A DIY Journey towards a Dream Patio

Tip: Do a Story Dream Board. Find your over-the-top Dream Patio. Find patios that intrigue you. Pick everything and anything you would love to have and include it on your board. Make it fun. Organize it. Write down what you like about each one. What would you change? Put in some color samples, and accessories that help capture the mood you're looking for. Keep it out so you can see it. Keep adding and subtracting.

Tip: Make a Floor Plan. Use tracing paper to overlay different options. Determine your possible walkways. Are there many different ways to arrange the furniture, or just one? Try to balance the room by adding some high, medium, and low points of interest. Look at your Dream Board — how are they arranging pieces?

Tip: Think outside the box. Re-think, re-purpose, and incorporate unique solutions that double as decor.

I had been dreaming of the perfect patio for a while. I've created a few in my time and I kind of knew what I wanted. I wanted my patio to live up to its potential. My journey towards a Dream Patio was launched when Princess Peach decided to make a leap through the hole in the aging screen in pursuit of a small land animal, aka a rat. So I went to search for a replacement for the screen, knowing it really didn't solve my problem and it would be throwing good money after bad, as the saying goes. A heavy duty shower curtain from the dollar store easily fit in place of the screening. This was indeed a good temporary solution as it kept the rain out as well. But all the panels needed to be replaced. We had waited long enough, and the ladder with the table etc. in front of it to keep Peach from escaping wasn't my idea of a Dream Patio. What I found was a 3′ x 6′ piece of 1/8″ Plexi-glass which fit the enclosure frame perfectly. I wanted an enclosed patio feeling even though my patio will be only partially enclosed. So, with the screen enclosure already there for structure, I thought of framing it out with 2″ x 2″ wood. The wood is for the look and feel, however it will be screwed down through the metal frame into the concrete. The plexi-glass will be glued to the wood frame with heavy duty outdoor silicone adhesive. The metal frame and the plexi-glass will then be caulked around all the edges. I bought a bunch of cheap pieces of 2″ x 2″ x 6′ wood that were relatively straight, to test out my idea. I used straight cuts instead of mitered because I couldn't count on them being perfect 45's, besides it does give it that coastal feel.

I bought Coolaroo material for making patio shades above the plexi-glass, approx. 45″ x 75″, to shield the 4:00 sun and block the rain that comes through the existing screen. I will also add floating shelves to the patio enclosure frame at the top, approximately 15″ down from the top of the frame, for some hanging pothos plants. I always loved The Cove in Deerfield Beach. It was an outdoor upscale restaurant with the bar on the water and pothos plants hanging all over. It was a very tropical look indeed.

I have come upon other things that must be addressed before I can install my wood frames.

Tip: Use the better lumber — pressure treated lumber. The boards, even with a slight warp, show light through when they are up against the metal frame. I painted the wood and sealed it with polyurethane, and it has held up well out in the elements for a while. But since I have to buy the lumber and start over anyway, I think I'll just get the pressure treated lumber. The amount of work I put into these poor quality boards isn't worth it — go for the extra cost of the proper piece of lumber for the job.

The screen enclosure frame should be spray painted, which will require removing everything from the patio, again. Then I will pressure clean the entire room, including the walls and ceilings, further cleaning and sweeping, removing all dirt and debris. Then the entire paint area must be taped and papered off for painting. One primer coat and two coats of spray paint should last a good 20 more years.

The concrete patio flooring has 3 coats of paint and is peeling in a couple areas. This involves a complex removal of all the paint, and preparing and pouring a top float-coat to fill in the stamped concrete patio floor to make a nice smooth surface. I have found that dirt and debris get caught in the many grooves of stamped concrete easily, and it is very difficult to keep clean.

Tip: The patio floor should be done before painting the metal framing, because the tape may tear off the paint on the freshly painted metal. Another tip I got from a video I watched.

I found installing a fan was going to be necessary as I continued working on my projects towards a dream patio this past summer — it had been tremendously hot. There was no electrical box in the ceiling, however. I had already gotten an estimate to run electric from the attic to the back patio; it was around $4,000 and would have involved a new electrical panel as well. It wasn't cheap, though of course that would be the way to go if you're willing to invest in it. I found I could install the fan directly through the ceiling without having to cut at all. Once I was sure this would work, I bought the fan and got started. I found the wood stud in the ceiling using a small but long drill bit until I hit the wood. By cutting off the plug on the extension cord and exposing the wires, they easily connected to the fan. Then I continued with the other wiring instructions. I bought and installed a track to hide the cord, which can be painted, but it just so happened to perfectly match my patio color already. I ran the cord diagonally to a corner to give it some character, and plugged it into a Smart Plug so it can control both the fan and the light.

I also found installing a gutter a necessity this summer. The afternoon driving rains come like clockwork as the heat of the day finally becomes too much, and the rain made my patio unusable for a while. So a friend traded me a 10′ gutter and downspout with installation for some work — I think he got the better end of the deal, though he did get a discount on the material. Anyway, the gutter helps, but more is needed. Sometimes the rains get so high that the rain comes over the frame into the patio, which brings me to one of my next projects: installing a French drain.

Installing a French drain involves digging a trench approximately 12–18″ deep, cutting and perforating a 3″ PVC pipe, and then installing it down and away from the area, embedded in pea gravel. A French drain catches the rain and directs it away from the area. I'm going to install mine on the long side of the patio where there is no existing gutter — the rain pours off the roof directly down to the edge of the patio there, filling the area and overflowing into the patio at times.

Smart plugs and lights are so convenient, and they're really affordable now. I hooked my outdoor patio fan and light up to one. I still have the remote, but for the nights I forget, or when I'm already in bed, it's pretty handy. After I installed my smart plug on my patio, I put one in my bedroom too. My fan came with a smart bulb, but I had to buy a special bulb for my bedroom — I found a really fun one that changes colors through an app on your phone.

I bought our indoor/outdoor patio furniture a few years ago, and I really love it — I can attest to its durability. The cushions that came with it weren't the greatest, though, so I purchased some beautiful outdoor Sunbrella fabric and some high density foam and made my own. I found affordable, quality foam is the key to a professional looking cushion. There is a learning curve when it comes to cutting the foam — the denser the foam, the easier it is to cut. I found a good electric knife works well on high density foam, but poorly on others. I put piping around my cushions and included zippers in the back of each. For the remaining cushions, I'll be switching to a velcro closure — far too much time was spent on the intricacies of adding a zipper.

Tip: If you want a softer feel, wrap the high-density foam with batting, remembering to account for the extra thickness.

Velcro is easy to sew in and useful for tightening cushions as they sag with time. It will make the cushion cover for the French rattan couch with metal base much easier to make, I'm sure of that! I experimented a lot and changed my design a few times on the back cushions, and had to adjust the foam quite a bit to match the sloping back of the couch and the narrowing sides down to the base — the foam cushion there is 7″ thick. I'll cut the fabric a bit extra wide so that when the cushion gets squished down over time, it can be tightened to firm it back up. In the end, a dozen or so smaller throw pillows felt more appropriate than back cushions, to better display the fine craftsmanship of the rattan. The rattan couch base is made of metal and had been spray painted with Rust-Oleum paint, but it's rusting again — it will need to be sanded down and repainted, perhaps with a clear vinyl coat over the top for extra weather protection. The rattan has pulled away from the brad nails in a few places and needs some repair. Before replacing it, I'll thoroughly clean the couch, then reweave the rattan and apply linseed oil to both the old rattan and the new.

Tip: Keep in mind how many passes you'll be making, and measure your piece of rattan so it doesn't end in the middle, where the seam would show. I picked that one up from a video I watched.

I was working on a customer's bathroom, removing and replacing a vanity, among other things. She had found a mirror on Amazon for almost $80, and I thought, I can do better than that. So I bought a glass cutter and cut some mirror I had on hand, then made a frame with my jig saw, cutting a piece of MDF board about 3″ larger than the mirror all around. I used tile adhesive to glue the mirror to the MDF frame, wrapped 3″ copper adhesive foil about 1/4″ around the mirror and frame, and used E6000 adhesive to glue round glass stones on top of the copper foil. For mounting, I used JB Weld in place of screws on my concrete wall — the patio walls have a very hard, durable stucco finish that's difficult to penetrate without a special power ratchet screw gun, and my attempts mostly just crushed the material. I managed one screw for the mirror, then switched to the JB Weld, which worked great. After that I started watching for mirror sales to make more — I found two asymmetrical ones at Hobby Lobby for $10 each and scooped them up, then made an adorable mirror with beautiful stones and amethyst gems along the border. I now have about 5 mirrors waiting to be dressed up, plus a few long mirrors that I think will be wonderful. Look out for my mirrors at Jewels' Finds and Creations Shop.

Tip: The first time I used JB Weld, I mixed too small a batch — I'd recommend at least a tablespoon each, to get enough for a proper mixing of the chemicals. The reaction makes for an extremely strong bond, but it also has a short working time, so be prepared beforehand. Keep a level handy, along with some strong tape to hold things in place until the weld sets.

I also used JB Weld to hang a floating shelf below my mirror, and I'll be adding more floating shelves to the patio enclosure, about 15″ down from the top of the screened area, for some hanging plants. It's going to be a very tropical feel indeed.