Before and After: A DIY Patio Redo Saved These Homeowners Thousands of Dollars

With the weather warming, planting season getting underway, and plenty of outdoor hangouts in sight, you might be looking for inspiration for redoing your exterior spaces on a budget. Morgan Gomez (@morganannehome) is here to deliver that inspiration with this patio redo.

Before, the backyard was ” a hot mess,” Morgan says. “There was a tiny brick patio outside but not enough space to put a table or chairs. And just before we started the redo, our picnic table collapsed.” It wasn’t exactly a prime chill zone — something the family was very much craving with the onset of 2020’s stay-at-home orders.

There were also tons of weeds, Morgan says, and a “random rock patio in the middle of the yard” that was too far from the house to be functional. But when she and her husband Bryan got quotes for a patio redo, they stretched into $4,000 for a poured patio. “It was way more than we were expecting so we decided to DIY,” Morgan says.

Rather than having the patio poured, Morgan and Bryan removed the bricks from the tiny existing patio and dug out the grass and weeds to the size of the patio they wanted. Then, they leveled the ground and installed a gravel patio for a cost of about $300 — way less than the $4,000 they were initially quoted. (They had the other “patio” space removed by a pro landscaper so they could turn that area back into yard space.)

Morgan notes for anyone taking on this project she has a few changes she’d make next time: “If I had to do it differently I would have leveled the ground more and added sand before the gravel to help control the weeds,” she says.

The savings on the actual patio gave Morgan and Bryan the budget to furnish the space with a new picnic table and umbrella, plus a pergola that shades a pair of chairs and a comfy sofa. The total cost for the patio and the furnishings came to about $2,300, Morgan says, which is still only about half the cost of a poured patio.

“I love the after because we use it and it feels so inviting,” Morgan says. “The rock is cheap and it just takes some hard work!”

Inspired? Submit your own project here.