Inexpensive Outdoor Patio

Originally when we bought our house, we thought we wanted as much land as we could afford. Fast forward 5 years and we are still working on landscaping our 1.2 acre plot. In order to save money, my husband and I have tackled a lot of projects on our own. There are some things we have hired out like the pool and surrounding concrete but we knew we wanted to add a visually pleasing patio near the pool. While we would have loved to hire someone to complete the patio, I knew we could save money by doing it ourselves. Follow me as I transform a boring area off of our pool into an inexpensive outdoor patio area!

Researching Cost and Materials

When we originally moved in we created a walkway in our grass using large premade stepping stones we bought from Lowes. For this project I wanted to utilize the same design idea on a bigger scale to keep things cohesive.

Lowes and Home Depot both have great options for concrete stepping stones at relatively fair prices. Home Depot is closer to my house so we went and purchased 18in x 18in concrete stepping stones for this project. If you are a Veteran, Home Depot and Lowes both have a loyalty rewards program. By using the Veteran discount, I was able to get 10% off of all the materials I used for this project.

In total, we ended up purchasing 55 concrete stepping stones for a total price of $246.51. Make sure when you are selecting stones you inspect each one; often times these stones can be damaged at the big box stores.

As luck would have it, several of our neighbors were doing backyard renovations at the same time I was planning this patio. They lovingly gave me all of the pea gravel I needed to complete this project for FREE!

Lastly, I needed edger to define the patio and help keep the pea gravel in place. Originally I purchased the no dig plastic edger but I am currently switching it out for metal edger because I prefer the look of the metal. It is simply too hot for the plastic edger in Texas, I found that it would warp and change in the direct sun.

Getting Started On The Inexpensive Outdoor Patio

First, I leveled the area I was placing the patio. The existing area already had weed block and a base layer of crushed granite which saved me some time. Next, I installed the original plastic no dig edger.

Once the ground was level, I began laying all of the cement stepping stones. I checked to make sure each stone was level and in line with a large leveler after I put each stone into its final resting place. Also, using string and stakes help maintain an even line while laying down stones. Make sure to do whatever is best and easiest for you.

Next, I began filling in the spaces between the stepping stones with pea gravel. Adding pea gravel was the longest and most physical part of this entire project. I used my handy garden cart to load and move the pea gravel from my front yard to my backyard.

Finally, I evened out all of the pea gravel until everything was in place. I used Mulch Glue and sprayed the pea gravel to ensure the pea gravel would stay in place.

Finishing Touches

After this project was complete, I realized I should have used metal edger instead of the no dig plastic edger. In the near future I will change out the plastic edger for metal edger. Metal edger is also easy to install it is just more expensive.

Currently we are installing an in-ground trampoline and DIY all wood swing set for the kids. Follow along because those projects will be hitting the blog soon!