My wife, Sarah, and I have worked tirelessly creating our home, but as we near completion of our vision indoors, COVID really gave us the motivation to get outside. I am not a professional landscaper, but I sure needed an outlet. Schlepping dirt and heavy material turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Living in the Orchard neighbourhood of Burlington, privacy can be a challenge. While the homes and yards are a plenty, proximity to your neighbours is a compromise. In our backyard, we inherited some unfortunate decking that raised our eye-line to match that of our neighbours. It housed animals and was not even connected to the home. In fact, we called it the "stage".

Removing it was plan A. So much so that we removed it before really determining the scope of the project. We wanted to not only replace the decking with a patio but create elements that increased our privacy, as well as the value and function of the backyard as a whole. Enter Interlock and Privacy Screen. If anyone has ever installed interlock before, it is all about your base. What a hole that became.

I felt like Stanley Yelnats of Holes, just digging and digging and digging that weekend. 6 yards of brutal clay out, 6 yards of aggregate back in. Because the clay was so bad, we did hire post diggers for our three post holes. Those guys were beasts of men, and made my job look like child’s play. We then filled back the patio area with clear gravel, then crushed stone, then limestone screenings. I am forever grateful for our friend Ben (@buchmuller_contracting) giving me the guidance I needed as we set the new finish grade of the entire backyard. Your grade and base will determine the sustainability of the pad, as you prepare for drainage and settling. Ben ensured us that the grade was subtle so no one noticed, but enough that water management would never be a concern going forward.

While the pad prep took near a week in total, we had the patio laid within a day. Random pattern with a black border, natural gas firepit centre mass at the rear, it was happening! While Sarah deals with all my grunts and complaints, much like all DIYers the satisfaction after the fact is next level.

Like most of my projects however, I was left with extra material (but not enough). As many have learned, COVID really lit the renovation and home improvement industries on fire as people invested in their homes. Sourcing supplies adversely became greatly affected. We were nearly forced to order all future material for our front yard and side yard then, to be sure we could do the project whenever we wished to. Sarah cursed me, as the interlock sat on our driveway for weeks. The Real Estate Market also began to return at this stage, and my attention was elsewhere. But when the time finally came to get back to it, I had the experience from the backyard under my belt, and off it went. Side yard and front paths moved quickly and became real improvements to the home's function. Again, doing what we can for Water management we rerouted the Sump Pump's discharge further away from the home. We had arrived home mid project to the pump catching up to itself, near flood so this became a must do. Since, we hardly hear the pump run. A valuable silence.

I have added a few photos of the fun along the way. If my experience on this project can help you in any way, be sure to reach out. I picked the brains of not only my Master Gardener mother, YouTube and fellow Online DIYers like @philip_or_flop but relied on some real guidance from the professionals Ben and my suppliers. I have returned back to Legends Stone Supply countless times now, and never disappointed with their willingness to help.

And as I write this, we have packed it all away waiting for next season. I think Sarah's nervous to find out what Winter lockdown might look like as I begin to fidget.