This week, we’re bringing a West Virginia family some Backyard Paradise.

Each year, we host a contest with our friends from Pavestone and Quikrete called Backyard Paradise. This year’s winner is from a small town in West Virginia called Hurricane.

Donna Petry and her husband, Steven, share this home with their kids, Andrew and Morgan. The family spends a lot of time out in the yard, so they want to maximize their opportunities for recreation.

They have a deck, but some of the wood is rotting and the paint is peeling. They have a small patio area, but it’s just for grilling. And they have a small fire pit, but it’s not their yard’s most attractive feature.

Here’s our plan: We’ll repair the deck’s handrails and then stain the deck. Their new paver patio will begin at the foot of the stairs and angle out into the yard with a seat wall and a built-in grill at the far edge.

Finally, a large fire pit will be tucked into the outer corner and columns around the edge of the patio will support café lights above the area.


Rotting, ugly wood deck in Hurricane, West Virginia
This wood deck is functional, but some of the wood is rotting and the paint is peeling.

Repairing the Deck

It might surprise you how dangerous your deck railing may be. This particular one was not even attached to the house, and that’s an accident waiting to happen.

Before we stain the deck, we need to prep it well, so we’re scraping all of the peeling parts and then sanding all the transitions between what’s left of the old stain and the old wood underneath.

Beautiful wicker outdoor furniture in Hurricane, West Virginia
This worn-out deck was nothing a little elbow grease, stain and new outdoor furniture couldn’t fix!

The pavers are a reddish / maroon and gray, so Donna needs to determine which color to paint the deck. She likes a coffee color.

It’s a great choice, because the deck, the playset and the picnic table will be the same color, which will tie this entire backyard together.  


Laying out the paver patio in a Hurricane, West Virginia backyard
The Pavestone team lays out the new paver patio. First come the lines; next comes the excavation.

Excavating the Area

First, we want stormwater to run off the new patio and toward the backyard, because drainage is important. So, the Pavestone crew lays out the patio and digs drainage lines.

The guys install a trench about 18 inches deep to move water from the downspout, through the drainage system and about 15 feet away from the house.

That’s much better than doing what some folks do, which is to turn the downspout and let it run all over the pavers! Water is a powerful force and it would erode that patio over time.

Next, the guys bring in a sod cutter to make it easy to peel off the grass. After that, they take Portland cement and rototill that into the dirt. That provides a strong sub-base for this project.

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Danny Lipford

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Danny Lipford is a home improvement expert and television personality who started his remodeling business, Lipford Construction, at the age of 21 in Mobile, Alabama. He gained national recognition as the host of the nationally syndicated television show, Today's Homeowner with Danny Lipford, which started as a small cable show in Mobile. Danny's expertise in home improvement has also led him to be a contributor to popular magazines and websites and the go-to source for advice on everything related to the home. He has made over 200 national television appearances and served as the home improvement expert for CBS's The Early Show and The Weather Channel for over a decade. Danny is also the founder of 3 Echoes Content Studio, TodaysHomeowner.com, and Checking In With Chelsea, a décor and lifestyle blog.

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