The Hartley family contacted us in January with a photograph and three words: “Help us here.”
The photograph showed their backyard in Port Orange — a 40-by-30-foot space behind a well-kept 2,800 square foot home. There was a 12-foot square concrete slab off the back door, cracked and stained. Behind it, roughly 900 square feet of grass that received no use, no furniture, no gatherings. The family had three kids, a gas line already roughed in for an outdoor kitchen, and a clear idea of how they wanted to live in their home. They just needed the space to support it.
This is the kind of project our crew loves. Here’s how it went from that photograph to a space the Hartleys now use every weekend.
The Planning Phase
Tyler and I walked the property together. The existing slab had to come out — it was cracked through and pitched slightly toward the house, which was directing rain runoff toward the foundation. No point building around it.
The family’s priorities were clear from the start:
- A main patio large enough for a dining table and seating for eight
- A fire pit area off the main patio — separated enough to feel intentional, connected enough to flow
- Some kind of shade structure over the dining area
- Budget: $28,000–$32,000
We designed a two-zone layout. The primary patio — 22 by 16 feet — would sit centered off the back door, running the full width of the usable space. A four-foot step-down transition would lead to a circular fire pit zone, 12 feet in diameter, with a low seat wall around it. The pergola would cover the dining area only, leaving the fire pit zone open to the sky.
Material selection: Belgard Catalina stone pavers in Tuscan Beige for the main field, with a darker Charcoal Border framing the perimeter and defining the step transition. The contrast keeps the design intentional without being busy.
Demo and Base Work
Day one was demo. We removed the old slab and hauled off approximately 3 tons of broken concrete. Below the slab, the base was thin — about 3 inches of compacted shell — which explained the cracking. We excavated an additional 4 inches and brought in a clean compacted base mix to the depth the design required.
Base work is what most homeowners never see and what separates a driveway or patio that lasts 25 years from one that starts heaving and cracking after five. We don’t cut corners on depth or compaction.
Paver Installation
The main field went in on days three and four. Tyler ran the screeding while two crew members set the field from the center out. The Catalina stone has a tumbled edge — it reads as natural, aged material — and the Tuscan Beige color family has enough variation that the pattern doesn’t look machined.
The step transition to the fire pit zone was poured in cast concrete with a travertine-finish form liner, then capped with a 6-inch Charcoal paver to match the border treatment. Clean connection between zones.
The circular fire pit base required a dry-laid technique — no mortar — which allows each unit to move slightly with the heat cycle. We’ve built enough fire pits to know that rigid construction around a heat source creates cracking in a year or two. The seat wall surrounding it is mortared natural fieldstone, which the homeowner had specifically requested.
The Pergola
The pergola was a kit structure — an 18 by 14 cedar frame, pre-cut — but our crew assembled and anchored it into the paver field using post anchors set in concrete footings. We cut around the anchor plates flush with the paver surface so the finish looked intentional.
The homeowner added string lights after the fact. That’s usually how it goes — we build the structure, they make it feel like home.
The Result
Fourteen working days from first shovel to final cleanup. The backyard now has roughly 700 square feet of usable, designed outdoor space where there were 144 square feet of cracked concrete.
Total project cost came in at $29,400 — within the family’s stated range.
When the Hartleys sent us a photo of their first fire pit evening — five people, two dogs, a table full of food — that’s the picture that makes this work worth doing.
If your backyard is in the same situation — big potential, nothing to work with yet — call us for a free consultation. We’ll come out, walk the space, and tell you what’s possible.
