I have lived in Idaho most of my life. I love the dramatically changing seasons, especially when the temperatures rise, the windows are opened, and the scent of spring is allowed to seep in. I love the smell of blooming lilacs, fresh cut grass, and something yummy cooking on a bbq grill. I cherish the few glorious months of summer and want to spend every second outside.
Having a beautiful outdoor living space in Idaho is a necessity.
Our first glimpse of the back patio at Pheasant Run, resembled a paintball range, with bare concrete walls that you could hide behind if you were being shot at. The only features that we saw as beneficial were a gas line coming up through the concrete floor and electrical outlets and lighting around the edges. The rest was a drab, gray, blank canvas. Lucky for me, Curtis wasted no time brainstorming, daydreaming, and researching how to create an intimate but welcoming outdoor space.
Our first glimpse of the back patio at Pheasant Run, resembled a paintball range, with bare concrete walls that you could hide behind if you were being shot at. The only features that we saw as beneficial were a gas line coming up through the concrete floor and electrical outlets and lighting around the edges. The rest was a drab, gray, blank canvas. Lucky for me, Curtis wasted no time brainstorming, daydreaming, and researching how to create an intimate but welcoming outdoor space.
Top Priority - Pizza Oven
For six years, our outdoor pizza oven had been the heart of our summer gatherings. Not building a new one was simply not an option. First, we had to decide where to build it and what type of design. As promised before, I will dedicate an entire post to the building of the pizza oven.
Experience tells us that our guests like to watch the pizza cooking, so we wanted to have room around the opening of the oven for interested by-standers. Also, we didn't want to use prime patio space by having the structure actually on the patio.
By late August, pallets of concrete, cinderblock, insulation and stone were being delivered from our favorite local supplier Rocky Mountain Supply. The actual pizza oven kit arrived by semi in a 1,200 lb. crate from Magnaini Imports, Inc, Healdsburg, Ca.
The Great Wall
The Great Wall of China was built over thousands of years, through several different dynasties and it stretches over 3,000 miles. Many days during the rocking of the pizza oven and outside patio wall, I could see in Curtis' eyes that he felt like he might as well be building the Great Wall of China!
He has always loved working with stone and has done several fireplaces, accent walls, exteriors and of course, our first pizza oven. Many of the previous projects, Curtis used cultured stone which is much easier because it is lighter, flat on the back side and generally comes in 6-8 repeating sizes, making the overall puzzle-piecing less complicated.
For our Great Wall and pizza oven, Curtis wanted to use real stone. It's heavier and many of the pieces needed to be cut with a tile saw or chiseled to get a pattern that fit together. It was hard work but he stuck with it late into the fall and started up again just as soon as the temperatures would permit the curing of the mortar.
All the stone for this project was purchase at Rocky Mountain Supply. We have worked with Justin Hall and Al for many years and their customer service is outstanding. We have to say our favorite Rocky Mountain employee these days is Logan Smith. He knows his stuff and has even delivered a bag, or two, or 30 of concrete to his favorite uncle!
Seating
We loved our Westmoreland patio, but had always wished it had more built-in seating. We decided to build benches around the entire patio wall, we just needed to make a decision on style and material. Yay! Something new for Curtis to research.
We loved our hot tub deck that Curtis had built at our Westmoreland home (pictured below). But, we didn't love the necessary maintenance of the redwood.
Enter Brazilian Ipe Wood
Curtis' research discovered an amazing hardwood called Ipe. He found that there are several reasons that Ipe wood is becoming a favorite for outdoor applications.
*Longevity (25+ years outdoors)
*Scratch resistant
*Three times harder than cedar
*Mold, fire, weather, and pest-resistant
*Eco-friendly, 100 percent natural wood
Because of the denseness of Ipe, Curtis went through many drill bits, pre-drilling the wood before assembling the benches and using concrete nails to attach each piece to the wall.
We ordered our wood from Advantage Lumber Company. They offered special pricing and shipping for orders over a certain amount. This is when we made the decision to cover the walls under the benches and near the pizza oven. In other words, we opted for extra wood as opposed to paying for shipping.
Fire Pit
You can see in the picture three above that we had a little work to do preparing for the gas fire pit. Even though the gas line was already run, we had to move the location several inches and updated an electrical outlet.
While attending the Southeastern Idaho State Fair, we happened on a booth that had a gorgeous stone fire pit. We knew the size and shape would be perfect for our patio. We had previously purchased landscape rocks from Wolverine Rocks & Rubber, but hadn't realized how many new products they offered.
Ted Meikle craned in the rock and set it in place late last fall.
We chose brown glass rocks to cover the gas burner. I love how it creates such clean heat and subtle ambiance. No more smelling like a forest fire after an evening around the fire pit!
Staining the Deck
Oh my! The amount of concrete and the layers of paint on the concrete were daunting! We had decided to stain the concrete deck, which is something we had never done, but knew YouTube could teach us.
All DIY staining sites recommended removing the old paint completely before staining. We tried EVERY method suggested. . . power washing, chemical stripping, sanding, power washing again, chemical stripping again, and so on. But we still weren't able to remove all the paint. We decided to stain a small corner of the deck just to see how it would look and to our surprise, we really liked the variation of color!
The actual stain was bought here in town at American Concrete Supply and we found the process fascinating. As the acid stain began to react, we could see the color deepen and the pattern we had swirled in with the broom appear.
Our Westmoreland patio was poured with tinted concrete that we would seal each spring to brighten it up as well as protect it. We loved how fresh it looked and decided to use the same product, also from American Concrete Supply to seal the newly stained patio.
Patio Furniture
We have had the same patio tables for 15 years and have yet to find any we like better. Every few years we just put on a fresh coat of flat black spray paint for a fresh new look.
The outdoor sectional sofa was my Mother's Day present from Downeast.
Special thanks, once again, to the lovely Leah Stallings for her beautiful photography, especially risking life and limb leaning out the second story window to get this perfect shot.
We love having a cozy outdoor space for our family to relax and make memories.
Coming soon to Pheasant Run.......
Corporate Summer Parties
Wedding Rehearsal Dinners
Family Reunions
and more.
