The final plan included a brick patio, expanded bed, and new covered porch.

Having (finally) decided to replace our decrepit patio, we defined our requirements–appropriate for our Craftsman bungalow, follow roughly the same footprint, and a new covered porch–we iterated through variations on the same basic idea until we settled on a final plan. We preserved the same basic footprint, slightly expanding the side bed and pulling out a small paved section next to the house to create a new bed. 

While concrete would have been period-appropriate (at least some of the old concrete patio was original to the house), the thought of simply replacing the existing pad with a new one  left us cold. Having eliminated concrete, and by extension concrete pavers, we considered stone and clay paver options. Stone certainly has its appeal, but it was prohibitively expensive. Too, brick brings a warmth that stone doesn’t easily match, a splash of color welcome during the gray months of our northwest winters. After consulting the Mutual Materials catalogue, we settled on a recycled clay paver.

With a plan in place, it was time to find a contractor. We talked with friends and consulted Angie’s list before soliciting bids. After considering availability, professionalism, and cost and checking references, we decided to go with Father Nature Landscapes.