At the design center for our home, the builders were going to charge about $5,500 to lay pavers and build a pergola. I mulled it over a few minutes and decided that we just couldn’t spend that much on a space that we rarely would use, more so because it’s going to take 30 years to pay. Almost two years later, we got a letter, a notice from our homeowners association, stating that we were required to landscape our side yard. Of course, I told my husband, “We can do it!” originally, at the design center, and now, after our notice.
So I got on the 'drawing board', half excited, half upset, that we are being forced to take on a project. Our side yard measures 40x15 with an existing 2.5”x5” pavers outside the sliding door by the dining room. At first I wanted to lay more pavers to extend that existing area but my mind kept going back to making a gravel patio since we have already used gravel for landscaping before. We had converted the front yard of our rental home from grass to gravel about four years ago and it still look pretty decent despite the abuse, being the lack of any maintenance.
My budget for this new project was only $250, because you see, I like to stay away from the pricey projects, especially if I can make it myself. Thankfully, my brother, his brother-in-law, and a friend were willing to put in some elbow grease, and also pavers were on sale at Lowe’s for $0.25 each before Memorial Day weekend.
This is how the side yard looked before we started.
Supplies
136 pcs 4”x8” pavers
String for straight line
Level
Shovel and hand shovel
Rake
2 loads of bulk gravel (900 lbs each)
Recycled supplies from a previous DIY bench
Process
1. Measure the spot and align border.
We decided to keep the project small, so we simply extended the existing pavers right outside the sliding door from the dining room to cover an 10x8 area. But when my brother arrived, they extended to the sides to make it 10x10.
2. Prepare the location.
Since the ground was mostly sand and gravel, we just leveled it roughly and decided that we wouldn’t need landscape fabric. So far, weeds have not survived in the soil we have and in the Las Vegas climate. We separated the rocks, washed them and used it around the A/C unit.
As we got closer to the neighbor’s wall, we realized that we needed to put a barrier to the inclined soil otherwise it will come down to our patio when it rains. So we reused the cinder blocks from our previous DIY backyard bench.
3. Lay the edges with pavers.
Using string lines as guides, we laid the pavers to make the patio border.
At this point, it felt like we were done!
4. Pour in the gravel.
We unloaded the bulk gravel painstakingly and then raked it level.
The first spur of the moment change....Since we reused the cinder blocks as soil retainer, I thought of using the three lanterns we had as decoration on the bench to start a zen rock garden in the far end of the yard.
When my brother and his brother-in-law arrived, they picked up one more load of gravel to fill the additional areas. Then they laid the leftover bricks as path to the gate (they had to buy additional 36 more bricks to complete it) — this was the second lightbulb click!
This is how our new gravel patio looks, with the volunteers. My brother bought additional blocks to make the bench after all.
From our experience and with some planning, this could be a one-day project, but because of the Vegas heat, we only worked at the break of dawn and at dusk, also the lack of a wheel barrow, hence, it became a three-day project. The total cost of this entire gravel patio and path is less than $200.
In my opinion, gravel patio gives such a great texture and natural feel to our outdoor space. Not to mention, the sound it makes tickles me and the almost crunchy feeling of walking in it makes me excited. It would also complement the zen rock garden that I look forward to making soon.
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