Patio, Phase 2

Like I said, last spring after coming home from picking up my son Max at preschool, I fell down the stairs and broke my foot. It's not particularly cool to break your foot while falling down a flight of stairs. Honestly, you feel like kind of a dork. I've been walking down stairs for many years. The fall could have been worse because I was carrying my one year old daughter Annabelle at the time and she could have been hurt--but she wasn't.

Since we moved the wall back three feet from the original position, the concrete patio was now two levels. There was the dirt area that was a couple inches lower than the old concrete slab.

So, as I went to step from the last stair to the landing, I missed the old concrete portion and hit the dip in the ground. I rolled my foot and since I was holding my daughter, had no way to stop my fall. As I came down I clutched Annabelle like a football and put my other hand directly behind her head. I came down right on top of her--my finest ballerina moment.

Max had already run into the house and came back out saying, "Hey Mommy, wacha doin' down there?" I smiled and tried to remain calm (while my unhurt but very freaked out daughter screamed her head off) telling Max I fell but was fine. I actually broke it in several places and a year later, still have moments where it aches.

So, as soon as I could reach a phone I called around to find out what it was going to take to fix the patio. Here are more photos of additional patio and basketball area that needed to be repaired.

You can see the compromised retaining wall in this shot and how close it was to the Bilco doors for the basement. We also had them move this wall back a couple of feet too.

Enter the Irish Mason Billy. Billy was nuts but cheap, so he was hired. He probably would have made more money on the deal had he not done so much damage. He said he could remove all the old concrete, the old basketball court, the pile of rubble stored behind the garage from the FIRST wall that collapsed, and pour concrete (including fixing the extended retaining wall) for a VERY reasonable price. We said, "deal" and he may have lost his shirt because he hasn't return any of my phone calls since.

First Problem

Here are some photos of the guys doing the work. See how close that little backhoe is to our house? Well, as he pulled on a hot water tank they found buried in the ground with a chain, the chain snapped and came up and hit the frame by the kitchen window. I was so relieved it didn't come through the window that I let the damage slide.

Second Problem

There's something very frightening about seeing a fully loaded cement truck that close to your back door. Eleven yards of concrete is quite a load. In fact, it can shatter the sewer pipes going from your house to the cesspool. That one I was not willing to let slide. Seeing your washing machine back up into the bathtub will make you pretty angry--particularly after you've said, "you know, my cesspool is right there, are you sure he should have that truck there?"

Sparkling clean patio above, new basketball court below. Seriously, how lucky are my kids anyway? That Max better wind up being a star--do you know how much that boy of mine has cost me so far in his very short little life?  The doctor says he's going to be tall (scary tall). Is it wrong to make him do drills every day and sleep with a basketball? I don't think so either.

We had our back steps changed too which I was really happy about. The previous ones were brick, there were two steps, and the top one was not wide. The kids would always come up right behind me when I would open the door and I was always worried someone would fall off the top stoop. Now it's one wide stoop. They poured concrete right over the brick and covered it with pavers. Makes for a much prettier back door, don't you think?

Third Problem

Just as Billy was getting ready to leave the job, he decided to grate the dirt a little more on our front yard with the bobcat. (Billy pretty much never left the seat of the Bobcat and barked orders at the workers he picked up on the corner who didn't speak a word of English.) Billy backed up, brought the bucket around, and chipped the brand new front stoop. At first he made light of it but there was no way to patch the concrete. We had the concrete dyed a sandy color and you can't just make a small bit of it (you'd have to dye an entire yard of cement). So, he offered to cover the front stoop with pavers to match the back door at cost. I jumped at the deal and I'm happy that I did.

Billy was fast, cheap, reckless and may have a drinking problem. But, I have to say that every time he screwed up he was quick to repair problems and didn't make me work for it.