The Reilly's: The Backyard

Holy cow, the backyard. When we were buying the house, we really wanted a sizable yard for the kids to play. However, here in Colorado, this is difficult to come by and very expensive. There were not very many lots left that even accommodated the house that we were set on and we didn't want a walk out basement either. So, this lot was the best fit for our needs: it is about double the size of the average lot in the neighborhood, not a walk out, has a mountain view through other lots, could fit an extra garage, and didn't break the bank. But it was a bit challenging in its pie shape and sight easement restrictions. Because of it being a corner lot on a curve, the city requires the house be pushed back from the road about 3 times the required set back so that there are clear sight lines from the road. This made for a big front yard and good curb appeal but also significantly decreased the size of the backyard. Thankfully, Toll allowed me to rotate the house on the lot and flip the plan to best utilize the side yard space. So, we knew from the beginning that we had some interesting challenges with the awkward space but thought we could make lemonade out of lemons. Patrick and I started brainstorming right away about what we wanted in an outdoor space and once we moved in and really had a feel for the space we had (or didn't have), we clearly had goals and objectives on what would be necessary and aesthetically pleasing.

We started meeting with landscapers in the late Summer last year to get quotes and their ideas, which ended up being quite frustrating. Turns out, they kept asking us for ideas and we didn't feel they came up with very many good ideas. The prices were outrageous and no company seemed to be very reliable. So, we reached out to a 2 man crew that some of our friends had used and liked. It was a gamble: he does not really do a design so it was all on us. His price was waaay better than the others and so we planned to start in the late Spring.

Patrick and I spent a lot of time measuring the yard and drawing our plan to scale on graph paper with exact measurements so there was no question. We spent countless hours trying to determine how high, wide, big, and what space was needed to make it feel natural, comfortable, and functional. It was a ton of pressure since its permanent, expensive, and neither one of us are landscape architects. But we actually enjoyed creating a vision that met our needs exactly.

So, we determined that our main objectives were to create privacy from the home behind us, have a large flat grass area for the kids to play, and make it look as natural as possible. We really tried hard to make it NOT look like privacy was our main goal. Since our space is limited in the back, we dedicated the entire space to patio and trees to create privacy. This allowed the entire side yard to be dedicated to the kids.

We worked with the side slope of the yard by creating 3 separate patios, descending by one step as the slope increased. The round patios allowed us more room for bigger trees and space to layer them for a more natural look. We definitely did not want a line of trees. And we thought the different levels would add interest and define the space for its different functions. The top, small patio is for the hot tub. The middle patio has the fireplace which blocks the view of the neighbor from our sliding glass door, and the larger patio has a sitting bench with a wall to create privacy from the yard and road, encloses the space to create a cozy feeling, and provides seating in general and for a fire pit. The patio then steps down into the yard and opens up into the large grassy area for the kids.

We wanted to maximize the grass but shaped it this way to add landscaping berms for more dimension and space for plants. A poured concrete walk way connects the yard to the driveway.

Here's a look out the back sliding door. There is not much space and the neighbor's porch is, unfortunately, right across from ours.

Here's a look at the front yard. I felt the stairs were way too narrow and there were only 12 plants in the huge planting bed. Remodeling the front steps to create a wider, more proportionate entry was also part of the project.

We cut out cardboard to make sure we knew exactly how tall and wide the fireplace needed to be to obstruct the view. It had to be right.

We sprayed painted the patio outline on the dirt and provided a copy of our detailed plans. But once things got moving, some changes had to be made and exact measurements seemed to go out the window. Patrick and I knew how important it was to have the curves of the patio just right or else it would look unnatural and we needed every inch for the trees. So, after making a few comments, the forming crew told us to form it ourselves and they'd be back to pour it in the morning. We spent the entire afternoon forming up the patio, but at least we knew it was right. This was the beginning of a very long, stressful, but exciting summer.

They demoed the front steps and sidewalk.

The kids had a great time watching all the action. We were told it would take 3 weeks, which quickly changed to 5 weeks, and actually took about 8 weeks.

The morning the patio was poured was super crazy. There was a house being built across the street so between all of that crew and my concrete crew with 2 concrete trucks, it made for a reeeally busy street that morning and a large flat bed truck ran into a few of the cars on the street. Then the Toll managers had to come over, the trucks got pinned and trapped on the curve between all the trucks, and then the police came to resolve the jam and other issues. Quite the day, but it all got done regardless and looked awesome. The concrete guys finished it off with interesting detail for a more custom look.

It was incredible how much bigger the space felt with the patios in place.

It was super stressful for me trying to determine the exact size and scale of everything. I had to tell them exactly how to build the stairs: the rise and run, how much it flared, how far it extended. I had thought about it for a long time, but it's difficult to know til you see it and then it's too late. I had 5 minutes to spray paint the outline of the walkway on the ground. I had to make decisions fast and hope they were right and that Patrick would approve when he got home that day.

I was very happy with the way it turned out. I think the scale and size and shape of the steps is how it should've been from the start. No more house on a toothpick. The wider, more substantial stair anchors the house and highlights the entry just like I envisioned. There were numerous people walking by that stopped to make comments on how much they liked the steps. What a relief!

Spray painting the sidewalk to the grass that didn't exist was quite challenging. That committed me to the location of the yard and I wanted a bit of a curve but not too much. So tough to know. But I am happy with how it turned out as well.

I figured the stressful part was over since concrete is super permanent and all the other elements were based off of the patio but I was wrong. The more the project progressed, the more involved I became. I spent most of the day outside watching and working. I got a really good tan.

Next step after the patios, was the tree placement. Since the space was sooo tight, the trees had to be placed in order. I had gone down to the nursery (knee deep in mud) to tag the exact trees we wanted. At the last minute (since we didn't really know the prices of anything til the last minute) we decided to trade out the first spruce from and 10 footer to a 15 footer. What a great move that was! We also added an extra clump of Aspens. Planting the 15 foot spruce was nerve wracking. It really was too big for the little CAT but he did a great job. By the end of the day, we had 2 Aspens and the big evergreen in place.

Meanwhile, Frank was building the sitting wall. We ended up extending it 2 feet and making it one block higher to make the proportions right. It was really nice to be able to make some changes as we went. And the diamond pattern breaks were added to make a plain concrete patio more interesting.

The sitting wall from the road and yard looked amazing and also provided some privacy like we had hoped. We were super pleased with the look and the flow.

Another spruce was added and then the fireplace was started. Because the fireplace box had to be straight but the patio was curved, this created much confusion for Frank. He started building it and it wasn't centered and was crooked on the patio, not parallel to the house. It looked ridiculous. So, I had him take down the few rows of block he built to start over. With the language barrier and other issues, they told me they didn't know how to make it straight. I told them I'd figure it out and tell them in the morning. That evening, Patrick and I spent hours outside figuring it out. I called Dad and he gave me ideas on how to solve the problem and we implemented his plan. We used string to find parallel to the house and also the straight line across the patio. Then we drew with chalk on the patio exactly where it should go and then placed the blocks in that location. The next morning, they mortared the blocks into place. That was an intense day. But we got it right. Everyday was some crisis. This was way more work and involvement than I had anticipated.

We also had to level out the side yard about 2-3 feet. The clay soils were so incredibly hard that the CAT couldn't even penetrate the dirt. It was actually lifting the tractor up off the ground. Just before Renee about gave up on leveling the yard, it rained for 3 days which softened the ground so he could grade it. That was lucky. It's so much more usable flat. We did not plan for a retaining wall, as we didn't want to pay for one. But Renee didn't like our idea of a slope and showed up the next day with a bunch of granite boulders and built a small wall. Even better.

It looks awesome. It adds more dimension, texture, and shape to the yard.

Building the side walls and columns were also challenging. I knew what I wanted them to look like but my initial measurements were way off. Thankfully, they were super patient and helped me hold string so I could get the angle and height just right. It's all about proportions. It had to be right.

The wall at the top of the stairs ended up twice as tall than at the bottom. That blew my mind but it's what looked correct. Who knew? Then it was, should the columns be parallel with the wall or house? Unfortunately, the stairs were framed and poured a few inches off which created the right wall to meet the column at a different place than the left. It was almost done but looked absolutely terrible. I couldn't believe no one had noticed. I was reluctant to bring such a huge error to their attention, but I could not live with it. They acknowledged it and tore down the wall and rebuilt it. This created a small gap at the top few stairs which was filled in with extra concrete which frustrated me because it was already "repaired" but it's not super noticeable and in the end, it looks great.

That about did me in.

I had to run back to the nursery to pick out more spruces but most of them were gone. Thankfully, they had these beauties on the back lot and we snagged some really pretty blue and green spruces. The kids spent a lot of time at the nursery this summer.

With all the trees in place, the fireplace was underway. This was only the second fireplace Frank had built so Patrick actually came up with the way to build the curve into the side like we wanted. The fireplace became a huge hang up trying to figure it all out.

While we were all pondering the fireplace structure, Frank put on the stone. We took it down to the ground to make the wall look taller and hide the edge of the patio. The other deciduous trees were planted: another Aspen clump flanking the spruces, a maple and crabs.

Stoned, capped, and mortared. Amazing.

Once a plan was in place, the rest of the fireplace went up pretty quick. And just like that, the neighbor's patio was gone!

And the stone transformed it.

The side yard was leveled, the berms were made, and the boulders and plants were all placed. Renee was really accommodating in placing it all in the exact location I specified. The fence posts were installed and then came the sod.

And by the afternoon, our dirt pit became a yard!

Patrick and I started on our project of the cedar privacy screen. Since there is a huge electrical box in the corner of the lot, no tree could fit. Thankfully, the HOA approved the privacy screen.

After waiting weeks for the grass to take root, the kids were finally allowed on it. They couldn't get enough. We played outside til dark for the rest of the summer.

The kids actually enjoyed it as much as we hoped they would. Super rewarding.

We wanted to replace the grass in the tree lawn on the side yard with rock. This would save water, mowing, and trucks run over it all the time so it looked terrible. After pricing it out with Renee, I decided to do it myself and save $2,000. I ordered 13 tons of cobble stone and it took me a week to shovel it all into place. Rock is heavy. But it wasn't so bad and definitely worth the savings. At this point, I just wanted the yard projects to be over.

And the gas insert finally completed the project. It's DONE!

This project ended up completely consuming the summer, but the kids were such troopers. We spent a lot of time outside playing in dirt and shopping for plants. We became friends with the crew and they were incredibly nice to the kids. Although it was really quite stressful, I am really pleased with how it all turned out. We could not have gotten this result for this price elsewhere. We ended up completely redoing the front flower bed as well, replacing the 12 original plants with 55 plants. So, all the yard work is officially completed!

It really is just how we envisioned.

It feels like a cozy, mountain retreat.

It's like the size of our house expanded. The kids are able to come and go easily and there is so much space outside for them to play. The back door stayed open all summer. We can't get enough of the new space.