[aine]

we have a very large area at the back of our house, it would cost too much to pave it with patio slabs even though this would be my first choice, so we are going to concrete it. my husband had someone measuring the area yesterday and the price is affordable.

the area will be a patio area, place to park the car and area for kids to ride around on bikes etc.

i'm just wondering if anyone has concrete out back and if it is easy enough to maintain and i'm also looking for ideas to accesorise the area. i'm definitely going to buy some pots and plant up with nice flowers and spring flowering bulbs

i would also like to separate the area where we will have the patio furniture and bbq from the rest of the area. i was thinking of a little stone wall (approx 2.5 foot high) with two little piers and i would get two nice lanterns....the area is wired for outdoor lighting. i'm just wondering if anyone has any recommendations or advice...could the little walls be built on top of the slab of concrete or would there need to be a foundation? or has anyone done anything similar in their gardens


thank you and looking forward to hearing from you

[ponddigger]

hi aine,just get the guy doing the concrete slab to put extra concrete under where you are building the wall. yours ponddigger

[aine]

thanks for that ponddigger, i will say that to him when he statrs the job

[aine]

back again!
concrete wasn't done last year but hopfully all going well it will be done this summer...have enough money almost saved

just looking for ideas to make it a nice looking area.....don't want a big ugly grey looking area of concrete

would love advice/ideas

[catman]

Hi Aine, How about trying Imprinted Concrete? It can look as good as paving and can be coloured and imprinted with lots of different varities. I've attached a link to just one of the companies in Ireland that do it so you can see an example of it but I would suggest shopping around for some good prices. With the way things are at the moment you should get some very competitive prices.

http://www.imprintedconcrete.ie/index.php?cat=stencil-crete

[kindredspirit]

Hi Aine,

What about putting down gravel instead of concrete? (That's river type gravel, not chippings.)

It'll look far better than an expanse of bland concrete and it's much, much cheaper. You can get different sizes of gravel from pea-gravel upwards.

[therickmoister]

Hi Aine
I would think again about concrete after the last 2 winters, some of my friends who have concrete areas where they park their cars, have found that the salt on the car tyres from the road grit, caused the surface of the concrete to break up and now it looks terrible.To repair it properly means taking up the concrete and replacing it with new concrete.This is a rural area so we would not have that much salt on the roads.

[kindredspirit]

[aine]

thanks so much for the replies

i really like the imprinted concrete i have to show it to my husband later

its a pity that the concrete was damaged by the bad weather....gosh, i've been saving so long and would go mad if it had to be all taken up cos of weather damage...thats if i ever get it done!!!

just wondering, though, would that gravel be suitable for children on bikes etc?

[kindredspirit]

If I was a kid (maybe I still am! ) I'd much prefer to be sliding the back wheel of my bike across gravel than on concrete!

They could make a little "Speedway" track out of it.

[aine]

ha ha!!...... but the gravel wouldn't be kind to my timber floors when they get brought in on their shoes!!!


thanks again kindredspirit!