As we talked about in our publish about making an even bigger yard pool space, we’ve additionally made some huge modifications out entrance. Specifically, we now have a legit entrance walkway and driveway! Escape the champagne! Launch the doves! Rewatch the #Scandoval episode of Vanderpump Guidelines (or no matter else individuals like Sherry do to rejoice). I do know this will appear unworthy of celebration – a driveway? cool story, bro – however whenever you reside 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 form 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 entire property, other than the home, was simply pine straw, grime, and leaves.
It is 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 scenario 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 under on the suitable) so I bear in mind calling our contractor on our manner all the way down to Florida and asking “um, the place can we put our automobile?” Keep in mind, as a consequence of Covid, we didn’t lay eyes on this home any time between placing within the supply in on February third of 2020 and really shifting down in Might. He mainly mentioned “simply discover a spot within the pine straw,” so we did (you’ll be able to see our automobile, under left).
The image under (from 2021) offers you a more in-depth image of what turned our main “driveway” for a very long time. Simply an open space of pine straw. You can even 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 little bit extra simply. Generally a paver would slide misplaced or turn out 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 appeared) a little bit higher for the lengthy haul.
Finally (as in, later in 2021) we created a gravel parking spot on the OTHER aspect of our home – virtually precisely the place that POD (and our rental automobile) had as soon as been. We had simply renovated our coated aspect porch by including a new door to our kitchen. This door has turn out to be our household’s most important entry, principally 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’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, nonetheless, is barely large enough 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 should 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 under to direct company 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 mission, a part of the aim was to lastly create one other correct parking spot for 2 further vehicles. We took this into consideration after 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 might properly outline the parking house whereas corraling the gravel we deliberate to place there. Sidenote: can you notice the sunbathing lizard?
There are many the reason 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 received). A number of of the components have been value, slope, runoff, the final “vibe,” and so on. Loads of our neighbors have gravel driveways too, so it matches effectively in our beachy relaxed neighborhood (hi there, we’ve got grime roads!). We even have guidelines about how porous (aka: drainage-friendly) sure areas of our tons should be, and gravel matches 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 shade. We went to an area landscaping firm to choose it out and obtained 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 in a position to knock it out inside a few hours. We simply used shovels to toss piles into varied sections, then steel rakes to unfold and stage it. It shifted beneath 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 appears to be like a little bit small from the angle above, however the view from the road exhibits its dimension higher. It’s 18′ large, 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 (notice 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 company. Plus, it appeared FAR much less charming with a car parked there. Word: we moved the fence in entrance of that lovely massive tree so we might get pleasure from 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 picture under.
Our Poured Concrete Entrance Path
And as we confirmed in our publish concerning the larger yard, we additionally had a correct walkway poured to attach the brand new driveway to our entrance porch. Friends 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 publish (which exhibits how concrete paths and retaining partitions accomplished our larger pool space.
Right here’s a earlier than picture we shared in the final publish, which exhibits what the yard appeared like with our momentary pavers. Effectively, 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 thought.
Now right here’s an after that exhibits the brand new pathway, parking spot, and our good friend’s Jeep benefiting from the far more formally wanting parking space.
Generally we really feel a little bit foolish for a way joyful this new driveway & walkway scenario 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 large and steady strolling path make it really feel like a respectable 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 momentary over time. And now these huge poured concrete slabs look official and everlasting.
If we return to that earlier than picture 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 the entire exterior earlier than pictures right here).
And this was a number of months after we moved in, as seen in this publish from October 2020 (the debut of the small paver pathways). Word: our home quantity has been altered for privateness under, and faraway from the picture after it 😉
And right here we at the moment are!
I do know some might ask concerning the choice to not put pavers all the best way throughout the entrance steps (doing 3 sections as a substitute of two). We did this for a few causes. Functionally, 1 row is greater than large sufficient to stroll on (every slab is 48″ large). But additionally visually, we thought doing 2 leaned into a number of 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 picture under, which is how most individuals strategy our home from the road. The L-shaped higher deck to the suitable of the door and the L-shaped walkway to the left of the entrance porch feels balanced and intentional.
Additionally if we had performed concrete all the best way throughout the entrance, we thought it might make that space look extra like a patio than a pathway (it might be about 13′ large 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 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 suitable locations.
It’s solely a complete of 4 slabs, all of which you’ll be able to see under. Three are on the identical stage and join the kitchen porch to the gate (which ends up in that single-car parking spot we use day by 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 want them however didn’t add something further, which permits this space to stay largely pure wanting. Now if solely a few of our vegetation 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 publish 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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