Kits Used to Build Outdoor Oasis

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 and houses a ceiling fan and outdoor lighting. Photos courtesy of Stone Age Manufacturing

''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. 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 patio addition was designed to appear as if had been built at the same time as the house. The home's original patio measured 300 square feet. Working from this patio out toward the yard, the landscape contractors spray-painted an outline for placement of the 1,200 square foot patio addition. After this was done, stakes for concrete forms were installed.

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.

Crews are setting posts for the pergola after applying flagstone to the patio surface. The posts were placed in two-foot deep pier holes to accommodate the manufacturer's pergola kit.

Once the design was finalized on this project, the first step was to remove the existing grass from the yard. After the extended patio area was cleared and smoothed down, a line was painted on the ground to outline the layout of the new patio to be installed.

Since the new patio had to blend into the existing patio, the next step was to shoot a grade from the existing concrete patio to the end of the new patio area, to determine the proper slope for water drainage and the height of the forms needed for pouring the concrete of the extended patio. Since there was a significant change in elevation, a compacted gravel sub-base was laid down to bring the elevation up to allow pouring of a 4-inch concrete pad.

Construction of the island shell and finishing of the fire pit continued after the installation of the pergola. The shell of the outdoor kitchen was built using one of Stone Age Manufacturing's Cabinet Component System outdoor kitchen island kits. The kits are assembled using landscape block adhesive, and allow the appliance openings to be cut onsite, just prior to finish application, using a standard masonry saw.

Before the concrete was poured, water, gas and electric lines had to be set in the foundation, and because of the size of the patio, drain piping had to be installed for area drains. Once the new concrete patio was poured, the new and existing concrete patio were covered with natural flagstone, combining the two areas into one large patio, which helped make it an extension of the home, giving the appearance that the entire area was part of the original home design, not an afterthought.

The shell of the outdoor kitchen was built using one of Stone Age Manufacturing's Cabinet Component System outdoor kitchen island kits. The kits are assembled using landscape block adhesive, and allow the appliance openings to be cut onsite, just prior to finish application, using a standard masonry saw. 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 new part of the patio closest to the original patio and house was 6-inches thick with the sub-base and stone, and at the end near the fire-pit area, it was 12-inches thick including the gravel and concrete sub-base and stone, due to the natural slope of the yard the patio. As a result, topsoil was brought on site to raise the yard level to that of the patio. The soil is being spread in preparation of placing sod. Simultaneously, crews continue installation of the fire pit burner and applying thin stone to the island.

The exterior of the outdoor kitchen was covered with a natural thin stone that matched the existing stone exterior on the home, and the counter tops were covered with the same flagstone material that covered the new patio. For the fire-feature, a Stone Age fire pit kit was used, which is a three-piece, high-temperature concrete unit that assembles very quickly, and allowed the finish to be applied immediately after it was built.

With the addition of some outdoor furniture and decorations, this new outdoor living area was ready to entertain and provide a lifetime of enjoyment for an extremely excited and satisfied customer.