We wanted a covered area with a nice deck or concrete slab. We also wanted it to be large enough for some furniture and possibly a hot tub. After looking around at options we realized that paying someone to build all of this would probably almost $10,000! So naturally, to solve this issue we decided to tackle this project ourselves.The first part of this project was to plan and consider what type of base we wanted. The most ideal thing would be a concrete slab. Although this is something we could probably tackle by ourselves, putting in a slab is a lot of work. There is excavation, framing, and probably the worst of all - pouring. The pour was the main aspect of the slab that made me decide not to do it. I for sure wasn't going to mix all the concrete by hand. I could've rented a mixer, however throwing who knows how many bags of Quikcrete in there didn't sound fun. Lastly, hiring a truck to come and pour didn't seem practical. The next option, and probably the easiest, was wood. I didn't spend much time considering this as a wood deck requires maintenance and would not last forever in the heat. We finally ended up deciding on using stone pavers as the base. This appealed to me because it seemed easy to do, and has the longevity of concrete.
During that decision making process, we thought about what type of gazebo to build/buy. We looked at places like Home Depot and other stores, but their options tended to be too expensive. I considered building it all myself but thought it would require a lot of planning and I wouldn't be satisfied with the materials available.
In our search we saw this gazebo available from Costco. These are outdoor structures available from Yardistry. They come in different sizes, and unfortunately were sold out online. Conveniently, the location near us had a few in stock. It comes as pre-cut lumbar and loose hardware in 3 large boxes each weighing about 250 pounds. It recommends that it be built by 4 people.
I decided that I wanted it on a stable base that I could bolt it down to rather than having it set on the pavers. To solve this, I decided it would be best to set some concrete pylons and build the gazebo on that, then set the pavers around the legs of the gazebo. To do this I purchased some round cardboard forms that quikcrete makes. I measured out exactly where the legs of the gazebo would be in the yard, taking care they would be square and level, and dug the holes 2 feet deep. After this I set the round forms into the ground taking care to make sure they were level and square. This was probably the most crucial aspect of the project. Its easy to make a large deck or concrete slab nice and level, but making sure 4 individual pylons are level was a challenge. Also, since the gazebo is prefabricated, if its not on a level surface, the pieces will not fit together.After the forms were set, I built the frame on them. I used the help of another person to help stabilize a leg while I put bolts through them. The good news here was that they were level. There was one form that was a little off from being square, but it was close enough to where the leg still could sit on it and be bolted down. Once these were in place, I drilled holes through the feet and into the concrete pylons, then installed the bolts.
After I set the frame up it was time to put on the roof. The instructions for this particular gazebo describe assembling the roof panels on the ground and then using 4 people to hoist them up onto the frame. I was a little concerned about how heavy they would be since it was just my wife and I working on it that weekend. However, you can see from the picture that they weren't too heavy. To get them up on top of the frame, I hoisted them up while my wife stabilized them with a rope I tied around them. I put them on the frame and bolted them together one at a time. One problem we ran into was that one person is supposed to stand in the middle and hold all the roof panels up until you get at least three of them up there and bolted together. To solve this I propped them up using a 2x4 while I bolted them together, turning the 4 person job into a 2 person job!
To solve this issue, I decided to stand some up on their side and bury them underground to stabilize them. This essentially created a box where I could add gravel and sand to create the contained, level surface for the pavers. After I buried all of the perimeter pavers, I had to excavate the soil from the inside in order to get the ground down to a level that would accommodate a little gravel and sand which is essential for setting the pavers. This was definitely the most time and labor intensive portion of the project.
After everything was level, I used a 2x4 to screed the gravel so that it was level, and a bit lower than the perimeter. After that I used a hand tamp to compact the gravel down to create a stable and level base. Once I had a stable and level foundation of gravel, I laid some sand down and leveled it by hand. Then I laid the pavers, one by one, making sure that each one was level. I used smaller brick pavers to go around the legs of the gazebo. Once most of the pavers were down, I had to cut a few for the edges.
Once the pavers were done and the patio was up, I ran a power cable off of a new circuit to power a fan and some lights. After all of this was wired, we assembled some patio furniture...
Finished product!
