We bought the house last year and now that the weather is turning we’re getting j to yard projects. You can see in the middle where the wood beams are I’ve pulled up all the brick. The beams are collapsing and rotting, and the brick was very uneven. I plan to level the area and put down paver stone. I think I am going to do a circular fire pit with the brick.
What I’m looking for is:
A) for the patio area what I thought was after leavening and paver stand the put some brick down, and pour cement blocks myself with wood framing. Pull out the wood and pour some river stone or something in between. Thoughts? Pitfalls to watch for? Things to consider?
B) any thoughts for what to do with the wood beams. Remove and level out area around? Build back a retaining wall?
by BenevelotCeasar
1 Comment
That poured concrete block and river stone idea looks great on the internet but it is a total maintenance nightmare in real life. Those individual poured blocks will heave and sink unevenly because they lack a continuous compacted gravel foundation. The river stone gaps will instantly fill up with leaves from that massive tree right above it, turn into dirt, and sprout weeds. You will spend every weekend blowing it out or picking loose rocks out of your lawn mower. You need a solid continuous surface. But look at that giant tree right next to your project area. If you dig down six inches to build a proper patio base you are going to chop right through its critical structural roots. That damages the tree and the surviving roots will just heave your new concrete or pavers in a few years anyway.
Those rotting wood timbers were holding back the dirt so you need to respect that elevation change. Pull them out and build a proper low retaining wall using dry stacked landscape blocks. Do not just grade the area flat by dumping a foot of topsoil over the tree roots or digging deep into the slope. Burying root systems or slicing them up is a guaranteed way to slowly kill mature shade trees. Keep your heavy hardscape footprint as far from that trunk as possible. If you want a fire pit, push it way out into the open yard so you do not roast the overhead branches or fight the massive root system underneath.