When I originally thought of landscaping a portion of my backyard to create a surface of patio stones for a firepit, I had concerns that it might be too simple and straightforward. “How hard could it really be?” was a question that I replayed over in my mind for about a week’s time. However, I quickly found out this was not the case! Landscaping is hard work!!! And more to the point, it requires immense attention to detail, while also being physically challenging at the same time. What I also came to realize was how unique my project was in its own way because I didn’t have much opportunity for “redo’s”. Creating an entertaining area by laying paving stones is a one-and-done deal. It’s difficult to go back and fix or try again if it’s not done right the first time. Therefore, I often found myself quadruple checking online and using social media in countless ways to ensure I was on the right track.

Measuring the radius of the firepit and paving stones.

Throughout this learning project, I accessed countless social media platforms: Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok to name a few. However, YouTube ended up being the most reliable and easy to follow (somewhat of a go-to) platform to get content and information for my project. I found that it was a ‘one-stop-shop’ for what I specifically needed: a good variety of amateur vs expert content, short and sweet videos if I needed a quick answer, long and detailed videos for the times I needed to see every aspect of the project through to completion, visuals that could be easily paused and replayed, comments and replies from people who had viewed and used the videos to help with their own DIY projects, and no ads (thanks so uBlock origin and AdBlock). For a project like this, I found YouTube to be the ideal social media platform and I would highly recommend it for anyone taking on their own backyard or house-related project.

Special shout-out to the following videos/resources for being my most frequent ‘go-to’s’ when I hit a roadblock:

• This Old House – How to Install Concrete Pavers
• PavestoneCompany – Pavestone Paver Installation
• Bro Builds Patio Firepit
• 10-Step Guide to Installing Pavers

Countless steps and new learnings went into this project, which included things such:

• Creating a rough sketch of the final layout and measuring the dimensions of the area that was going to be landscaped
• Getting line locates completed, courtesy of SaskPower, SaskEnergy, and SaskTel
• Understanding City of Regina bylaws regarding Firepit Regulations
• Properly measuring, grading, and prepping the area to prepare for digging/excavation
• Digging to an appropriate depth (7-9” below ground) to prep for the base layer
• Creating the base layer using gravel/crusher dust (approximately 80 gallons of crusher dust were poured and tamped down for my project)
• Leveling the base layer before adding 1” of sand throughout the area
• Laying the paving stones in the desired pattern
• Tamping and compressing the paving stones
• Adding sand and sweeping it into the cracks to help seal the stones into place

Overall, between researching, planning, and carrying out my project, I probably spent 40-50 hours on this project. And my firepit area isn’t even that large! Many of the projects that I watched on YouTube had a 8-10’ diameter circular paving stone area, and mine was only 6’ (although most videos I watched had 2 people working on the project, whereas I did almost everything on my own with very little help from my husband). Perhaps I was too thorough with some aspects of my project, but since there weren’t many opportunities for re-do’s, I wanted to ensure it was done properly and thoroughly the first time.

Hole before starting to lay the base layer of gravel.

I have taken away so much amazing learning from this project. First off, landscaping is extremely hard work! I have a new-found appreciation for anyone who does landscaping or DIY projects around their yard. It requires a significant amount of planning and coordinating before starting the project. I’m glad I did my due-diligence with researching because at one point I was tempted to just start digging…that would’ve been a mistake that would’ve been tough to fix! Secondly, I didn’t know that each step of the process (digging, base layer, sand, paving stones) had to be so precisely measured and completed. I found myself measuring, remeasuring, and then measuring again before I picked up the shovel to ensure I had my plans right. Lastly, this project has helped reaffirm for me the value of social media, in general. The amount of content across the countless platforms is truly overwhelming (as in ChatGPT-capabilities type of overwhelming). There is truly something for everyone and everything: you just have to be willing to put in the time to find the stuff that’s right for you!

Learning online to complete this project definitely came with its fair share of challenges. Watching hours of videos and sorting through various resources that may or may not be useful eventually lost its fun, but it was more than worth it to have found the resources that were applicable and of value to me. Overall, it was an incredible and rewarding experience. To be able to look at our landscaped firepit area and enjoy it for years to come is honestly priceless! Knowing that I completed it (almost) all on my own is such an amazing feeling. I don’t like running, but perhaps this is what it feels like to have just finished running a marathon. The best part is that it’s an area that will be used for entertaining friends and family throughout the summer months when it’s time to kick back and relax!

Filling the gaps with sand. Almost done!

Landscape paving stone project complete.

Thanks so much for following along with my learning project. Here is one last video showing the final stages and eventual completion of my project (sped up 20x to save you from watching a 4-hour video). Enjoy!

Audio credit from the video:

9 to 5 – Dolly Parton

Takin’ Care of Business – Bachman-Turner Overdrive

Manic Monday – The Bangles

Work From Home – Fifth Harmony

On Friday, the paving stones finally arrived!!! (*shrieks like a small child*)

Pallet of paving stones

It was so exciting to start working on this part of the project because, up until now, it’s been a lot of grunt work and physical labour. My body still hurts today, but knowing that the end-product was in sight helped me to fight through the body aches and sore muscles.

Saturday was spent outside the whole afternoon completing these last stages of the project. The first step was leveling 1” of sand throughout the circular area using PVC pipe and a flat object, such as a 2×4”. The PVC pipe helped to ensure a consistent 1” depth of sand throughout and the 2×4” was extremely helpful at leveling the sand once it was added. Here are the steps that I did to complete this project, and some tips I learned along the way thanks to YouTube videos courtesy of Bro Builds Patio Firepit, This Old House, and Pavestone Company.

Tip #1: make sure your conduit or PVC pipe has an outside diameter of 1”. Most pipes’ dimensions are measured using the inside dimensions, which can actually make a significant difference. Thankfully I had learned this from Bro Builds before I bought my own PVC pipe, so I brought my measuring tape with me to Rona when buying mine.

The process of leveling the 1” of sand is actually quite tedious and time-consuming. Making sure the sand has no bumps or ridges is crucial before laying down the paving stones. You don’t want your paving stones to end up being wavier than SK roads after the winter thaw!

Tip #2: don’t tamp down or put added pressure on the sand before laying the pavers down. (I have a video that will be in my final blog post of me almost crying after my dog decided to walk across the sand when I wasn’t looking). You don’t want the sand compacted because once you put the pavers down, you want them to have room to set into the sand beneath it. This will help to keep your pavers in place, as well.

Tip #3: when it’s time to put the pavers in place, make sure you set the pavers down right where you want them. Try not to slide them around after putting them down or it will make ridges in the sand and cause the pavers to become unlevel over time.

Tip #4: plan out your paving stone placement before starting. My pavers had a variety of light, dark and mixed colours, so distributing them throughout the design will help make the finished product look great. This is where I got my husband’s assistance, which leads into another tip…

Tip #5: having someone to help hand you paving stones or arrange them around the circle saves a lot of time, including a lot of bending over (my back is sore enough today, so shout out to my husband for his assistance with this part!)

Once the pavers were in place, it was time to ensure they stayed there. This involved putting down some extra sand and sweeping it into the cracks.

Tip #6: to help the sand settle into the cracks, use a hand tamper and gently pound down the pavers. This helped the sand to fall into the cracks, and also sets the pavers into place that much better. Using a broom, I continued to push sand into the cracks and also added some extra sand around the outer ring to hold the pavers in place.

Tip #7: for next time, I would have measured and dug a hole that has a diameter that is a few inches wider. This would’ve allowed me to put edge restraints around the perimeter of the stones to help to keep the paver stones in place. I’m slightly concerned that the outside ring of pavers might start moving over time. At the same time, I think this would provide a sharp final look to the paving stone area.

All in all, I’m really happy with the finished product, and I’m proud myself. This project was a lot to take on and it was both mentally and physically exhausting. These last few steps that I did on Saturday took me about 5 hours to complete. I recorded this whole process (excluding the last few minutes because my phone died), so a video of me completing these steps is in the works. I’m just waiting for it to upload and then I will include this in my final blog post. In the meantime, here are some before, during, and after pictures of the entire process. Thanks so much for reading, learning with me, and following along!

Area of my backyard before the project began.

Hole before starting to lay the base layer of gravel.

Base layer of gravel is now complete.

Finished product with paving stones in place.

Finished product with paving stones in place.

Now that my body has slightly recovered from digging the firepit area, I have moved onto creating the base layer, which involves the repetitive task of leveling the gravel: one wheelbarrow-full at a time. In the evenings (when it hasn’t been raining), I’ve spent several hours in what feels like an infinite loop of moving gravel (also known as ‘crusher dust’):

shoveling, dumping, raking, leveling, and tamping…

shoveling, dumping, raking, leveling, and tamping…

shoveling, dumping, raking, leveling, and tamping.

This layer of crusher dust serves as the base layer for the paving stone firepit area. Since the planning of the project is in the past, I am now into the stages of actual seeing things come together. This is such a satisfying feeling, and at the same time, it has allowed me to reflect on how beneficial (or unhelpful) the online resources I have accessed actually are.

One of the resources that I have frequently referred to throughout this project is the YouTube video Fire Pit Patio Build – DIY Project by Bro Builds. Here are my critiques on this resource thus far:

Pros:

• They provide a very honest account of what goes into a project like this (for example, there’s a lot of digging and manual labour involved).
• Throughout the video, they provided ‘Bro Tips’, which are tips and tricks that would help anyone who’s planning to do their own DIY fire pit patio build.
• They discussed what mistakes they made and provided advice of what they would change if they could do the project all over again.
• The final layout of the project (a circular fire pit patio area made of paving stones) was quite similar to the idea I had in mind, so I have been able to (and plan to continue to) follow the steps in the video through to the end of the project.

Cons:

• Appears to be the first time they’ve done a project like this. They definitely weren’t experts in this area!
• Countless errors or mistakes were made along the way, so you couldn’t just watch the video and learn from it that way. Their commentary was crucial in providing advice or suggestions of what they would’ve done differently.
• Didn’t provide advice about where to get the circular-shaped paving stone kit, specifically the wedge/pie shaped patio stones. I will discuss this in one of my future posts, but I ended up going to 4-5 different stores before realizing that paving stones needed to make a circular shape had to be ordered in a special kit. More on that later!

The 10-Step Guide to Installing Pavers pdf guide has been another resource I have often accessed throughout my project. The positives and negatives of this resource are:

Pros:

• Short, sweet, and to the point. The step-by-step instructions are not overly wordy, but still provide enough detail for someone familiar with the end-goal of the project to be able to ‘do it right’ the first time.
• Pictures that are included in the guide helped to visualize each step. Any equipment that is required for each step is included in the pictures/descriptions, as well.
• A one-page (double-sided) guide was great to have on hand while working outside. I was often dirty, working in the sun, and had to refer to the instructions often. Having a one-page guide (I printed it out) was useful so that I didn’t need to have my laptop or phone outside with me.

Cons:

• A minimal amount of detail. The guide assumes that there is a solid base knowledge in place and doesn’t overly elaborate on the specifics of each step.
• Difficult to visualize what each step looks like while performing each step/task. The pictures mostly show the ‘end result’ of each step.

Here are some pictures that I took tonight as I approach the end of creating the base layer. I still need probably 4-6 pails (5-gallon pails) worth of crusher dust (15 pails of crusher dust have already been used). Up next is finishing off the base layer and then creating the 1” sand bedding layer. After that, the fun part begins: laying down the actual paving stones!

Hole before starting to lay the base layer.

The base layer, nearly complete.

Some of the tools used to create the base layer.

Update (as of June 11, 2023):

The base layer of crusher dust is now complete! Tamped and leveled, 3″ below the surface of the grass. This will allow for 1″ of sand and 2 3/8″ paver stones to be added. Paving stones are ordered and should be delivered this upcoming Friday. Hoping to install those next weekend. Almost there!

Base layer of gravel is now complete.

Base layer of gravel is now complete.

This past week was the least enjoyable part of this project: the digging! Several times while digging, my brain had to remind my body that “this is fun, we’re having fun!” Thank goodness for Robaxacet!

This stage of my project involved digging down far enough so that a solid base layer could be created. One thing that I’ve learned through my research is that, depending on the usage of the paved area (ie: to park vehicles on vs to leisurely walk on), a certain depth for a base layer needs to be obtained in order to ensure that the finished product will last for years to come. Depending on the thickness of your paving stones, most backyard projects need to be dug to a depth of 7-9” (minimum 4” of crushed rock/gravel, 1” of sand, and then the thickness of your pavers determines the depth that needs to be dug to). For my project, I had to dig down 8” because the paving stones I’m using are 3” thick.

Person digging

Image courtesy of YouTube: Fire Pit Patio Build – DIY Project by Bro Builds.

I’m a pretty active and physically fit person, but I quickly realized that people who do landscaping do not receive enough credit! Digging to a depth of 8” is not only hard work, but is much farther down than meets the eye. I’m exhausted and every part of my body currently hurts: my legs from squatting, my hands and arms from shoveling/digging, as well as my neck and back from bending over. Here is a quick video that shows all the work and digging that went into my project today.

Fortunately, most sources that I have referenced, including the 10-Step Guide to Installing Pavers, tell me that the digging is the toughest part (at least in regards to the physical demands) of the project. FYI: most of the sources I have accessed for this project have been videos, however, the ‘10-Step Guide to Installing Pavers’ pdf document that I referenced above has been a terrific resource that simplifies each step of this process. It contains more steps than I will need for my project, but it breaks the entire project down in a 2-page guide. I highly recommend it!

What are some DIY projects you’ve done around your house or yard? I need the motivation right now to convince my sore muscles that this is worth it.

Also, does anyone have any yoga, mindfulness, or stretching recommendations? My body needs them. Until then, I’m off to my chiropractor!

Around my home, the past couple of weeks have been so productive and beneficial for me. It’s been great to be outside: summer is in sight, and it’s been a joy to start getting my backyard in shape. I’ve spent numerous hours outside since the start of May, and most significantly, I have begun the initial stages of prepping the area of my backyard for where the firepit and entertaining area will go. The plan (seen in the rough sketch image below) is to have a circular firepit (which we are getting custom built) that will be 36″ in diameter, surrounded by 12″ of paving stones. The firepit and paving stones will be properly landscaped (properly graded, including the ground below the firepit prepped) so that this feature will be able to withstand prairie weather for years to come.

To ensure this is done properly, I’ve spent several hours researching and educating myself on how to properly landscape and prepare for high traffic areas, such as paving stones. Shoutout to This Old House – How to Install Concrete Pavers and PavestoneCompany – Pavestone Paver Installation on YouTube for the helpful knowledge and tips on properly landscaping and laying paving stones.

I’m a planner, so when I commit to something, I want to make sure it’s done right the first time. For the initial stages of this project, here are some of the things I learned:

• Since there will be digging and excavating taking place, the first thing on the to-do list was to have SaskPower, SaskEnergy, and SaskTel come to stake out our backyard and determine where each of their underground lines are running (already completed). Fortunately, the area where we plan to dig and put our firepit isn’t near where the underground lines are (thank goodness, because this part will involve digging approximately 8” underground to pack down the area where the paving stones and firepit will end up…more on this will be discussed in my next post).
• Using the location of the underground lines, we confirmed where we want our firepit to be, and then determined the perimeter to where the flat landscaping stones will extend to. In the images below, the yellow flags are the location of the SaskEnergy lines, and the orange/red flags determine the perimeter of the project (the orange flag in the middle represents the centre of where the firepit will be). From the centre of the firepit, I measured so that the edge of the area is 8’ away, and any building material is at least 10’ away, which is the required distance that City of Regina bylaws regarding Firepit Regulations dictate that firepits must be from any combustible material (ie: buildings, porches, and decks).

Now that the area is staked out, the next steps of this project are to begin prepping the area (digging and properly grading), including creating the base layer that the firepit and patio stones will be placed upon. To be continued…