Thanks for that link! I was able to configure the door I want with screened vented lites, which I hope are double hung, like the ones I have now. They also gave locations where I can buy it besides Lowe's, although the closest is Lowe's. There are two suppliers at Pico & Sepulveda in WLA that I can go to, and so I will check them out shortly, provided they have Saturday hours. The installation video I watched said that stucco houses are the most difficult for door installation, and so I hope I can get someone to do it for a reasonable price. I like Dutch Doors, but they would not give me the kind of window I want, and I do not want to add a screen door on the outside because it would have to be hung on the opposite side of the door in order to make egress efficient. I had that same problem in Venice. The installation video shows the door with attached framing, and I was hoping that would not be necessary. I guess that goes with the fiberglass material, and I would have preferred wood, but may fiberglass is a better choice, since it would not warp. BTW, the main reason I shop at HD is that it is less than a mile from my house and is therefore extremely convenient. When I lived in Venice, I always went to B&B Hardware in Culver City, but that is now 7 miles from my house. There is a lumber yard less than two miles from me, but it is not open on Saturday, or else I would go there more often. Thanks for your help! Lars

The very best way is to hire a tractor (and driver) with a box blade. If it is a traditional SoCal yard, it will take about 30 minutes. Or you can DIY with some effort. Probably the hardest part is to figure out whether you need to remove soil that's already there. I'm going out on a limb here, because I see a lot more (LOT MORE) yards needing to remove soil, but I'm going to suggest you should remove soil. If the soil is higher than the surrounding hardscape, it should be removed down to, more or less, level with a slight crown in the middle for drainage. Once that is done you can deal with high and low spots. Assuming the grass is gone, then look for low spots to fill with sand. Smooth that off with a long 2x4 board with some weight on it. Or you can drag a piece of wire fencing around. I made a chain link drag with rope, wood, bag of sand (for weight), and fencing. It worked great for a small area. So with the drag you drag that around until it looks perfect. Then spray it all down with a mist of water to encourage the sand to settle without washing it away. Let that dry and fill the new low spots with more sand. Drag, water, and evaluate again. After about 3 cycles of that you should have a relatively perfect surface. Don't walk on that until the grass is down. Sand works better than topsoil for this because topsoil always has little clods in it. Even a 1/4-inch clod will make you scream as it creates a furrow in the sand. You can make it putting-green smooth, which is a great goal. After the sod is down, then use a roller to press the bottom of the sod down onto the surface of the soil/sand. Roots will not grow through the air to reach the ground. Of if it is a small area, you can achieve the same result by walking on every square inch of sod to press it down. Your weight is perfect for this. You might want the sand to be moist/firm when you do this. Dry sand might push around and defeat the purpose of leveling.

Alfred, I have not read through all of your thread, but from my perspective, it seems like the tile is ok. Have you looked into having it professionally cleaned? A “green” type of cleaning maybe, if possible - I’m sure something like this should be available in CA. Then just do the pavers and maybe some edge plantings in unpaved area, and put up a gazebo. You could start with, or just permanently use, a portable gazebo - as I show in pic in my first comment. I would really not get jackhammers, etc. and try to do this yourself. If you want to make a major change in the future, I would recommend just saving up and hiring professionals. You will save yourself the wear and tear and probably get better results that way. I really think you can work with your tile as it is. If you want to change/vary the look, in some areas you could place some outdoor rugs.

I would be shocked if hosta liked LA period. First thing - For the love of all that is holy and good in horticulture - Remove the landscape fabric before for you do anything else. It is bad for your soil thus bad for the plants you are wanting to grow. Landscape fabric does not, never has and never will prevent weeds. It only causes harm to your plants. Remove it. You do not have room for three or four rows of annuals or perennials. You have room for one row. Something showy that comes to mind is lantana. Comes in lots of colors, likes hot and dry and sun. Fill the whole planter box with something short and long blooming like lantana. Then add a specimen vertical element with spiky/grass form of leaves. I don't think you need another pygmy date palm for balance from what I can see now. I'd have to see the whole front of the house to decide if another palm is called for.