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Hello, I'm looking for ideas for expanding a standard subdivision patio that is just large enough for a few chairs. I'd like to make it 3 feet bigger on three sides, but I can't decide how. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!
I'm assuming your current patio is concrete? If you want things to match then you have a couple options. You could make the rest of it concrete too, or you could jackhammer the whole thing and start over and do it all with flagstone or whatever other material you want. Or if it was a patio that you step down to from your back door, you could build a low deck over the whole area. That one's not really an option if the patio was already pretty level with the back door though. Or if a mixed-materials look would go with the style of the house and your own personal taste, you could leave the current patio as-is and then put a 3 foot border of some other material that you like all the way around (although I'd advise making sure it's level with the concrete to avoid people tripping). Or if your main purpose in expanding the patio is to make room for more seating, you could just build a seat wall around part of it...you could do a stone wall or if you want to do it cheaper just build benches out of wood, maybe alternate planter boxes with bench seating.
My son has the same project this summer, cathy4. Prep the area and pour new concrete would be great but so much work or $. I was wondering about the big concrete pavers and planting a groundcover between them?
That would be a lovely look, much softer than more wall to wall concrete. It is so neat, the young couples in the neighborhood are helping each other with this project, as they all have the same tiny slab. I'm sharing each idea here with them so they can pick what their budget will allow. Thanks for your suggestion.
How about using regular patio pavers/brick/stone to surround the existing concrete? Not that difficult to install and many good looking colors available.
The link works fine for me--maybe it was just a temporary glitch? Do you get some sort of error that it can't find the page, or is the link not popping up? If it's the latter, then it could be your popup blocker, if that's the case try holding down the control key while you click on the link, that'll temporarily override most popup blockers.
Thank you but I found it. Now I see that HD carries a resin/plastic (concrete looking) paver by Emsco. Anyone familiar with it? $49 for a bundle of 12; 16 x 16. 1 in. thick.
you could use pavers you could go over top of concrete they have a glue that comes out of a colk gun glue the out side pavers sweep the sand in done then dig up the soil on outside put in cruched stone #1 1 " of stone dust put pavers down flush with the rest of it .
This is what we did to expand an existing cement slab that connects to our front door. We used flawed cap stones that a landscaper discarded. They are odd shaped stones so they had to be placed apart. The existing planting beds were already there, so we had to go around them, hence the odd shape. At the bottom of the picture you can see where it joins the existing cement pad. I think it blended well with the old pad. My DB and nephew did all the masonry. Otherwise this would have been an enormous expense. Ignore the broom!
Thanks. I think I sweep it more often than my kitchen floor. It needs to be sealed yet. Can't make up my mind if I want it glossy or not. When it's wet the different colors in the stones make it look like mosiac tile. We'll have to lock the dog in the house while we're doing it and then we'll all have to leave for a couple hours. We could take him to the prairie for a walk. I haven't been there yet this year. My brother would have a fit if he knew we didn't seal it yet.
