MIssion Creep II

You all saw the pictorial story about mezzanine, which became part of the project when water damage was discovered in the exterior walls and followed to the second story. That was Mission Creep I, the construction project creeping into the main part of the house on the second story. A discovery yesterday had led to Mission Creep II, where it is creeping out the door of the Aunt's room and onto the patio. Or should I say it IS the patio?

When the concrete guy came yesterday to repair the concrete around the house that was taken out for the foundation work, El Esposo was home to talk with him. We have had slope and drainage problems on the patio since we moved in. Also, there is a small strip of dirt for planting on the north wall of the kitchen. Rosemary was growing there, but having dirt there was inconvenient. The dogs dug in it to make a nice cool bed. When I turned the hose on to water pots I made mud, then the hose drug in the mud and ultimately onto the patio. Hosing off the patio was a huge chore involving a broom and lots of coaxing to get the water to go OFF the patio instead of settling in the corner of the house. Thinking about this now really explains why I haven't had a gardening haven of potted plants on the patio. Before this week I just told myself I was too busy in the rest of the yard for pots. But I like pots on the patio. Just not this patio.

Ok, so you probably know where I am going with this. The concrete guy said there was no way he could fix the drainage/slope issue in the repair work. In fact, when he shot his laser level from the outer corner of the patio to the doorway (the lowest point), he found that the cement would be up at the threshold of the door and the patio would still only be dead level, not sloped for drainage. I don't think the aunt would like to have to step UP to the patio from her door, do you? So, El Esposo made a good executive decision, lay a whole new patio with a drain in the center. (The driveway is not part of the project--just the patio.)

We had talked about future plans for a patio. We had talked about edging and a new shape and other ideas. But all of that was just in the talking stages. So what we are getting is just a plain concrete patio. Just like the old one in its look, but sloped to the center for good drainage. The drain will tie into the drain line for the rain gutters and go to a pseudo stream that EE created. This will be GREAT! I plan to plant some plants here that will appreciate the extra water and I can feel ok about occasionally hosing down the patio! I'm also thinking about the various large (empty) pots scattered around the yard and how they could be planted and put on the new patio.

Jack hammers today. Concrete tomorrow. Patio and seasonal stream by Sunday!