Patio Progress: Phase 3

I left you a couple of weeks ago as we were laying pavers down the walkway of our patio (and you can read about the first phase here). The third phase of our big project involved a lot more sand hauling,

navigating a tricky corner,

(here's a quick video demonstrating Denny's knack for leveling sand! From earlier in the project - you can hear Evan operating the chop saw in the background)

and basically making the most perfectly level "sandbox" I have ever seen!

Later that night E and I decided we were ready to check this patio off our to-do list, so out we went into the night (with a handy work-lamp perched in the windowsill so we could navigate the dark and work on into the night without fear of crooked lines).

When you are laying pavers you aren't supposed to apply any extra weight to the bricks (not until you tamp them down that is), so we had to get creative and use our old closet doors to distribute our weight as we sprawled out to reach the middle of the patio.

By the next morning (and no, we didn't work straight through the night!) we were ready to lay our final brick!

(imagine big smiles and corny high fives, celebrating the almost finished project we've been tackling since August). Well, we still had to finish up our one tricky edge, which would involve more cutting of bricks to fill in the gaps.

But that was a project for another day -- and another post.

Check back soon for our final installment of the Patio! It involves some heavy machinery, a helpful Craigslister from North Minneap, and a little broom-action.