One of the things that keeps me busy during the “slow season” is taking on a fence or patio installation. I usually only have the time to do one or two of those types of jobs a year, but they are good money when I get them, so I’m always happy to oblige when I get a call from a customer.

Ellen Alexander asked me to give her an estimate on the price of installing a new patio in her back yard. She had been given my name and telephone number from her friend Louise Wadleigh She needs to have an area cleared and levelled first, and then a base layer of gravel hauled in. She wants a path from the patio going through the woods down toward the lake. She also wants to have a second patio built down by the lake. She is trying to decide whether or not to install a gazebo down by the lake, and whether to have it screened in or with combination windows/screens. She wants to include a barbecue pit or a fire pit as well. She really has not made up her mind on that one.

She wants to have me do the landscape lighting installation going from the patio down along the pathway on both sides all the way down to the lake. I plan to take some brochures with me to her place that show a variety of options for the lighting and the patio pavers that I think will be in her price range.