Before

After

The slat screen is about 90% done. I took some pics while the sun was setting and the color seems to appear a little more yellow than it normally does especially compared with the pre-sealing color.

A few small finishing touches, a little sanding, a little more oil and we will be set to move on and start painting the rest of the exterior. We used Penofin Brazilian rosewood oil (an idea gleaned from this redwood deck) to seal and protect the wood from graying and the elements. The redwood does get a lot of protection from the overhang, but we really want to make sure this installation lasts. It’s been working wonders on the late afternoon heat in the living room.

We finally decided to use Amazon Paint in Whipped White (WHIP) in a satin finish. Well I think…we still have to check it out in person.

PATIO Phase One : COMPLETE.

150 cement pavers on the ground, be-yotches.

What did it look like before? Like this:

And After:

You can check out the whole process HERE. It ended up costing about $200 to do this whole fire pit/gravel/patio paver area.

For those of you considering this kind of paver installation: just don’t be like us. Level the area, put sand down first and tamp it flat, add crushed rock and then lay out your pavers after all that – then and only then fill everything in with gravel. Don’t do gravel first like we did, unless you’re a masochist. Or vying for the title of DIY amateur hour champion.

After all the headaches and backaches, I think it turned out alright. Time to move onto PATIO Phase Two : Other hardscape stuff. I’ve got some big ideas and I’m crossing my fingers that we don’t do that all backasswards as well.

Still got a long way to go though…