Patio and gazebo area - a plan

When we moved in here, the patio resembled the Himalayas..... and ever since, we have been slowly making it as level as we can. It is never going to be perfect, but as long as it is near enough to look reasonable, we will be happy. So, with that and the pending summer in mind, this week's project is to make the patio area and gazebo as good as it possibly can be (without blowing a fortune). The plan is:

• Clear and level the last remaining corner of the patio

• Point the patio by dusting Postcrete into the gaps between the slabs, then spray with a fine mist from the hose to set the Postcrete solid.
• Install 2 x LED (colour changeable) floodlights (10w, dimmable), attaching them to the gazebo frame to fire upwards and wash light over the inside of the cloth to diffuse down.
• Re-wire the driveway and alleyway security lights in the process
• If possible, try and find somewhere I can get a railway sleeper that is cut into four equal parts to use under the gazebo legs (to screw them down to) - ideas welcome
  
• Pressure wash the patio to within an inch of its life.....
• Consider options for firewood storage - - ideas welcome
• Staple debris netting up over the edibles (rather than kill the squirrel that keeps digging in my barrels)

 

Lights and connectors have arrived - cracking wee things they are too; you operate them on bluetooth via an app on your phone to change the colours and brightness etc. Very impressed so far.

 

Any pics, FC????

 

Not yet, but I will do once I get it all wired up and working

EDIT - maybe a video is in order!

 

It is currently sat on the patio, which sadly I cannot drill into, hence thinking about blocks made from sleepers. I can't quite imagine how block pavers would work on top of the patio?

 

It is - but, I am in a rented property, so I have to work with what I have. Lifting the patio to dig holes to mount the gazebo is a non starter, so it has to sit atop the patio without damaging it. The gazebo we have is a reasonably sturdy affair, but I want to add some stability to the legs as they are currently quite easy to disturb, even singly, which results in the gazebo moving or it being 'bandy-legged'

 

About 7ft, with a tube diameter of around 3", and feet of around 5" (with screw holes in them); I will try and get a couple of pics tomorrow before I start anything.

 

Here is a picture (very old, pre-greenhouse!) that shows the patio - the gazebo is sat over to the right hand side of this picture.

This is the exact gazebo

 

Bearing in mind that I'm a useless DIY person:- Concrete base seems good but I can see a problem. Your gazebo has side panels that fix to the legs. So, apart from the side panels not being down to the ground (not too much of a problem if the concrete is low) you will need to make sure that any fixing to the concrete doesn't interfere with the fixings for the panels. You can see some concrete legs tomorrow when you come to our Open Day as we have our pergola on them.

To make it look better (no gap under the side panels) it seems as though railway sleepers, or similar, would be best but not just for the legs. Make them in a solid square the size of the gazebo. You will then have no gaps under the sides and your gazebo would be just that bit higher. It seems to me that you then would not need anything quite so heavy as railway sleepers as having a wood frame should easily be heavy enough to hold the gazebo down.