First stages of the walkway leading from the steps to the patio

Many of our clients have walkout basements. Many of them will also have an overhead deck or sunporch above them. The space under the deck is more often than not a dark, empty, wasted space that no one uses, or is an unsightly storage area where anything from basketballs to snowmobiles are stored. Some will have concrete surfaces, probably built by the contractor when they built the house. One of the more common solutions  is to build  a screen, which can be some tall shrubs, lattice work. or fencing. This can work if done right, but usually it  looks like you are just trying to hide that unsightly mess that has been getting bigger and bigger over the last few years.

Jon making sure his paver cut will be "on the money"

So how do you make it attractive and usable at the same time?   We were contacted by a client to solve that issue. They had recently added a sun room to their main floor and wanted to make the walkout space under it usable. They also wanted to add an area for a gas grill. We constructed a paver patio under the sun room, and laid the pavers in a basket weave pattern. We extended the patio to include an area out from under the porch for grilling, changing the paver pattern in that area to running bond. This did a nice job of visually separating the grilling  and seating areas while at the same time  leaving them physically connected. The result was an area that was functional with a great look, along with a great view!

View of the wildlife area, before the paver patio and BBQ areas were finished