Nothing is ever easy… the Patio Fiasco continues

Yesterday was sure fun (insert sarcasm font here). I call the Village to ask if we need a permit. We do, we also need a dig number. Call the dig people, get a number. Talk to a few co-workers asking about the permit and such and they tell me there is no need for a permit. So I made Frank call and cancel the dig service.

We met at Menard’s after I got off work and we were all ready to buy all of our materials. The store was full of 18 year old employees. The kid helping us had no clue what he was talking about. What we figured out and what he was telling us resulted in the price being tripled. We were pretty upset thinking now we really cannot do this project. The main price difference was with the sand. It’s $9 a bag and when we asked how much square footage each bag yields he told us 3.5 sq ft. Whoa! This would make the cost of the sand over a grand itself. So we left.

So we come home and are looking through the flyer again. This kid really was an idiot. The bag of sand covers 40-60 square feet! We figured it all out and were back to our original price. Now I am going back to Menard’s on Saturday, reading the manager a riot act and buying the stuff we need.

Now, we want to hire the landscapers to remove the grass, dip the hole and remove the existing pavers we do have. I called him back last night, as we spoke on Tuesday, to give him the depth at which we need it dug. I tell him 3 inches. He told me that that is not enough and you want at least 6 inches so you can do 3-4 inches of paver then a layer of sand then the paver. He was like, I don’t want to mess your cousin up but you are my customer and I am going to be honest with you. So he is coming out today to take a look at it and give me a quote for 3 inches and 6 inches including the price to remove the existing pavers. Let’s hope we can afford it.

If the landscapers are able to do this, then it will save my cousin 2 days of work at least. I really hope this all works out and we are going about this the right way.

I cannot wait for this to be over with so I can sit on my new patio with a beer and call it a day!