There are plenty of houses that have a simple set of steps that lead out to the backyard and nothing else. You may just have a door that goes straight out to the backyard. Let’s get our hands dirty and turn that eye sore into something you can enjoy. Patios or decks are beautiful additions to your home and not as difficult as you might think to do by yourself.
The first thing that you need to do is imagine what you would like it to look like. That means take it all into consideration. Do you want a patio? Is it going to be concrete or brick? Do you want a deck? Do you want a fireplace, a grill, a concrete seating structure…etc.?
There are so many options that we should probably explore a few. First of all, a great patio idea is one that has a grill to match the surface of the patio. Also, you can either buy your furniture or build it with concrete, brick or wood. It doesn’t have to be elaborate. I’m not asking you to build Appalachian chairs. But, it’s not as hard as you think to build wood, brick or concrete benches. It’s just as easy as building wall structures to enclose your patio or deck.
So, let’s start with one scenario where you have a brick patio with a brick grill in the middle of it and a few brick benches surrounding the area. If you have grass, you’ll have to work with the ground so that you dig all the grass away and then work the dirt until it is level. A great way to level ground is to till it until it is soft, take all the rocks out of it and then use a long 2X4 to drag across the surface. Use a level to make sure you are on track and keep dragging the 2X4 across the surface until it is perfect.
