Yesterday Robert went to a local stone and landscape supplies place to get quotes for sand, weed blocker fabric, plastic edging, polymeric sand and whatever else we might need for our patio. (He has short work days on Tuesdays & Thursdays, so he usually does weekday-only errands on those days whenever he’s not in class.) I’m kind of a planner (despite the fact that I bounce from project to project) so we came up with a list of things we thought we needed for the patio while watching Criminal Minds the other night. After talking to the owner & several other employees at the landscaping company Robert determined that we not only don’t need gravel, but the 2″ of sand that I was thinking about (I guess to make up for the lack of gravel, or to make myself feel better) for a base is excessive in Florida. Also, apparently the plastic edging is also something you can skip as long as you are ok with the idea of having to redo the edge bricks every 10-20 years when they turn under/get buried by surrounding dirt.
919 Lime Rock, from the landscaping company’s website
I should mention that when I say “sand” what I really mean is what our landscape company calls “919 Lime Rock”. They list it as “compactable base material; pathways, wall footings, driveways, pavers, etc”, which sounds about perfect to me. As you can see from the picture above it kind of looks like a cross between sand and gravel, and Robert says it feels really weird.
According to the the site, one cubic yard covers 162 square feet at a 2″ depth, so since we are planning on a 1″ depth for a 12×26 patio we can get away with only one cubic yard of 919. We are also thinking about getting 2-3 bags of polymeric sand to fill in the joints between the bricks (the guy said we can get away with 2 bags if we’re careful, so maybe we’ll go with 2).
weird concrete/tile in the area where the patio will go
The patio is going to go just slightly past the door in the picture above (about where that pile of river rock that I’ve been pulling out of the yard is rather than the end of the tile). We could have planned it much larger, but eventually we want to add a half bath off the living room (that will also have a door to the outside/patio) and the planner in me really doesn’t want to buy the materials (or the furniture!) for a huge patio that we’re just going to have to redo when that happens.
Budget Breakdown:
- 919 Lime Rock – $63/cubic yard
- Polymeric Sand – $27.95/bag (need 2)
- Delivery – $35 regardless of amount ordered
- Weed Blocker – $12.97 for 3′ x 50′ at Home Depot (need 2)
Total: $179.84
We also have to get a quote on a tamper/compactor for the 919 base and possibly a concrete saw for cutting the weird concrete & tile seen in the picture above. Thankfully Robert knows some of the employees at local DIY and tool rental stores through work, so we may be able to get a deal on rental of those. Fingers crossed on that one. We may also need more “interior brick” (since we’re hoping the brick from Ryan’s dad will be enough for the perimeter), which is 40 cents a brick. So far though, $180 sounds a lot better than some of the patio costs I’ve seen, so I’m not too worried about the thought of tool rental or possibly needing more brick.
Another thing to keep in mind is that we’re trying to budget our exterior projects in a way that maximizes the amount of material we get for the delivery cost (since it’s $35 no matter what we order, assuming it all fits on one truck of course). We have been wanting to add some 1/2″ river rock around the house for improved drainage, we need a walkway to the outdoor shower, and I kind of want to make a wall beside the patio out of flagstone or fieldstone, so maybe we will order some of those things. Whatever we decide to do will definitely get its own post and budget breakdown.
Hernando House 