Creating a budget friendly walkway?

3 years ago

last modified: 3 years ago

*I will post pictures soon, I just have to get over to their house.*
My parents recently had a pool installed and I wanted to surprise them with a walkway coming from one of the gates that leads to just grass. I was planning to make it wrap around the side of the house in between a vegetable garden and flower beds cover the AC unit. Here are my questions:
1) What would be a cheap material that would be easy on wet, barefeet from the pool?
2) How should I edge the side that touches the garden? It would be right on the garden dirt and I don't want my father tripping on edging when he works in the garden.
3) How do you end a walkway? If I wrap it around the side of the house, it would obviously hit the front yard. Should I continue to wrap it around the front of the house until it hits their sidewalk? Then what?
FYI- I plan to make that flower bed in the front have more "curves" to it and I would like to edge it if I don't put the walkway there.Thanks so much! Sorry for the long essay. I just don't want to mess anything up. My mother is extremely picky and if one thing is wrong, she is insane, haha.

Featured Answer

btydrvn

3 years ago

whatever you do will involve some heavy lifting ...the best material that comes to mind is pre-made concrete squares or circles....my favorite ones have smooth pebbles inlaid ....so they don’t hurt the feet but are not slippery....they are also prettier than plain concrete....after you work out the placement ...you can cut the shape of each stone out of the grass and drop in the stepping stone....so they look established..this can be a diy..... if you just have it delivered in a pallet to your property...to be done on your schedule and at your convenience....by regular garden workers...or for convenience you may find a contractor to handle the whole job...the best part about this option is that it can be re arranged or re-used in other ways at anytime in the future..lastly if money is not a concern your pool installer may have resources that will advise you on how to make this work with your new pool....i would discuss this with them in any case ...as they may offer suggestions as a courtesy

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Comments (14)

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Yardvaark
3 years ago
Hey, we might be siblings!!!! It sounds like we have the same mother. :-)
floraluk2
3 years ago
I don’t think I’d risk organising a surprise for someone who’s that picky. I’d consult her. The surprise would be doing all the administration so she wouldn’t have that stress.
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Looking at your inspiration photos, it seems that there are groundcover-like materials that can be grown there. I'm not familiar with what they might be so can't make recommendations. But it looks like a fairly lush look is available if one chooses the right material. Before doing any planting, I'd be considering if there is any possible way to widen the entrance walk, which is considerably undersized. The house would look more upscale with a much wider walk and you could probably eliminate one step in the process, making for an improved entry experience. I'd consider removing all of the raised edging. The beds it creates are much too tightly pinched to the house. A 5' to 6' minimum bed width would be more like it. In addition, the edge itself is so thin that it cheapens the overall look of the property. A masonry bed edge should be 8" wide, or wider, in order to be in scale with a house. If the edging didn't exist, it would be easy to place foundation plants where they should go. I find myself wishing the fence that encloses the back yard didn't come so close to the front entrance. By doing so, it messes up possible planting (the blank space between the windows is asking for a small tree) and generally looks a bit utilitarian so close to the front entrance. It would be nice if the back yard entrance could be framed with an arbor, but I don't know if that's possible with the way the architecture is laid out behind the fence. It would need to be explored. In the illustration I'm showing the types of plants that could go in certain locations. It's not means to be comprehensive. It's a start.
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You will not be able to remove the concrete yourself. Unless you own a skidsteer with a hydraulic jackhammer and 6-wheel dump truck to haul the massively heavy and large cubic foot of concrete away to the crusher. It is possible to overlay concrete with pavers or mortar a tile/brick if you are in a non-freezing climate. However, it has to be done over an existing concrete slab that was installed properly and has no deterioration or ongoing problems, and it appears your slab is not a candidate for that. You could extend a larger wood platform from the existing stoop that floats on top the slab, as most jurisdictions would not require an official deck and footings for something only 1 step up, but I would consider that to not be a long-term solution because of the slab condition and how it looks to collect water from the surrounding grade. Best suggestion is just to wait until your coffers replenish, and come up with a plan during that time for an outdoor living space that meets your lifestyle and use and works with the house layout.
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PRN
3 years ago
Please post pictures soon. I am having a hard time getting any sort of visual here.
Chloe
Original Author
3 years ago
Here are the photos. The first one is of the front flower bed with the concrete sidewalk in the distance. The second one is where the walkway would be (it is currently a grass walkway). The third one is where the pool concrete is. The fence is not up yet but it will be right there at the grass walkway.
PRO
Yardvaark
3 years ago
To answer your first question (cheap material but easy on wet, bare feet), there is no "cheap" material. The least expensive would be plain concrete. There are cheaper materials but they wouldn't be easy on feet, especially wet feet. There are more expensive materials, so by default, that makes concrete the cheapest. I wouldn't go any narrower thatn 3' for a back yard walk. So you can calculate materials based on the walk dimensions and get a ball park price.

If you're talking about DIY all the way, I wouldn't, unless you have concrete flatwork experience. Learning on a first job for a picky mom is not the way to get it. This would probably be $1,500 to $2K as a starting point. (Price is highly variable, subject to regional and market factors.) Would definitely get the layout mom-approved first.
PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
3 years ago
I would not be quick to make an easy access to the pool and where I live the pool needs to have a fence all around it too. I really do not see the reason to have this access from the pool either . So i guess I need more info.
PRO
Yardvaark
3 years ago
Many people add an outside access so guests don't need to traipse through the house coming and going.
btydrvn
3 years ago
Just an added thought in reference to your Mom...i would take this offer and share the ideas ...give her some time to think it over and decide if this is what she wants or needs...in general this will be good size project and expense...
btydrvn
3 years ago
At our country home we have pea gravel walkways that we love as they fit in so nicely with our setting....it is definitely cheap to do ...but comes with a maintenance commitment
littlebug zone 5 Missouri
3 years ago
I would never ever do a pea gravel sidewalk. Especially in an area where persons might have occasion to walk on it barefoot. (Pea gravel travels. A lot. Ask me how I know.)
btydrvn
3 years ago
We dont walk on it barefoot,however
btydrvn
3 years ago
Littlebug...agree on all your points..just saw your post now....think i was just sharing ...not knowing how limited the budget was ...this is really cheap...we never walk barefoot..couldnt name all the bugs...snakes..spiders ...lizards...etc that we have in our organic garden...
mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
3 years ago
What you are looking for is called 'grass'. Unless you think the path is going to get more traffic than lawn can typically handle, it is reasonably pleasant to walk on with bare feet, not particularly slippery when wet, and inexpensive to install.

Creating a budget friendly walkway?

btydrvn

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