I’m going through withdrawals y’all.

[USMCCrashCrew89]

One of the things they don’t mention when people are talking you into buying a fixer upper, is that you don’t get to focus on the fun stuff for YEARS. Fortunately I finally had a chance to undertake a "fun" project and get a patio poured in our side yard that is directly off the kitchen and garage. With pretty much a blank canvas to work with, anyone have anything they wish they did or didn’t find worthwhile after they did it?

Currently I am thinking a roofed pergola/gazebo structure (once I can afford to pay for lumber again) on the left hand side, with the cookers living on the right hand side, but other than that I’m just ready to have the coolers back out of storage!

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

I'd run conduit under the pad so you have the option to run electrical down the road. Also I can't tell if that's siding or painted concrete but make sure to run expansion board along the building and then route and seal it afterwards. IF you pour direct against the house your fun patio could end up destroying your houses foundation.

Looks like you already have a gas line ran?

[CaptainMike]

Power, water, and sewer drain if feasible, even if it's just stubbed out. If you're going to do a structure of some sort then make a plan and set some post bases in concrete. Footings are better than just a slab on grade, but I hope you're putting rebar in the perimeter and remesh in the slab. Definitely dig some footings under the post bases if you use them, 16" x 16" x 12" minimum. And make sure it drains away from the structures. Also, that drain in the slab might give you some problems, any way you can lower it so it gets completely covered with concrete? Some of this might be obvious, but that's what I see from your pic.

I feel your pain in the fixer upper department. I've been either building from scratch or fixing up one place or another for 40 years now and it has plumb wore me out. Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel with the current home remodel and this is the last one for me. I turn 60 in a couple of months and it's time to start indulging in some other pastimes.

This is going to be a nice area, keep us posted on your progress.

[JakeT]

Only thing I'd add to Mike's advice is to go with at least 5" of concrete and minimum remesh if not #3 rebar @ 18" o.c. I'm not sure what kind of soil you've got there in Indiana but if it is in any way expansive, you'll want to make sure you've got the reinforcement.

[CaptainMike]

Good point JakeT. Ice heave is what comes to mind in Indiana. I see it here in Mt Shasta from time to time and it can really mess up a slab.

[Jfrosty27]

Make it bigger.

[Skip]

Agree. Make it as big as you want------and then add a little more. Now is the time, later it will be more of a pain to add to it.

[LA Pork Butt]

Use graph paper for the patio. Cut out the appropriate sizes of every thing you want to have. See how it fits and then if you can afford it make it larger.

[USMCCrashCrew89]

Thanks all for the input! I know just two things about concrete: 1. It is going to crack 2. I don’t want any part in pouring, so this is one of the few things I’ve contracted out.

I do have natural gas stubbed out (it’s stubbed on both ends), even though I don’t have a gas grill since we had it trenched for a water line anyway. I’m relying on the garage to run electric around the perimeter. Unfortunately that’s about as big as I can go, since what you see is more or less the entire yard. I am excited to have a nice space to cook/entertain though.

[Redwng]

We had a pergola at a house we had in MI, that was pretty much a waste for what we wanted to do. We would definitely not do that again, the space was much more usable when I closed the top in.