As we talked about in our submit about making a much bigger yard pool space, we’ve additionally made some huge modifications out entrance. Specifically, we now have a legit entrance walkway and driveway! Get away the champagne! Launch the doves! Rewatch the #Scandoval episode of Vanderpump Guidelines (or no matter else folks like Sherry do to rejoice). I do know this may occasionally appear unworthy of celebration – a driveway? cool story, bro – however while you dwell with out one for THREE YEARS, it seems like a significant win.
Why We Wanted Parking & Pathways
I do know most homes include a spot to park your automobile and a few kind of path to the entrance door. Each different home we’ve lived in definitely did. Some even had garages! However this specific home had no such factor. Your complete property, other than the home, was simply pine straw, dust, and leaves.
This can be a screenshot from a video we made the day we first noticed this home. In it, you’ll be able to see our rental automobile simply kinda pulled randomly onto the pine straw. That is on the opposite aspect of our home, taken from what’s now our kitchen porch.
The state of affairs didn’t get a lot better after we lastly moved in. Our storage POD had been delivered into that clearing proven above (you’ll be able to see it beneath on the proper) so I bear in mind calling our contractor on our approach all the way down to Florida and asking “um, the place will we put our automobile?” Keep in mind, resulting from Covid, we didn’t lay eyes on this home any time between placing within the supply in on February third of 2020 and truly shifting down in Could. He mainly mentioned “simply discover a spot within the pine straw,” so we did (you’ll be able to see our automobile, beneath left).
The image beneath (from 2021) offers you a better image of what grew to become our main “driveway” for a very long time. Simply an open space of pine straw. You can too see that we created some pathways round the home utilizing these cheap concrete pavers. We didn’t dig them in or something – simply plopped them down as a makeshift option to get round somewhat extra simply. Typically a paver would slide misplaced or develop into rickety over time, so we knew finally we’d do one thing extra everlasting.
None of those options had been inherently unhealthy, we simply knew finally we’d like one thing that functioned (and appeared) somewhat higher for the lengthy haul.
Ultimately (as in, later in 2021) we created a gravel parking spot on the OTHER aspect of our home – nearly precisely the place that POD (and our rental automobile) had as soon as been. We had simply renovated our lined aspect porch by including a new door to our kitchen. This door has develop into our household’s major entry, largely due to its comfort to this parking spot proper off the kitchen (it makes carrying groceries in quite a bit simpler – and we even have shoe storage in a cupboard on that porch now). You may learn extra about why we love the kitchen porch right here. We’d left an indentation in our fence for exactly this goal (and to keep away from the bushes) so we simply purchased and unfold about 15 luggage of gravel to make our driveway “official.”
That spot, nonetheless, is just large enough for one automobile. We’re nonetheless a one-car family so that completely works…. for us. However anytime a buddy comes over, they nonetheless need to park in that amorphous pine straw spot out entrance. Sure, for practically 3 years we’d usually discover ourselves sending pictures just like the one beneath to direct friends the place to park upon arrival. That is an precise image I despatched to my mother as soon as.
Including A Gravel Driveway
After we undertook our greater yard challenge, a part of the objective was to lastly create one other correct parking spot for 2 extra vehicles. We took this under consideration after we moved the fence AND when the concrete guys had been right here. As a part of that job, we had them pour a low retaining wall to formally designate a driveway space. We thought it will properly outline the parking house whereas corraling the gravel we deliberate to place there. Sidenote: can you notice the sunbathing lizard?
There are many explanation why we opted to do a gravel driveway versus different supplies like concrete, asphalt, or stone pavers (all of which we additionally thought-about – however rock gained). A number of of the elements had been value, slope, runoff, the overall “vibe,” and so forth. Lots of our neighbors have gravel driveways too, so it suits effectively in our beachy relaxed neighborhood (howdy, we’ve dust roads!). We even have guidelines about how porous (aka: drainage-friendly) sure areas of our tons need to be, and gravel suits the invoice for this spot of our yard. We selected a stone referred to as Bahama Rock as a result of it’s a heat sandy white colour. We went to an area landscaping firm to choose it out and acquired a supply the very subsequent day (it was round $500 for this hulking pile of stone).
Spreading the gravel was no joke, however we enlisted the assistance of a neighbor and the three of us had been capable of knock it out inside a few hours. We simply used shovels to toss piles into varied sections, then steel rakes to unfold and degree it. It shifted below our ft and tires a bit the primary few days, however after a few weeks and a few good rains, it now feels good and agency.
The driveway seems to be somewhat small from the angle above, however the view from the road exhibits its measurement higher. It’s 18′ huge, which is the usual width for 2 vehicles. It’s additionally – fortunate for us – precisely what we may match between the neighbor’s fence and that small tree.
For reference, right here’s an analogous angle from 2021 (observe the tire marks within the pine straw from the place my automobile normally was, since we had but so as to add the kitchen porch). Whereas there’s part of me that misses the “naturalness” of this view earlier than, it was a lot much less useful for us and our friends. Plus, it appeared FAR much less charming with a automobile parked there. Notice: we moved the fence in entrance of that lovely giant tree so we may take pleasure in it from the pool and double the dimensions of the pool space – that’s why you see it behind the fence above and in entrance of the fence within the photograph beneath.
Our Poured Concrete Entrance Path
And as we confirmed in our submit in regards to the greater yard, we additionally had a correct walkway poured to attach the brand new driveway to our entrance porch. Visitors gotta have a spot to park their vehicles AND a option to stroll to and from them. We opted for giant poured-in-place stepping stones (nearly like the larger extra everlasting model of the short-term paver walkways we’d used for thus lengthy). You may learn extra about them on this submit (which exhibits how concrete paths and retaining partitions accomplished our greater pool space.
Right here’s a earlier than photograph we shared in the final submit, which exhibits what the yard appeared like with our short-term pavers. Nicely, sorta. I took this image as our new fence was being rebuilt, so a bunch of stuff is moved misplaced already, however you get the concept.
Now right here’s an after that exhibits the brand new pathway, parking spot, and our buddy’s Jeep benefiting from the far more formally wanting parking space.
Typically we really feel somewhat foolish for the way comfortable this new driveway & walkway state of affairs makes us. It’s arduous to articulate how “in limbo” the surface of our home has felt for the final three years right here, and the way staple items like having a correct parking place and a pleasant huge and steady strolling path make it really feel like a authentic residence.
Take this earlier than & after, for instance. Once more, the placeholder-but-we-had-them-for-3-years pavers did the job, however they appeared and felt fairly short-term over time. And now these huge poured concrete slabs look official and everlasting.
If we return to that earlier than photograph I shared earlier: right here’s the entrance after we first laid eyes on this home in February 2020 (you’ll be able to see all the exterior earlier than pictures right here).
And this was a couple of months after we moved in, as seen in this submit from October 2020 (the debut of the small paver pathways). Notice: our home quantity has been altered for privateness beneath, and faraway from the photograph after it 😉
And right here we are actually!
I do know some might ask in regards to the choice to not put pavers all the best way throughout the entrance steps (doing 3 sections as an alternative of two). We did this for a few causes. Functionally, 1 row is greater than huge sufficient to stroll on (every slab is 48″ huge). But in addition visually, we thought doing 2 leaned into among the inherent asymmetries of our home. Creating this visible weight on the BOTTOM LEFT of the porch steps helped steadiness out the visible weight of the deck on the UPPER RIGHT.
You may actually see what we imply on this photograph beneath, which is how most individuals strategy our home from the road. The L-shaped higher deck to the proper of the door and the L-shaped walkway to the left of the entrance porch feels balanced and intentional.
Additionally if we had achieved concrete all the best way throughout the entrance, we thought it will make that space look extra like a patio than a pathway (it will be about 13′ huge by 10′ deep!).
A New Path Off The Kitchen Porch
We additionally had a few of these huge poured concrete pavers added to our aspect yard too, which lead from our parking house to the kitchen porch (we had additionally been utilizing these small sq. paver stones as a brief walkway earlier than).
It’s very nice to have these a lot bigger and sturdier everlasting slabs which were poured in place.
That is a type of locations the place the bizarre angles and asymmetries of our home had been difficult to work round – the 2 units of steps aren’t parallel to one another, and just one is perpendicular to the fence gate. However we embraced it and created an asymmetrical path that connects all the proper locations.
It’s solely a complete of 4 slabs, all of which you’ll see beneath. Three are on the identical degree and join the kitchen porch to the gate (which ends up in that single-car parking spot we use every day). The 4th slab is one step decrease to hook up with our bed room stairs. Principally, we’ve positioned these extra everlasting pathways wherever we’d like them however didn’t add something further, which permits this space to stay largely pure wanting. Now if solely a few of our crops would develop again quicker after December’s huge freeze!
Okay, that wraps up a view of all the brand new pathways and concrete curbs and issues that we added. In the event you haven’t seen our final submit all about our new bigger pool space (which has a few of our favourite makes use of of concrete) click on right here for all of these pictures and particulars.
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