As we talked about in our submit about making a much bigger yard pool space, we’ve additionally made some large modifications out entrance. Particularly, 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 if you stay with out one for THREE YEARS, it looks like a serious win.
Why We Wanted Parking & Pathways
I do know most homes include a spot to park your automobile and a few type of path to the entrance door. Each different home we’ve lived in actually did. Some even had garages! However this explicit home had no such factor. Your complete property, other than the home, was simply pine straw, dust, and leaves.
It is a screenshot from a video we made the day we first noticed this home. In it, you may see our rental automobile simply kinda pulled randomly onto the pine straw. That is on the opposite facet of our home, taken from what’s now our kitchen porch.
The scenario didn’t get significantly better once we lastly moved in. Our storage POD had been delivered into that clearing proven above (you may see it under on the proper) so I keep in mind calling our contractor on our means right down to Florida and asking “um, the place can we put our automobile?” Bear in mind, attributable to 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 Might. He principally mentioned “simply discover a spot within the pine straw,” so we did (you may see our automobile, under left).
The image under (from 2021) provides you a better image of what turned our major “driveway” for a very long time. Simply an open space of pine straw. You too can 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 strategy to get round a bit extra simply. Generally a paver would slide misplaced or grow to be rickety over time, so we knew finally we’d do one thing extra everlasting.
None of those options have been inherently dangerous, we simply knew finally we’d like one thing that functioned (and regarded) a bit higher for the lengthy haul.
Finally (as in, later in 2021) we created a gravel parking spot on the OTHER facet of our home – virtually precisely the place that POD (and our rental automobile) had as soon as been. We had simply renovated our coated facet porch by including a new door to our kitchen. This door has grow to be our household’s principal entry, principally due to its comfort to this parking spot proper off the kitchen (it makes carrying groceries in lots simpler – and we even have shoe storage in a cupboard on that porch now). You’ll be able to learn extra about why we love the kitchen porch right here. We’d left an indentation in our fence for exactly this function (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, nevertheless, is just sufficiently big for one automobile. We’re nonetheless a one-car family so that absolutely works…. for us. However anytime a good friend 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 images just like the one under 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 larger yard venture, a part of the purpose was to lastly create one other correct parking spot for 2 further vehicles. We took this into consideration once we moved the fence AND when the concrete guys have 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 area 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 components have been value, slope, runoff, the overall “vibe,” and many others. Numerous our neighbors have gravel driveways too, so it matches properly in our beachy relaxed neighborhood (hey, we have now dust roads!). We even have guidelines about how porous (aka: drainage-friendly) sure areas of our heaps need to be, and gravel matches the invoice for this spot of our yard. We selected a stone known as Bahama Rock as a result of it’s a heat sandy white coloration. We went to an area landscaping firm to select it out and received 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 have been capable of knock it out inside a few hours. We simply used shovels to toss piles into numerous sections, then metallic rakes to unfold and stage 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 a bit small from the angle above, however the view from the road exhibits its dimension higher. It’s 18′ extensive, which is the usual width for 2 vehicles. It’s additionally – fortunate for us – precisely what we might 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 often 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 purposeful for us and our friends. Plus, it regarded FAR much less charming with a car parked there. Word: we moved the fence in entrance of that lovely massive tree so we might take pleasure in it from the pool and double the scale of the pool space – that’s why you see it behind the fence above and in entrance of the fence within the photograph under.
Our Poured Concrete Entrance Path
And as we confirmed in our submit in regards to the larger 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 strategy to stroll to and from them. We opted for big poured-in-place stepping stones (virtually like the larger extra everlasting model of the momentary paver walkways we’d used for thus lengthy). You’ll be able to learn extra about them on this submit (which exhibits how concrete paths and retaining partitions accomplished our larger pool space.
Right here’s a earlier than photograph we shared in the final submit, which exhibits what the yard regarded like with our momentary 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 good friend’s Jeep making the most of the rather more formally trying parking space.
Generally we really feel a bit foolish for the way pleased this new driveway & walkway scenario makes us. It’s laborious to articulate how “in limbo” the skin of our home has felt for the final three years right here, and the way basic items like having a correct parking place and a pleasant extensive and secure strolling path make it really feel like a reliable dwelling.
Take this earlier than & after, for instance. Once more, the placeholder-but-we-had-them-for-3-years pavers did the job, however they regarded and felt fairly momentary over time. And now these large poured concrete slabs look official and everlasting.
If we return to that earlier than photograph I shared earlier: right here’s the entrance once we first laid eyes on this home in February 2020 (you may see all the exterior earlier than images right here).
And this was just a few months after we moved in, as seen in this submit from October 2020 (the debut of the small paver pathways). Word: our home quantity has been altered for privateness under, and faraway from the photograph after it 😉
And right here we at the moment are!
I do know some might ask in regards to the resolution 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 extensive sufficient to stroll on (every slab is 48″ extensive). But additionally 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’ll be able to actually see what we imply on this photograph under, 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′ extensive by 10′ deep!).
A New Path Off The Kitchen Porch
We additionally had a few of these large poured concrete pavers added to our facet yard too, which lead from our parking area to the kitchen porch (we had additionally been utilizing these small sq. paver stones as a short lived walkway earlier than).
It’s very nice to have these a lot bigger and sturdier everlasting slabs which have been poured in place.
That is a kind of locations the place the bizarre angles and asymmetries of our home have 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 under. Three are on the identical stage and join the kitchen porch to the gate (which results in that single-car parking spot we use every day). The 4th slab is one step decrease to connect with our bed room stairs. Mainly, 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 trying. Now if solely a few of our crops would develop again quicker after December’s large 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 images and particulars.
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