Outdoor Projects Archives - Verlo House to Home

Welcome to the jungle behind our house! For years, this is where the weeds would call home. This year, I decided to do something about it, and replace the unsightly window well in the process.

This project began, like many yard projects, with a shovel. I dug a hole around the steel window well, and pulled it out.

Next, I dug a little deeper, then put down “paver base,” which is a sand-gravel mix that I bought at Menards. I compacted the base layer, then started laying my bricks.

We used 6×9 Quarry Gray bricks that we bought at Menard’s.

My Makita angle grinder with a mason blade had no trouble cutting through these!

The window well bricks are spaced out 1/2″ further each layer, and are held together with landscape block construction adhesive.

Also bought a Tamper for this project–one of those boring tools that just takes up space.

After creating the window well, I dug out 5″ deep all around the area where pavers would be placed. I needed to go 5″ deep, because I needed 3″ of paver base and the bricks themselves are 2″ deep.

This is the pattern we used. The orange dots represent 6×9 bricks, the green dots represent 3×6 bricks and the blue dots represent 6×6 bricks. Sara crossed them out as we went.

I was surprised at how easily the pavers went into place. I have always heard that the hardest part of making a patio is the preparation, and good prep certainly made the rest of the process very easy!

I put white gravel in the bottom of the window well.

We finished the project by putting polymeric sand in the cracks (when mixed with water, it bonds together, preventing weeds from growing)

We’re very happy with the results. Maybe someday, we will get rid of the cement patio and expand it further!

Thanks for reading!

-Mike

Part of the joy of living in a good neighborhood is sharing life’s little moments and dreams for the future with the people who live next to you. In this story, our next door neighbor was dreaming of having more shade on her deck, which is exposed to direct sunlight because it faces south towards our garage. However, she was rethinking her dream after getting a bid from a contractor with an unfathomable price tag. Since I had the tools and the time, I offered to lend my abilities to help her build one on her own.

The plans we used are from book by The Family Handyman.

Page from The Family Handyman Home Improvement, 2012 Hardcover Book, Published by Readers Digest

Not sure about building permits, I drew up individualized plans and she submitted for approval. The city said since the pergola would not be directly connected to the home, we did not need a permit.

Note: The distance between the posts is actually 12×12, as shown on the plans from the magazine. And the beams and rafters are actually 16’ in length. We revised the plans during assembly to better fit the size of the deck and the location of the joists.

The materials consisted of cedar lumber, aluminum flashing, bolts and screws. Pretty simple. They were delivered right to my driveway between our houses.

Not pictured: Four 16’ long 2x10s (they were special order and took a week and a half to arrive)

The first step was to cut decorative ends on the rafters and beams. My arm was TIRED after that, because I can’t remember making so many cuts with a jigsaw before.

My neighbor stained the wood before assembly.

The beams are the heaviest part of this project. Each one is made from two special order 2×10 boards. The plans call for 1/2” plywood between the two boards, so when assembled, it would sit perfectly atop a 4×4 post (which is really 3.5” x 3.5”). Flashing is added to protect the plywood from water damage.

The posts sit right on the deck, but are solid because they are directly over joists.

The single hardest part was lifting the beams onto the posts. At least two people are needed and we’d recommend going slow. Cladding goes on both sides of the posts and beams for strength. We added one side of the cladding beforehand lifting the beam so it had support while we secured it in place. Even more support comes from the 4×4 supports mounted on the four corners. Finally, we lifted the rafters up one at a time and screwed them into place from holes drilled above.