Patio Makeover Day 5 June 28, 2009

I was off to a conference on this Friday — the day I originally fantasized would be the culmination of my small patio makeover. I think I had unrealistic expectations because for the first time I was hiring experienced help. This was NOT a do-it-yourself project over endless weekends and months. It was going to be about as close to Cinderella’s godmother’s flick of the magic wand or Samantha Steven’s nose wiggle as I’ve ever been. But alas, there’s far more involved for the mere mortals who are working hard to get this patio done “quickly.”  My definition of quickly has had to go through a makeover adjustment check for reality.

First off, today I got a call at the conference from Nick, our contractor. For thirty years Nick has built a gazillion projects, including swank Beverly Hills homes. So, when he called to tell me that our electricity had fizzled when he went to install the new outdoor lights, I rather stopped enjoying my conference. Sheesssh, if he’s telling me our electricity is on the fritz, it must be serious. Having only owned the property two months, it seemed ominous that a condo built in 2006 would be decrepit. I still had three more days of conference before I’d get home.  And what would that solve? Like I’m a master electrician? I’m reticent of anything that sparks and could knock me flat. Nick had called a master electrician, who couldn’t come now until Tuesday. I imagine my costs skyrocketing.

So everything will now be put on hold for four days. I was kinda surprised that the crew wouldn’t be working on Saturday. What was I thinking?

I had hoped to avoid the old axiom that construction projects take twice as long and cost twice as much as you think they will. Maybe it won’t be as bad as my imagination believes at the moment. However, since I’ve already avoided calculating the true cost of the fireplace and the additional days of labor and parts that involved, perhaps my imagination is right!

Meanwhile, Nick tells me the guys are mounting the tile to the planters, and they look beautiful.

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Late Sunday night.

Even though it’s dark, the first thing I do after tossing my suitcase on the floor, is head out to the patio. After all, it’s the only thing I’ve been dealing with for weeks now.  

Yes, the tile installation is beautiful. Having installed tile myself in our first house (and never touched it ever after), I can really appreciate the straight narrow lines. The lips of the planters are really done well — the corners precise. While I could have gotten the side tiles on, I could never have cut the top lips pieces. I don’t want to ever have the occasion to practice that much!

I’d designed the planters so as not to have to cut tiles. It was supposed to be simple. But I can see that the shorter planters did not get placed low enough to the ground.  Since they’re sticking up above, the twelve inch tiles are now too short. So that will involve some piecing to cover up the gray block. Too bad. I guess I just should have made these two side planters the same size as the back ones. The sixteen inch tiles look great. My idea in using the larger pieces was to create an illusion of “largeness.” I wanted a little variety in the side planters. But now I think I should have just made them sixteen-inchers, too. 

So, if I’d been home, perhaps I would have caught this flaw before it got too far along. We have far more sixteen inch tiles that we’ll ever need. That amount was over-calculated. And now that I have them, they can’t be returned. I would have used them on the side planters…but then of course, I’d end up with none of the twelve-inchers being used at all. And as it turned it, they were far more attractive than the larger ones. It did take the two extra boxes of large tiles to find enough colorful ones to use. We have a big pile of plain ones left over.  

As originally conceived, the design of the tiles were to be the active tie between the tan fence wall and what will be the dark “floor.” So far, that idea is looking good!

Patio Makeover Day 4 June 16, 2009

One of the things pitiful gardeners should contemplate is how much they like or don’t like to garden. Or how much time they’ll spend at it realistically — especially the specific chores we don’t like so much. We shouldn’t bite off more than we can chew.

In the past, I’ve had more time to do this activity that I don’t naturally relish. I was willing to do so even in the rain because I didn’t want our yard to be the worst-looking plot on the block.  I gotta say, living in a condo/townhouse and not having to worry about the common areas is a luxury to me! But I didn’t want a solid concrete backyard. I love flowers and green — I just know how much work they take. So I’m going to confine them to specific areas to eliminate weeds.

THE JOY OF RAISED PLANTERS

I decided how to make my work easier. In this patio remodel, I’m putting in raised planter beds. There’ll be a wide lip to sit on to make weeding go faster and more comfortably. Here’s the splurge for such a small space — today I’m having the crew put in automatic sprinklers. I just purchased all the parts this morning at Home Depot with Conzalo Melchior, Nick’s foreman.  It cost about as much as doing a big yard. But as we edge toward retirement age, we want more freedom from the yard. Sure, this patch could be hosed down quickly. But we don’t want to ask someone else to have to do the watering when we’re away.  Also, this will conserve water. It’ll be worth the extra expense.

The attention was on finishing the planters today. The other two crew members, Lupe Avilez and Alvaro Melchior (Conzalo’s dad, who must be in his 60’s) made up something called SpecMix. It was applied like a grout between the cement blocks. Then a goopy waterproofing material was spread all over the inside of the planters, including the base of the block wall. We don’t want it to deteriorate over the years. They threaded in the water lines and attached the risers for the sprinklers. Things are taking shape.

Now, I won’t be home for one of the most important days tomorrow. Friday I’m taking off to a conference that lasts through the weekend. I will miss the tiling of the planters. If I hadn’t bought the fireplace, causing the guys to spend the first day digging trenches, the tile would have been applied today when I was home. Drat.

CHOOSING THE RIGHT DECORATIVE TILES

When we were selecting a theme or look for the backyard, I was naturally drawn to cheerful colors. Living in LA, I like the bold Mexican sun-drenched tiles of yellow and bright blue, combined with terracotta. I can find that look most everywhere. But, I went the opposite direction.  To tie in with the design of our building out front, we’re going for a more monochromatic and subtle Italian feel .

I have put a lot of effort into finding the right tile. I want a dark “floor.” We have an existing tan wall. So, the intention is to have the tile be the link between — a mix of dark slate mixed with tan and yellow. After visiting gobs of retail tile stores, I found just the right pattern. Beautiful colors. I even drove out 20 miles to the supplier, expecting that I could pick out each tile. Wrong! I could only buy closed boxes, all the tile being pre-selected for me. I was not too keen about this. I really cared about the color and pattern.  This is not Home Depot or Lowe’s (who each only had one light-colored outdoor tile available), so I can’t take them back. I have to use whatever is in the box (and be happy about it). I ordered an extra box so I’d have enough to choose from.

INSTALLING THE ARBORS

While Conzalo finished up the planters, Lupe and Alvaro installed the arbor at each end of the patio. It’s pretty simple. Eight foot posts were attached to the existing fence posts. On either side of the posts were attached two 10×6 foot long boards. I’d wanted thinner boards, but Nick said they’d eventually warp covering that long of a span. Plus they needed to be sturdy enough to support the bougainvillea I plan to entwine across them — not just for the splash of color, but to help block the neighbor’s upper story.

PLANNING THE TILE PATTERN

After the crew left, I decided it would be smart to lay out the tile. Boy was I shocked when I opened the boxes. They contained so few dark slate pieces! Piece after piece was light grayish with no variation — boring, blonde, and bland. Almost nothing looked like the sample I’d gotten from the showroom. Nick had explained that when you work with natural stone, you can’t predict for sure how they’ll look from the quarry. No two boxes will be alike — or like the old display sample. That’s why I’d wanted to pick out the tiles myself.

I was glad I’d opened the boxes, as I could see I’d have to carefully piece out how I wanted the tiles to be fixed to the planters.  Beyond that, I discovered several broken tiles — and wouldn’t you know, they were dark ones. I zoomed off to the store, since it was nearly closing time. I raced in with my splinters, only to be told that the manager would have to stop at the tile yard on his way into work in the morning. Yikes. A hurried call to Nick asking him to stop by the store to pick them up in morning calmed me down a little.

For the next two hours back at home, I arranged the tiles as the light faded into black. I had to be so careful not to drop any of those heavy 16″ pieces. I couldn’t afford even a corner chip. I stacked the plainest ones in a corner, labeling them with a  “boring” sign.  Only if there was a disaster did I want the guys to use them tomorrow. It occured to me that I should number the tiles on the back with a sharpy, and put a direction arrow on them as well. But alas, it was dark and I had yet to pack. Plus I had to get up at 4:00 a.m. in just a few hours. So, I prayed that the guys would clearly understand my intent.

Patio Makeover Day 3 June 15, 2009

Since we’ve mostly been do-it-yourselfers for 32 years of marriage and four houses plus several rentals, it’s rather strange to hand over a project with so many components to someone else. Already there have been lots of little decisions made that I would have done differently.  I’d have taken weeks to make some of them! These guys work so fast.  I’m grateful on the one hand that they don’t waste time, but I realized how long I can take to decide on things. I will consider the best placement, or change the color… but this has been wham, bam, hurry up ma’am!

I definitely would have repainted the lattice before putting that up. Oh well, maybe it won’t be so noticeable with plants growing across it in the future. I’m wondering about the placement of the electric outlets, especially where they’re put near the fountain. Stuff like that.

THE CONCRETE MAKINGS ARRIVE

I met Nick Herrera at the brick yard early this a.m. He arrived in a huge truck. After I paid for the supplies, I went off to find lighting for the planters, as we haven’t agreed on what to install yet. When I got home, Nick showed up with the supplies. I was stunned at the big load for such a small project. More stunned at the price of sand and gravel ($650.00) Wow.

When you live in a condo/townhouse, there’s very little place to work outside. This became apparent when Nick needed to dump our sand and gravel to make concrete. It couldn’t go in our common driveway we share with the others in our little complex. We have no backyard other than the one that is currently all dug up. So, he left the pile on the sidewalk!

THE PLANTERS

The blocks for the planters got wheelbarrowed to the patio. Footings were made from cement. The block sides were stacked up quickly. Rebar was inserted for stability — this is earthquake-prone Los Angeles, after all.

We planned the size of the planters so there’d be very little need to cut the tiles later that will decorate them. Since I want to create the illusion of a larger space, I don’t want to use a bunch of little tiles.  Using 16 inch tiles will hopefully do that.  We bought 8 inch blocks, stacked two high all along the back fence. Along the side fences, I thought this might look too big. So, I decided to make these shorter, and will face them with 12 inch tiles. It’s still the dark slate shot through with yellow (called autumn mist), but the tile size difference should introduce an element of variety.

Towards the end of the day, the posts for the arbor were attached to the existing fences, and the boards put up — and were too short. Miscalculation. Drat, the umpteenth return to Home Depot to fetch 12 ft boards instead of the 10 footers I already painter. They’ll need to be painted with a primer and two coats of color tonight — only I don’t have the time to finish them. I’ll set them up in the garage and get to them when I can.

Patio Makeover Day 2 June 14, 2009

Whoa, 7:00 a.m. and the crew is here on time! I was pooped just watching them yesterday what with running back and forth to Home Depot for supplies and continuing to paint the lumber in the garage. At $500 a day, I’m glad the guys are not the state highway crew — you know, 17 guys standing around watching the one dig a ditch. No, all three of Nick’s Construction crew dug all day yesterday for the new gas line.

PREPARING FOR A GAS FIREPLACE

I was not intending to have gas. When we brought the fireplace boxes home yesterday, we found it was propane, and would have a propane tank sitting next to it. Nick said that anything which used propane could accommodate a gas connection and would look so much nicer.  Okay. Sure.

I didn’t realize this would consume an entire day ($500 for labor) and cost an additional couple of hundred dollars for supplies. Plus $1600 for the fireplace. Gulp, Tracy Cheney  just bumped the budget up another $2000!  I pray the measuring is perfect, the thing looks fabulous when its assembled at the end of the project, and works!

Bill wants an automatic sprinkler system in our 340 square feet, so the gas lines are buried, and then sprinkler ditches dug.

PRIVACY SCREEN

The guys got the privacy screen up on the five foot block wall between our neighbors and us! Finally, I’m not looking directly into their kitchen after two months of living here.

If you were doing something similar, you could easily get 8 ft premade sections of lattice at any big box home center. However, I didn’t want the typical diamond pattern seen everywhere. We used that for our hot tub cabana in Houston. I had to stain seemingly miles of it, and found it to be very thin indeed. It didn’t take long before it had split under the hot sun. I’ve decided I don’t want to repaint this lattice, and I wanted a square pattern. It was quite a futile hunt looking for some that wasn’t white vinyl.  I ended up having my lattice made by fencing company, and it cost three times what I could have gotten at Home Depot.

To attach the lattice to the wall, three 6×12’s were screwed into the top of the wall. Then it was a simple (ha!) task to screw in the lattice sections.

I don’t like the color!!!! I can’t believe it.  I’d made several trips back and forth from Dunn Edwards for paint chips. We had held them up to the block wall under various light conditions. The intent was to blend with the wall color. We spent hours painting the lattice before the crew arrived. And it’s too yellow, not tan. Ugh.

PREPARING FOR LIGHTS ON THE FENCE

Because we didn’t have decent lighting in the patio, we wanted to have lights mounted on this back wall. The challenge for Nick and crew was finding some hollow place in the existing wall to thread in electric wire. Then they drilled holes up through the posts to hang the new lights.

The electric line was laid in the same trenches with the PVC pipe for the sprinklers. A junction box was installed at the fence. Plugs were added for future use (like Christmas lights entwined on the arbor), and a light switches installed on the house.

And our eight hours were over!

Patio Makeover Day 1 June 11, 2009

WISHING FOR A FIREPLACE

In preparing for this day, I’d spent over three weeks looking for just the right water fountain to be our focal point. I’d originally wanted a fireplace.  I’d  envisioned that to be the first view when you walk through the front door — an attractive fireplace covering the boring tan block wall we currently look at. I wanted the patio to be an extension of the living room to the eye.

But Nick our contractor said it would cost several thousand, and it would have to be at least 30 inches deep to be functional. With only a seven foot width to play with (7×34), it just didn’t seem like a good idea to build something sticking out that far. It’s pretty hard to visualize what the space will feel like when built out. It’s long and skinny, and I want it to feel spacious and functional. I went to a couple upscale garden centers — they had premade fireplaces, but they were massive and too expensive for this condo redo.

WISHING FOR A FOUNTAIN

Then I had the brilliant idea of inviting the contractors to build a waterfall from tile or prestacked stones.  Yes, it would be thin enough for our space constraints. We could pick out the colors.  Since the building is a yellow Italian style, and our living room furniture is yellow with blonde floors, I went to every tile store in the area looking for just the right colors.  But just before I bought non-refundable tiles, it occurred to me it would save a lot all the way around if I could find an existing Italian fountain.  After three weeks of constant shopping and contemplating, I did! While we’d seen a lot of lions, cupids, and Buddhas, we found one that looks weathered and charming. And it sounds good, too. Yes, we had listened to them all. I loved the fountain pictured here, but alas, it didn’t tinkle loud enough to mask the urban noises created when people live cheek to jowl.

Loved the fountain, but not Italian style

So we’d planned, measured, shopped, changed our minds a bunch of times, bought a pile of supplies…. and then last night I found a yellow slate fireplace in the aisle of Costco! Of all places. Twelve hours before we were to start the project, there IT was behind the tofu display. Only 18 inches wide — the same size the planters are to be. I stopped dead, circled around and around, then moved on. The fountain had just been delivered on Friday. But I ended up circling back to the fireplace, then mentioned it casually to my husband. Bill thought it was a good price for what it was. But I felt it would blow the budget majorly. We checked out, without the fireplace.

A FIREPLACE AND A FOUNTAIN, OH MY! END OF BUDGET

When Nick Herrera said his crew would arrive at 7 AM on Monday morning, he meant it. The first thing I greeted him with was that I’d found a fireplace! Fortunately, the project hadn’t even begun, so we made adjustments to our plans. And then we went off to fetch the humongously heavy thing.  I going to have to dip into more savings (George Bush would approve of such spending  during a deep recession!! smart??). I’d unwittingly added another day of labor costs to our project.  The men had to dig deep trenches for the gas line, plus run pipe from the front of the house.

My fantasy of getting the project done in a week evaporated. Although the hard-working crew only took a break for lunch, it was a long day of digging and breaking up the existing concrete.  We were left at the end with mounds of debris. But I was ever so grateful not to have done the digging!

Changing plans to include fireplace

Digging gas trenches patio fireplace

A Patio Makeover June 9, 2009

Me, The Pitiful Gardener, with Patio Makeover Crew

For the past two months I’ve hemmed and hawed over what to do about the long narrow patio behind our new townhouse. My husband has had a lot of imput — he wants a no-care yard. After a quarter-acre lawn in Houston and five acres in the Sierra Mountains — the most time-consuming of the properties we’ve lived in over the last decade — Bill’s tired of even thinking about a yard.

RESCUE THIS PITIFUL PATIO PROJECT

Myself being a pitiful gardener anyway, I can certainly agree with his point. My husband’s career has moved us around quite a bit. It’s meant that we’ve redone so many yards, and then haven’t gotten to stay long enough to enjoy them leisurely over years — the new owners have. Gardening is not the #1 hobby for either of us. We garden to make our home look attractive, not wile away our hours.  So, the decision has been made to turn this dirt into hardscape, rather than into grass and flowerbeds needing tending. Given that Los Angeles has imposed draconian water restrictions and we can only water landscapes for 10 minutes on Mondays and Thursdays, this makes sense in the broader context as well.

I’ll be posting the process as we go along. And I want to get this done in two weeks or less! That means some hard labor, but not all my own. I’m hiring the muscle.

Even though I’ve done careful planning, and gobs of shopping, I know a project like this will evolve. It’s creativity at work — lots of problem-solving as it goes along and making decisions about things I don’t know much about.

NOT A DO-IT-YOURSELF PROJECT THIS TIME

Nick Herrera, General Contractor, Patio Makeover

My goal is to get this done by Father’s Day. My husband’s gift is not having to lift a finger to make this patio. The only way that will happen is by hiring some professional expertise. I don’t have time to experiment. Usually my husband wants to  figure things out himself over time. But that involves months of weekends. So this is a big gift that he’s happily accepting!

I’m working with a general contractor who is willing to tackle a very small project, Nick Herrera, of Nick’s Construction. Perhaps the recession is making more people available,  as Nick has come to rescue the pitiful gardener’s patio makeover. Since this is a small project, I wanted someone who is knowledgable and licensed in all aspects of construction. I figure it will be less expensive in the long run because Nick or his crew can take care of every aspect of the operation, rather than subcontracting out  each phase to individual experts.

CHOOSING A CONTRACTOR INSTEAD OF UNSKILLED LABOR

I was reluctant to use a handyman — although many of them claim they can do everything! Perhaps they can. But the fellow who paints my hallway isn’t necessarily an electrician. I’m not eager to take the chance to find out if he is or not, and get fried in the meantime. Plus, they aren’t likely to have insurance or worker’s comp for himself or a helper. I’m paying to get this done quickly, and I don’t want time or materials wasted while they experiment. I know there are going to be lots of problem-solving as we go along, and I want guys who have lots of experience to be able to finish this with polish.

I considered running the gauntlet of day laborers ringing our local Home Depot for the back-breaking work of demolishing the existing concrete, painting the wood, hauling dirt. But that’s a scary prospect. When you show up at 7 a.m., if you even make eye contact with one worker, your vehicle is mobbed. Men throwing themselves at you… in another setting, perhaps flattering, but in this setting, quite unsettling. Just try to get them out of your truck! It’s impossible to determine who has what skills, plus it’s unsupervised strangers coming to the house.

Because I want this done in a timely manner, I’ve hired Nick who has a long track record in the community.  He told me where I could check out his work, he’s friendly and patient, and his crew has been with him thirty years! Not unskilled laborers, but men who really know how to build the components of this project.

I expect it to be well-worth the investment at $500 per day. And it will be a real treat not to do it ourselves!

Picking the Wrong Plant! May 24, 2009

When you decides it’s time to plant, and you’ve figured out exactly where you’re going to do this activity, of course you want to make the right choice! Stands to reason. Not being one with much spare time, and most of that still going into trying to make the stuff from a large roomy house with two attics fit into an LA condo, I’ve wanted to be careful about my new plant choices. Ahem… I should not admit this publicly, but I’ve already made a boo boo. That’s just part of gardening.

The front of our place faces east, and doesn’t get sun past noon. Given that this is southern CA, I still thought that provided enough sun to have some coreopsis — a cheerful yellow flower I’ve enjoyed even in my Washington garden under gloomy skies. Apparently not! Within a week it’s shriveled up. I’ve kept a close watch on this — my first purchase for the new place. Although overgrown flowerbeds have been thinned out and those plants moved around, or we bought the same plant to replace dead ones due to broken sprinkler heads, these were the first new choices.  Brother, it’s sad to bomb so soon in the process! The coreopsis is planted with  geraniums and delphiniums, which also love sun and seem to be doing fine. So, what’s the problem?

In troubleshooting this, I realize it could have been the plant (maybe not as healthy as I thought), it could be the watering (too much, too little?), soil (freshly purchased), or the amount of sunlight. That’s how it is in gardening… sometimes it’s just trial and error. Hopefully, not too much of this for one particular spot! Considering that I’ll be starting from scratch in the backyard, this is not so encouraging. Is it a case that I so wanted the coreopsis I put it in a place where it can’t do well? I admit that I wanted a burst of yellow blooms to greet visitors at the front door. But regardless of how healthy the plant was, it can’t survive where it doesn’t belong. That’s the number one rule of gardening, and the one that gets broken the most!

A New Yard to Tend With Neglected Roses May 17, 2009

It’s been a month living in our new property. While settling into the condo, unpacking boxes, and trying to get too much stuff into not-enough cupboards, I study the yard at different times of the day. Buying a place that has been neglected for well over a year, trimming overgrown plants was the first task — and it made the biggest improvement. It helped to see what we actually had. Thankfully, it wasn’t as bad as it looked.

Fortunately for this pitiful gardener, we have 20 thriving floribunda rose bushes lining the driveway. Here in southern California, these white roses are found everywhere, having gained popularity over the past two decades. They are hardy, thank goodness, for ours had been woefully neglected. I don’t know how they survived with so little water. They don’t have those nasty, hooky thorns to deal with, which made trimming less painful. I definitely recommend them, if you want a fairly care-free rose. Now that ours have been pruned back to attractive shapes rather than being a mass of waving wild, loopy canes, our driveway looks cheerful.

Most roses demand a lot of care. But this iceberg variety is a good choice for someone who doesn’t want to fuss over plants requiring frequent attention, yet produces flowers nearly year-round.

Roses are thirsty plants, so these are benefiting from automatic sprinklers gently aimed at the base of the plants. Roses don’t like to get their leaves wet, so avoid spraying them from the top. Otherwise, you’ll get rust and disease, which covered these plants. But here’s what you do about that — just pull off any spotted or brown leaves. However, don’t let them scatter on the ground.Throw them in the trash. I also clipped off all the spent blooms so the plants wouldn’t expend energy holding on to them; plus this tidied up the scraggly look.

I applied a dose of rose food, which won’t need to be done again until mid-summer.

Next I had to get rid of the aphids. You gotta do this, as big numbers of these guys will damage your buds. Look for these green bugs at the base of your buds — they really blend in. Not being a fan of hard-core chemicals, I was tempted to use ladybugs. I released a batch of them in my garden in Washington, but they immediately flew over to the neighbors. So, I’m trying a supposedly eco-friendly spray. It’s taken awhile to inspect the bushes and spray each week, but I think I’m on top of the problem now and don’t expect to find many during this weekend’s inspection.

This labor has already paid off. Water, food, and a good haircut works wonders for roses just as it does for people! While the plants looked rather bedraggled at first, in a month they are now covered in blossoms!

Moving! April 23, 2009

Not my favorite activity, but it’s occupied my time for the past month. After unpacking boxes and hanging pictures, I’ve begun analyzing the overgrown flowerbeds and nondescript back patio.

Basically I’m watching the sun patterns, ripping out weeds, and looking at the sprinkler patterns. Living in LA, we are in the midst of a three year drought — our farmers aren’t going to get water for their crops, it’s that serious. Looking at what’s happening with our own watering situation in a new garden is critical. We discovered big dry areas, sprinkler heads watering the driveway and little else, and overgrown plants blocking others. Next we’ll tackle the plants planted next to each other that shouldn’t be — drought tolerant shrubs overpowering shade-loving azaleas.

It’s definitely another opportunity to put into practice the knowledge packed into our little book, “The Pitiful Gardener’s Handbook!”

If It’s Cold Outside, It’s Time To Plan For When It Isn’t March 16, 2009

We always recommend that you take time to study your yard and even sketch it to help plan for improvements.  This exercise makes you actually focus on what’s growing well and where you need a better choice of plants. Before the frenzy of impulse shopping takes over as the weather warms, now is a good time to put in some garden think-time.

Here’s a really great article that shows you exactly how to go through the process in simple steps.  Click here to read it:

http://realestate.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=18310799&GT1=35000.