Lake Villa Improvements Year 7 (2026)
The Deck Repaint
When 2026 thawed out, I learned that if you stain treated wood before it's completely dry, it peels pretty quickly! Winter shoveling scraped a lot of it off.
The Deck Repaint
So for 2026, the work started with pressure washing both decks to remove the loose stain.
The Deck Repaint
I applied gray paint this time instead of the darker gray stain.
I finished painting the octagon deck and it looks like Milo approves. Now I need to do the much bigger main deck and the steps!
The Deck Repaint
And here's the main deck. I used a special non-slip deck paint that has a grit in it, which is why it looks blotchy. Plus a few pee spots...
The Deck Repaint
Year 2 (2021)
The Pergola
The Retaining Wall and Patio
Because the dogs had wore a serious path around the underside of the octagon deck, and it was just plain ugly under there, we decided that this year's big project would be to build a wall that followed the rim of the octagon. This meant removing the ugly pavers, rock, and grass.
The Retaining Wall and Patio
So I started in the back at the highest point. Normally I would build the wall so that it is level all the way around.
However, since Marie wants the inside of the wall to be a patio, I will have to build a slight grade so that water will run out of the front side.
The Wall and Patio
Here I got to the third deck post. When I get to the lowest point, I'll need to add the drainage line.
The Wall and Patio
After reaching the lowest, or deepest point, you can see I have five rows of blocks! I bought an 8 foot drain pipe and dirt sleeve, along with three exhaust ports—one of which is attached to the end of the drain pipe
The Wall and Patio
In this image, the first exhaust port is in place, between the blocks, and connect to the 90 degree elbow.
The Wall and Patio
I cut the drain pipe in half, then connected a T pipe and the second exhaust port to the end of it and positioned the partial drainage system on a bed of gravel.
The Wall and Patio
Then I realized I needed to add the dirt sleeve, so I had to disconnect the T, insert the sleeve, then reconnect the T.
The Wall and Patio
The Wall and Patio
And here's the final piece of the drainage system. You can see I buried the first half already. I'll finish burying the second half. Notice I started building a walkway around the wall, using the pavers that I was removing from inside the wall area.
The Wall and Patio
I finished burying the drainage system, and it looks like Bandit approves.
I did quite a bit more, and added more pavers to the walkway. Notice I also cut down the high parts of the ground inside the wall, and moved it to the lower end of the wall, so it's almost level with the wall.
But I'll stop here, and start on the patio.
The Wall and Patio
We spent several days trying to find the pavers that we liked Going back and forth between Menards, Home Depot, Lowe's and several outdoor suppliers. We finally decided to go with the hexagon pavers from Lowe's. They also sold half pavers, so we bought both instead of having to cut the hexagons in half.
Again, I started at the highest point, dug down about two inches below the wall, put in a new base/sand mix, then started placing the pavers in position.
The Wall and Patio
Going around the pole posed quite a problem of getting the pavers as close as possible, without having to make mutliple angle cuts. Also, trying to position the pavers with a slight grade posed another problem of trying to make sure that they would align with the wall height, one I got to it.
The Wall and Patio
Now I'm about a third of the way done. You can see I added many more pavers and cut them to butt against the wall blocks. I also worked my way around all three of the octagon posts. I removed the rock from the daisy walk that I had previously done and used them for fill here, since we plan to eventually pour exposed concrete aggregate between the flowers.
The Wall and Patio
Here's the view from the side. I really like what it looks like so far! The blocks that are laying around the edges will be used to replace what's under them because the one's that are there either cracked or were not cut close enough to the adjoining wall block. The pieces in the middle are just leftover cuts.
The Wall and Patio
Here's a view from a diffent angle. The slope I created is not a straight line down, as there are a couple of dips. And I fully expect the blocks to shift over the winter. I bought a rubber pad that attaches to my gas tamper. So next year, I'll pack the pavers down again and relevel the whole thing.
The Wall and Patio
Now I'm almost to the end. But at this point, we still haven't decided how to close it off. Or at least, we haven't agreed on how to end it.
The Wall and Patio
Milo and I are moving dirt from a pile in the back yard that came from the excavation of the front yard to build the driveway extension, while we figure out how to build the entrance to the patio.
The Wall and Patio
For now, at least, I used pavers as far as I could reach for under the steps, then finished it off with concrete. It's pretty rough because I could barely get my arm in there to smooth it out, but most people won't see this anyway, so I'm not concerned.
The Wall and Patio
Here's a shot of how close I cut the pavers to align with the wall blocks. You can also see that I filled in the spaces in and in between the wall blocks with gravel. What I didn't take a photo of is the platic barrier that I laid in againt the wall blocks before filling, so the sediment won't leak out between the blocks.
The Wall and Patio
Once we finally came to a consensus on how to end the wall, Marie and I made a form and poured in the concrete. When I was almost dry, we etched in lines that matched the pavers!
The Wall and Patio
Will the entrance done, we then poured in a step that is sloped down that joins the patio with the stair landing. It's still pretty high up, so we'll need to pour another one that is lower and hides the corner of the last wall block.
The Wall and Patio
And here's the last step poured. Not being an expert at concrete construction, you can see that the top step was poured to slope away from the wall, but we obviously have too much of a slope!
The Wall and Patio
And here's the last piece of the puzzle for the wall, which is cutting in the capstones to cover the holes in the wall blocks, and also to create somewhat of a barrier, so people won't fall off the wall! The safety rules only apply if the wall is higher that 36 inches, and at the lowest point of the ground, our wall is 26 inches.
The Wall and Patio
With the capstones all in place, this huge project almost done! I didn't glue them down because in order for me to lift the pavers next year when I relevel them, I'll need to remove the capstones.
The Wall and Patio
The Wall and Patio
The final task was to fill in the gaps around the posts with concrete. I applied a dark gray concrete dye in an attempt to make them blend in a bit more, but one didn't darken!
This huge project is finally done! It took all summer to build but I'm very happy with the results, eventhough I know I'll have to work on it next spring.
The Wall and Patio
Here's the view of the finished wall and patio from the side.
The Wall and Patio
And from the back.
The Wall and Patio
This final image shows the lights I added that are also on a timer.
