The Pergola - Part Two

For the second part of the pergola post we will be looking at more of the finishing details.  The next step in this project was to add the paver patio.  I decided that I wanted to have a paver patio under the pergola to match my other paver patio that was featured in a prior blog.  I started by having a little over six tons of road base delivered to my house.  I then hauled the road base into the area of the patio and laid it about 5 inches thick.  After compacting the road base, I was ready to add the pavers.  I used a thin layer of sand over the road base to help in leveling the pavers.  Below you will see the pavers laid under the pergola.  The total area of the patio is about 14’ x 16’. My brother also helped me with this part which you can tell because you can see his foot in the corner of the picture :)

You will notice that there are gaps between the rows of pavers.  I saw a home in California that used artificial turf around their patio.  I decided to modify this idea and use it in the middle of my patio to give it a unique look.  I also did this so that the pavers could shift with the ground and it would not be as noticeable since there would be fewer pavers that would be laid next to each other.  In the gaps I added additional road base almost up to the top of the pavers to also help keep them from shifting and lock them in place.  Road base is basically the ingredients used for concrete minus the chemicals to make it permanently hard.

I purchased the artificial turf on e-bay for about $90 shipped and I wound up with plenty of turf leftover.  The artificial turf was a remnant from a home that had a yard installed with this turf so I bought it for less than $1 a square foot.  This turf is unique because it is a high end turf where the blades of grass are different shades of green and there is even brown thatch woven into the turf. I cut the turf to the dimensions I needed to fit into the gaps and then staked it down with many metal landscaping pins.  These same pins are used for holding down landscape fabric.  

With artificial turf you have to have an infill to keep the grass from pulling up with water or wind.  You can use rubber pellets or sand; I chose sand.  We used almost a half ton of sand and you just cover the grass and then rake it in.  We used mason sand which is much finer than regular sand so it settled into the groves much better.  Below you can see the start of the grass.

Unlike my other patio where I used metal edging to keep the pavers in place, I tried a different option with this patio.  Under the last row of pavers around the patio I placed the pavers in wet concrete a few inches wide around the edge.  I then sloped the concrete around the sides to keep the pavers from shifting from side to side.  This made a much more permanent installation and seemed to hold the pavers in place much better.  In the below picture you can see the concrete in the lower right hand corner sloped up the side of the paver.  All this concrete will be covered by mulch so no one will even know it is there. 

Lastly I ran a strip of turf around the front edge as well as in the insets of the fireplace hearth.  Below is the finished product.  It really is surprising how realistic the turf feels even though it is just plastic.  The turf will have a 15-20 year life span before it will need to be replaced.

Once the turf was laid, I needed to finish the concrete work on the hearth of the fireplace.  I forgot to take pictures as I completed the work so I will just explain the details.  I used the same fiber reinforced concrete that I have used in the casting of the moldings.  I used this product to cover the surface of the pavers I installed for the base of the hearth.  I used a stucco trowel to apply the concrete about 5/8” thick and the fiber in the concrete will help keep the surface from cracking.  In order for it to adhere well to the existing pavers, you need to wet the pavers so that the existing cement does not draw out all the moisture of the new concrete before it has a chance to cure.  The last step was to paint the new concrete to help prevent rust stains on the concrete as well as to make the color a little less white.  I used an epoxy paint that is used for the floors of garages and will stand up to standing water.  I had the color tinted a dirty white color and painted the hearth as well as the moldings on the fireplace so all would match.  The paint is flat in color so looking at the fireplace you cannot even tell it has been painted and looks like plain concrete. The picture below does not have the grout between the stone castings painted but I did paint it at a later point.

The next task was to complete the stone column bases.  Because these bases are completely exposed to the elements, I needed to make sure that they could withstand long periods of moisture.  I started out by making a wood box for the base of the columns as seen below.

I then covered the wood in cement board that is used for the walls behind showers.  This type of material is perfect in this situation because it cannot rot.  The last step was to cover the cement board with the same wire mesh used in all the prior stone projects. 

I installed the stone the same way as I did in all the previous projects so I will not go in detail again about how I did it.  Below you can see the finished stone columns for the base of the pergola. 

I was very happy to be done with all the stone work since it seems like I have been laying stone for almost two years now.  I had one pallet of stone leftover which I then sold on craigslist as well. 

The stone turned out to be a great deal!  I spent $1600 for all the stone from an over ordered project that was completed not too far away from my home.  I then sold one pallet of stone last summer for $750 and this last pallet for $300(it was a lot smaller.)  This means that all the stone for my front columns, columns on the retaining wall, stone around the garage, the pergola, and the fireplace only cost me $550.  If I was to but the stone I used it would have been well over $5000 so it really turned out to be a great deal. 

The last part of the columns was to add the column tops.  I again used PVC trim to do this so there will be no rotting when the snow sits on top all winter.  Once the trim was added I then painted it to match the columns on the front of the house. 

Well after two summers of work on this area of my home, it is finally completed.  I will leave you with this before picture:

And now all the after pictures including a couple night shots. 

Now on to more projects on the inside of my home; which is great timing since snow will be here in a couple weeks.  I guess I will really get to enjoy this patio next summer!