Our Patio

My patio is pretty much my most favorite place to be regardless if I am by myself or with friends and family.  So seeing a little sunshine and warmer weather has brought me back out to my "happy place".  We had our patio built when we built our home back in 2005/2006.  One of the best investments we did. 
However, shortly after we moved in a small hairline crack began to show in the stamped concrete.  Over the past ten years the crack has increased and shown itself to be an eye sore. 

I've tried to ignore it over the years, because we've had several contractors comment that its cosmetic and not anything more. It was patched a few times but didn't seem to hold itself in place.

About a month ago while having a fire in our outdoor fireplace with the family we noticed that the countertop area was sloping in the middle -  All you had to do was push on the tile to feel it was a wet soggy mess underneath.  After doing a little investigating we quickly found that the wood under the tile is completely rotten and falling apart.
So the following week I called my sweet friend who did our family room remodel over to take a peek at what was going on, while we waited for him to show that week, we also realized that the roof is also leaking in a certain area with big drops of rain and could see mold growing between the beautiful wood work.....ugh....I mean what the heck?

When he came out to look at all of what was happening - he pointed out that the corner pillar is tilted and suggested we have a company come out to see if it could be lifted which might be the fix to handle all our problems. 

Which is what we did. The company came out and said our problem was larger than just him, and suggested a wrongly placed downspout may be our true issue - the downspout is close to the house and most likely isn't draining and filling the area into the roof and under the concrete patio - which means most of what is under our roofing is rotting along with the fireplace, countertops, patio, and barbeque are....meaning a large contractor would need to be called in to investigate and give advice.

I immediately called our builder who said he would come out and take a look within the week - never heard from him after that first call. Texted and called a couple more times. Again never heard from him, which is very frustrating.  My husband decided we would call a contractor as we didn't know how quickly this issue needed to be addressed. 

We reached out to a few companies but decided on Riccon Construction - for us, they felt the most reliable and trustworthy. After hearing that the project would be aggressive,, we decided to go ahead and make a few changes that would benefit our large family!  I can't wait to share the progress with you over the next several weeks!  
Most of all, I look forward to redecorating this area for our family! oxox, tracie




Comments

Gosh, it is only 10 yrs old? That just does not seem right. I would not want the original contractor to do the work again, but he must know he was wrong, to not even call back. Your patio is so pretty and I love the fireplace. I have been trying to get hubby to put an outside fireplace in, but he keeps saying you have 3 inside we don't need another. I feel so bad for what you need to go through, but I can't wait to see how you decorate it. Good Luck!
supahhhhh gorgeous Tracy......I haven't been bitten by the spring bug yet...Need a little more sunshine before I start setting up the outdoor spaces for spring...
Sorry about all the hassle... but really looking forward to what you do out there! It is already such a great space... I'm thinking you're going to be making it larger for your growing family?? I hope to tackle our back porch soon... it's kind of a catchall right now, but we use it a lot in the summer. Love to see you are posting more often again! Welcome back! ;) Xo ~julie
Darn Tracy! Hate when things like this happens. So frustrating that the contractor did not call you back. I know you will have it fixed up gorgeously! I've been working outside the last couple days and getting a lot of clean up going on. Having my grandsons wedding here in June.
Hugs,
Jann
What a bummer! I'm glad you caught these problems before things got any worse. I hope they are corrected soon and you're back to enjoying this space with your family.
Pamela Gordon said…
I don't think I've seen this area of your home before for some reason, perhaps I just missed the posts about it, but it is really gorgeous and I am sorry that you have had so many issues with water leakage and damage to your home in this area. I hope the contractor is a good one and the resulting repairs are well done to your liking. I will enjoy seeing the process. Soon you will be enjoying the outdoors again. All the best!
Pam
Mindy said…
Oh my gosh, what a nightmare! I can't wait to see progress reports, but I hope, even with the hassle, you continue to go after that guy.

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