Enclosing the Small Patio

One mandate of owning a historic home in small town America is to maintain as much of the exterior "look" of the period as possible. For this small patio landscape, there is no line of sight from the street or sidewalk; so that requirement should take a lower priority in the design criteria. However, this town's compliance officer is a real stickler for ensuring everyone behaves to the strict letter of the law. He has been known to sneak around people's backyard privacy fences, reach over with a camera and take pictures. He views the photos, scanning and snooping about whether anyone has put in an 'illegal' swimming pool, keeps their dog outdoors during the day, or whatever random infraction he can spot.

So the first step in creating this particular small patio is to make sure that the privacy fence surrounding the patio is strictly within the property lines. Check city and county ordinances to see how far inside the boundary a fence may be placed. Next, verify whether a gate may, or must, swing out into an alley, onto a sidewalk, or any other property. Hunt for the property corner markers. In an old town the property lines can be very hard to find. Surveys are expensive, but well worth it to ensure the investment of a privacy fence does not end up being trashed if the line is not established.

For the property where this particular patio is being built, the privacy fence may be six feet high and no more. There is no specific city code, oddly enough, for which way gates may swing, so on this project the gates will be hinged to swing outward in deference to fire safety guidelines. There is also no particular mandate how far inside the property line a fence may be built, which is odd, as most cities of this size have very specific guidelines. A rule of thumb is to build the fence at least one foot inside the property boundaries. Some townships and cities specify that a fence may be built directly upon the line by mutual agreement of the adjoining neighbors.

Approved fence material are also often specified in zoning regulations. Since the fence around two and a half sides of this small patio are part of a continuous fence that runs behind and up one side of the house, the options are wood, iron poles or a chain link.  Woven wire fence is not allowed, although a decorative metal screen type privacy fence is allowed in the historic area... subject, of course to pre-approval by the review committee.

The most attractive and cost-efficient style of fence in this area is cedar wood fencing. Since this fence will effectively create a privacy wall around the patio, the wood needs to be smooth cut. It may or may not be painted or stained. Both options must be weighed for cost, labor and aesthetics.

A permanent element for consideration with these small patio decorating ideas are the concrete steps coming down from the kitchen door. The steps are absolutely necessary to get down the 12 inch drop from the kitchen floor level to patio floor level. Right now the steps are simple poured concrete. Plain, gray and boring.  Well, there is one small hole on the top step that doesn't affect anything at all.

The immediate thought is to replace that concrete with steps made of interesting pavers. Better yet, cover the boring concrete with brightly colored tiles. There's something for the design checklist. Just find out if there are tiles that are flamboyant, can be used outdoors without getting all slick and dangerous when wet AND that can be easily affixed to existing concrete steps. That approach works.

[Photo courtesy of Diane Groves, sxc.hu]