fire pit made this "outdoor room" suitable for the fall and winter, as well.

To achieve a natural look, brown stone was used for the wall and fire pit. The patio area surface is crushed red rock. The brown stone benches were delivered to the site from a local quarry. It was important that warm, curved lines were used in the design of the different components to give the project an "organic" or "old world" appeal.

 

(click on images for closer inspection)

Fire on the Water: Fire Pit, Flagstone Patio and Sitting Wall on Lake Martin

A recent project sent me out near Pell City, Alabama, at the vacation home of some nice folks on Lake Martin. These snapshots were taken the day I finished the job. I'll add updates when some landscaping is done and a few pieces of furniture are added to the patio. Large patios, especially, benefit greatly with the addition of furniture, plantings, etc.



I sure can imagine enjoying a nice, late fall evening, while sitting on a cushy lounge chair, sipping a favorite beverage, feeling the warmth of the fire and the coolness of the air as lake ripples sound off a relaxing melody!

Intimate gathering place: Fire Pit, seating area, small flagstone patio

Sometimes you don't need to go large. You lack space or having a huge area doesn't create the cozy feeling you desire? What better way to create a warm space than to install a fire pit? I completed this project about 4 or 5 years ago. One thing about a well-built stone feature...it's there for a long, long time...that's potentially a lot of nice evening fires!

Circular patio with fire pit and sitting wall

Me and my trusty pick-up found our way to Trussville, recently. I met a very nice family there that was interested in having a round patio with a firepit and sitting wall. They explained to me that the round shape of a patio would contribute a calming effect to those who used it. I have to admit, I do feel a calm pass over me when I sit on that patio, now that it is completed. The line of a circle is so simple, yet beautiful, you know. It's no wonder it can bring about serenity and convergence.

VIDEO: Circle Patio

Job Walk Through

Recently, I undertook a project in Dadeville, AL. My clients wanted me to convert an existing rock patio into a more appealing and usable patio area. The design I presented included a kidney shaped patio, a 15'+ moss rock sitting wall w/ flagstone coping, and a fire pit (raised and also with moss rock and flag coping). We also decided to rebuild/enlarge an existing small pond and water course that is within just a few feet of the patio. You are welcomed to take a tour of this job with me, if you like. Here we go!



This is a before picture. The existing patio was there long before my clients bought the house and, as you can see, it was very uneven and practically unusable.


The first thing I did was bringing a mini-excavator to the job. That machine helped pull out all the stones from the old patio, as well as digging a foundation for the sitting wall/fire pit and leveling the patio area. The blue tarp was my way of working even when it was raining.


Once the mini-excavator work was done, it was good ol' pick, shovel and rake time to complete the fine grading. I had to start work on the sitting wall and the fire pit before getting involved with the patio construction, as well.

With the sitting wall and fire pit in progress, I installed a crush and run gravel base for the patio, which I compacted with a plate compacter.


This is the stone patio with out grouting....Using the stone from the old patio presented some challenges because a lot of the stone was not very flat and the thickness of the stone varied from 1 inch to 5 inches.


More stone patio installation before grouting....The reason for using the stone that was already there as opposed to simply getting new flagstone was that, despite the difficulties I've already described, this stone was very pretty stone.


Here's a shot of the project nearly done. The sitting wall w/flagstone coping is completed and the fire pit is also done. Just a little bit more grout work before the patio project is complete.



I encountered all kinds of weather while working on this job. Did I mention it snowed down there?



The finished product!


Here is the pond redo. I pulled up all the rocks and replaced the liner of the old pond, and then redesigned, installed and enlarged. You can left click on the any of the pictures on the right side of my blog to get a closer look.


View from a room!