Modern Concrete Terrace, Working With What You've Got Baby

Good morning,

Today I wanted to share an update with you on our modern concrete terrace. Though it isn't 100% finished or staged in our backyard, the terrace is complete at this point. Robert also came up with a really creative and cool solution to get from the deck to the tiki hut deck which is where the bar is and therefore needed to be addressed.

We started with the old terrace and old backyard here:

Then we chipped out the old tile and lived with a f-ugly terrace for what seemed like F-O-R-E-V-E-R!

From there Robert took over, and since I trust his concrete work AND his artistic ideas and talent I let him run. First he formed the mid section of two parts of the terrace and poured a 4" topping slab with slag (for added lightness to the concrete) to create two distinctive areas on the terrace:

Once the slabs were poured we drilled holes along the facing of the slab so that there is drainage for water since this raised our deck elevation.

The next step here was to insert wood between the concrete boarders. To save money on this Robert chose 2x6x8 pressure treated yellow pine, which was then stained, sealed, and cut in place. Afterwards it was pressure cleaned, stained again and sealed another time (which I understand will need to be done going forward to prevent the wood from weathering beyond repair).

Oh, the last step was the new deck addition/walk way that Robert created to take you from the terrace to the bar. It is so fun to light with lanterns in the evening with the Christmas lights. It reminds me of going down a boat dock or on some adventure. I know, cheesy right? Well, when you haven't had anything nice in your yard for this long it's the little teeny tiny things that make you sooooooo happy!!!

Here are the finished results:

 It's not a bad start for a couple of entertainers like ourselves;) We already threw one party under the tiki hut and had the perfect spot for the bartender as well as a perfect walk for our guests to get there. Let no detail remain under looked when creating a back yard oasis!

Clearly the landscaping isn't finished, but it is a great start to something beautiful! What do you think so far???