it's past summer, but i'll add my 2 cents, may be for next year will come in handy. how about using cinderblocks or pavers with holes in them to allow for drainage - use them as a bottom layer to support the box. then fit inside window screen netting or perforated metal grid to retain the soil . and then put a layer of argi-cloth, permiable, for drainage. it'll prevent buggies from crowling in thru the bottom too. when soil is on concrete, doesn't it stain it? if you use pavers, the soil will remain cooler too and drainage is much easier.

I dug a 17x14 patio area and put down 1ft sq concret pavers over a layer of rocks and layer of sand separated by landscape fabric (landscape fabric also under rock layer). I have decided to build a screened in patio and believe I need to replace the pavers with a poured concrere slab. Besides the pavers and probably the sand, do I also need to remove the rock layer before having the slab poured. I am in SE Virginia and can do this most anytime of year if that matters. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated! J

I appreciate all of your input. Let me get into all of the details to answer all of your questions/concerns. We have lived at this residence for more than 10 years and have had the same neighbors all of those years. In response to @Virgil Carter Fine Art and @chicagoans the gray block wall is a retaining wall as the neighbor's ground is just below the top of the gray block wall. We have never had issues with drainage from the neighbors. In addition, the neighbors do not have any dogs or young children & they've always stored their trash cans closer to the front of the house, which has never been a problem over the 10+ years. Even if they did have dogs or young kids, we would welcome them all :-) And yes, @chicagoans, we're in southern CA with wonderful weather :-) The concrete slab that is currently under the grill that spawned this discussion was poured prior to the pavers being placed. I'm not positive but I think it may be approximately 12-18" deep. As for the "pavers".....these are 36"x36" units that are set in place in dirt. They are NOT poured concrete. There is a small amount of concrete on the perimeter to keep everything in place. As for each of the footings for the trellis posts, they were all quite big (see photo below). They needed to be substantial enough to pass inspection so I believe they were each approximately 2-4 feet deep and at least 4 feet wide. (forgive my estimations, I'm not a professional in this industry). Let's move on to the wall/fence/property line. As you can see in the following photos, we lived with a deteriorating fence for 10 years, assuming that it was on the neighbor's property since we were looking at the backside of the fence. However, once we begun our permitting process, they ordered a survey which revealed that the fence was actually a few feet over OUR property line. After discussions with the neighbors, we agreed to replace the fence on our property, leaving more than necessary square footage on their side, out of respect. As you can see from the new fence photos, the fence is not right on top of the block wall. Therefore, I'm curious if any of this new information changes any of your opinions on how to move forward with all of the existing information. I hope I have addressed all of the concerning comments. If I have left anything out, feel free to let me know. I appreciate all of your time, thoughts, concerns & input!

@Nona Muss - I understand exactly what you’re going through. My first contractor didn’t do a pre slope under the pvc liner on shower floor. We got that addressed - and then he decided to not use any of the three bags of white thinset (he purchased) to install the carrara tile on the shower walls - but instead used mastic ”because it was faster.” When we pushed the issue, he packed up and left. The second contractor (with over 200 4.9 star Google reviews) sent over his “business partner” to bid the work. His “business partner“ then said that he felt so bad for me re: every thing that had happened with the first contractor (including needing to rip out the slate bathroom floor bc several pieces failed to bond), that he would start the work himself ASAP + work over the upcoming weekend. Well, it turns out that he wasn’t a “business partner” - but a new employee. He produced fraudulent receipts for materials (that I reimbursed upon recipt per contract) - and stopped showing up. I did a quick background check and discovered that he had been in prison for over nine years for aggravated battery + fraud charges (had been out for 18 months). I asked the owner about whether he had done a background check - he told me that he hadn’t run it yet. After I told him about the results of the background check I did, the owner asked me if I noticed the scar on the guy’s upper arm - and then told me that when he asked the employee about it, he said it was from “being shot by a cop.” I swear I am not making this up. He also stole some jewelry from me. Third contractor - great guy - had just started work - and then was sentenced to 90 days in jail related to a third DUI conviction. My fourth (and final) contractor is AMAZING. The third and fourth ones are both TCNA certified - I didn’t hire the first or second one - my SO did. Although I don’t blame him for what happened. My SO had glowing references from two of his law partners who had used the first guy for several projects + did research on the second one (who was the second highest bid out of five). I thought that by now I would have not only finished two bathroom renovations - but also my laundry room + kitchen reno (which is close to starting FINALLY). I actually wish I had never even begun - my bathrooms were fine - just a little dated.