Small Patio Transformed Into Entertaining Outdoor Room

By Rob Wright, Stone Age Manufacturing

Materials used on this patio include natural blue flagstone that covers the patio area; a natural thin-stone covering the exterior of the fire-pit and outdoor kitchen; and a Red Cedar pergola that was erected for shading that also houses a ceiling fan and outdoor lighting for nighttime use.

"We love our new home and have plenty of room inside but our back patio is too small. We have a lot of friends and family and love to entertain them so we need an outdoor living area to comfortably accommodate everyone.” These were the first words out of the homeowner’s mouth during the initial consultation of this particular project.

One of the requests from the homeowner to the design team was the incorporation of a fire feature. This fire pit fulfills that request. The fire pit that was selected was the Stone Age Tall Round model. It was covered in natural stone, and uses a stainless steel fire pit bowl below the ring-style fire pit burner and colored fireglass. Black lava rock was used for an accent color to spell out the initials of the homeowner’s alma mater.
Photos: Stone Age Manufacturing

Then came the list of must have features:

1. A much larger area and more appealing patio that would incorporate the existing patio into a new larger one that flows well from the indoors out and doesn’t have the appearance of being an add-on or after-thought. The homeowner’s preference was to have a patio with no straight lines on the outer perimeter only curves and radiuses.
   
2. An outdoor kitchen with a grill, sink, side burner, refrigerator, icemaker, plenty of counter space, a food / beverage serving area and storage inside the kitchen island itself.
   
3. An area for seating that could be partially shaded during the day with lighting for nighttime use.
   
4. A fire feature.

The homeowner also indicated that in the future he intended to put in a swimming pool with a deck around it that he would want to incorporate into this outdoor living area.

A grill, side burner , sink, refrigerator, icemaker and access doors were installed into the outdoor kitchen island kit, along with electrical outlets in the backsplash/bar-top to accommodate a grill rotisserie, meat probe, and various other countertop electrical appliances commonly used in outdoor cooking and grilling.

The determining factor for a starting point of reference for this project would be the existing patio. The design team from Stone Age Mfg. would start there and work their way out into the yard taking all the homeowner’s ideas and requirements into consideration.

Step one was to determine how much square footage would be required to accommodate all the features to be included in the project. Once the distances away from the house and existing patio were established the design team, working with the homeowner, used a garden hose to simulate the exact shape and boundaries of the outside perimeter of the new patio.

Once the design team was sure it understood everything the homeowner had visualized in his mind and that he was happy with layout the initial design would begin.

A Stone Age Red Cedar Pergola Kit frames the new outdoor space. Once the pergola kit was constructed, lighting was mounted on each of the posts, and a ceiling fan was installed. The shell of the outdoor kitchen was built using a cabinet component system outdoor kitchen island kit.

There was a long list of factors to consider to make sure nothing was overlooked and that when this project was finished there would be no errors and nothing would be left out.

1. What direction does the storm water run-off currently flow and where is the natural or man-made slope directing water away from the home occurring? The location of the future swimming pool had to be determined to be sure not to slope the patio in a manner that would direct water run-off into it. Would a patio this size require additional area drainage and not rely totally on slope for drainage?
   
2. What materials would be used to cover the existing patio and new patio making the two into one? One limitation to consider were the two doors that exited the house onto the existing patio and the height of the door thresholds above the concrete. This would narrow down the choices of materials that could be used to cover the existing patio because there was not a lot of room to work with and we would have to use a thin material. Once this was determined a finished grade could be established at all points of the entire patio.
   
3. At what point on the home were the existing utilities needed for the project located and what requirements would be involved to get those utilities from point A to point B. We had to be sure the design didn’t locate new utilities where the future pool would reside that would result in costly and difficult relocation.
   
4. With each feature to be installed on the patio, what would the finished product weigh and would any of the components require additional support or foundations?
   
5. Where would each feature be located on the patio that would be aesthetically pleasing, use the space efficiently and offer the best functionality? On the home, the existing patio, a bay window, an inside corner of the home’s exterior wall and a doorway exiting the guest suite onto the new patio all had influence and were determining factors of shape, size and location of each feature.
   
6. What finish materials would be used for the exterior of the outdoor kitchen and fire-pit that would tie them in with the home’s exterior the new patio and give the appearance they were constructed at the same time the home was built?
   
7. Once the outdoor living area was completed and considering future construction for the swimming pool what would be the most cost effective method to restore the yard to its original condition?
   

After all aspects of the project were evaluated and the design was complete, the construction began. To bring the new patio up to a grade level that matched the existing patio, a compacted gravel sub-base had to be put down first and concrete poured on top of that. Electric, propane gas, water, plumbing and area drains were installed into the gravel sub-base and under the new concrete patio.

The homeowner chose a natural blue flagstone to cover the patio area, the coping for the fire-pit and the counter-tops on the outdoor kitchen. The exterior of the fire-pit and outdoor kitchen was veneered with a natural thin-stone that matched the stone on the homes existing exterior. A heavy duty Red Cedar Pergola was erected for shading and also housed a ceiling fan and outdoor lighting for nighttime use. In doing so all of the elements came together in a fashion that truly brought the indoors out and looked as if the home had been designed with the outdoor living area as part of the original design.

Topsoil was brought in to raise the yard level up to the grade of the new patio and new sod was installed. Plants and bushes with small roots systems that can be easily transplanted were placed around the outside perimeter of the new area. When the homeowner is ready for phase two of the project the plant material can easily be relocated and the now existing flagstone patio can be added on to with the decking around the future swimming pool area.