An Eight-Foot Veranda

Utah code requires a 3-foot by 3-foot solid landing outside each door. Compacted dirt will not meet this code requirement. It also doesn’t meet our code either. The amount of dirt that has been tracked in and then swept out of this house is phenomenal, so getting that solid landing has been the ultimate goal from the get go. By the time the inspector put this requirement on the list, we had already ordered the pavers for the entire veranda. At that point, we were just waiting for delivery of pavers and for Riley’s arrival.

In early July, the folks from Loa Builders delivered 1800 pavers on nine pallets which they strategically placed around the house.

 
At the same time, they used their fork lift to move Mort the Mixer from the middle of the driveway to a resting spot while he awaits repairs.

While we finished laying tile in the kitchen, Riley enjoy a few hours of removing straw and more resistant material from veranda.

Then Mary and Riley used a screed board to level the base of the veranda.

  

 

Then Scott used a roller filled with water and sand to compact the dirt.

 

Riley watered the dirt in order to compress it even more.

Next the boys laid black pavers around the perimeter of the veranda. This served two purposes: to hide the unsightly cement work that bounded the veranda and  to raise the entire veranda 2 1/4 inches. This would help keep rain water away from the earthen walls.

It does rain in Torrey. This summer the monsoon arrived on Big Apple Day. It has rained, off and on, almost everyday since.

We needed to decide on a pattern. The choices we considered were running bond and herringbone. We chose herringbone.

Since one never knows what the future holds, we decided to build a wheelchair ramp on the west side of the house. Now we'll always be able to enter the house easily, and, if we should ever get a piano, it will be a cinch to get it inside.

Following the initial screed activity, we had to screed the area one more time, this time adding sand to fill the space. We would set the pavers in this sand.

Riley and I got right to work setting the pavers in place.

As you can see from this movie, we were serious about getting the job done quickly.

Riley swept sand into the spaces between the pavers.

At the same time, Scott cut and placed pavers in the spaces against the house where whole pavers didn't fit.

At last we were done. I'm sure we'll be spending several moments every day sitting here.