Kuppersmith Home Renovation Project 9: Floor and Paver Patio

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January 28, 2023January 30, 2012

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Work on the Kuppersmith Project – my extensive renovation of a 1926 Tudor style home – kicked into high gear with the sanding and finishing of the antique heart pine floors, finishing of the concrete driveway, and installation of a beautiful paver patio.

Projects featured in this episode include:

Wood Floors: Sand, stain, and finish the new and old heart pine floors in the house.

Paver Patio: Install the crushed stone and sand base for the patio, followed by laying the pavers and sweeping a polymer-based sand mix in the cracks.

Grilling Station: A brick grilling station, with stainless steel doors for storage, was constructed next to the back door to house a gas grill for outdoor cooking.

Driveway: A paver border and accent inlays were installed in the concrete circular driveway on the front of the house.

Close-up view of a drum sander sanding heart pine wood floors — A worker uses a drum sander to sand heart pine floors.

Finishing Wood Floors

To match the heart pine floors in the historic home, new heart pine lumber was milled from salvaged beams for the addition. Once all the flooring had been installed, the old and new floors were carefully sanded down to remove the worn finish on the existing floors and level the surface on the new flooring.

A walk-behind, drum sander was used on the main part of the floors, with a handheld edge sander used next to walls, cabinets, and doors. Scrapers and hand sanders were needed for tighter quarters, such as the treads going up the staircase.

While sanding floors may not look difficult, these large aggressive machines can easily gouge and damage wood floors in inexperienced hands. This makes sanding wood floors best left to the pros, rather than a DIY project tackled by homeowners.

Man stains heart pine wood floors by hand — We’re staining these heart pine floors to make them look even nicer!

Once the floors had been sanded smooth, the wood was wiped down with a tack rag to remove any sanding dust. Stain was applied to give the freshly sanded wood an antique look, then several coats of finish went on to protect the floors from dirt, spills, and other damage.

Paver Patio

For outdoor entertaining, a paver patio was laid between the back porch and garage by Southern Paver Systems. The process involved excavating dirt to a depth of 7 to 8 inches, followed by careful grading of the area. Filter fabric was installed, followed by layers of crushed stone, sand, and the pavers themselves.

Close-up view of gloved hands laying concrete pavers on the patio — Workers lay an intricate pattern of concrete pavers for the patio.

After the pavers had been laid in a distinctive pattern that required several different sizes, the outer edges were cut square with a masonry saw and a border installed around the perimeter. The border was then secured with a layer of cement to hold it in place.

When the patio was complete, a polymer sand mix was sprinkled on top of the pavers and swept into the cracks. A plate compactor was used to vibrate the sand down into every nook and cranny. The final step was misting the patio with water to activate the polymer in the sand, locking the pavers together.

Man builds a brick grilling station outside a luxury home — This brick grilling station will transform any grill it surrounds from ordinary to extraordinary.

Brick Outdoor Grill

As a final touch on the back of the house, a brick grilling station – complete with stainless steel doors – was constructed to house a gas grill. The grill was located under the covered breezeway next to the kitchen door, to make outdoor cooking easy.