This is the back yard when I first purchased the house.

This is a front view of the front when I first purchased the house.

This is an angled view of the front when I first purchased the house.

This is a side view of the front when I first purchased the house.

This is during the installation of the 4 to 6 inch gravel base for the pavestone..

Here the first few pavestone have been laid. It's very important to start off square and keep them tight together.

About one third of the way through the installation of the pavestone.

Angled view. Pavestone installation is complete. 4 inch concrete border to prevent pavestones from shifting is complete. Retaining wall #1 is complete but not painted. Retaining wall #2 revision 1 is complete. Cinder blocks for columns are just sitting in place (not mortared).

Side view. Pavestone installation is complete. 4 inch concrete border to prevent pavestones from shifting is complete. Retaining wall #1 is complete but not painted. Retaining wall #2 revision 1 is complete. Cinder blocks for columns are just sitting in place (not mortared).

Retaining walls are finished and painted, but retaining wall #2 has a very jacked up design, so it will be demo-ed and rebuilt.

Retaining wall #2 has been rebuilt from the previous jacked up version, but not yet finished and painted.

Back yard in the planning phase with scattered cinder block to provide temporary visuals.

Back yard in the planning phase with scattered cinder block and pallets to provide temporary visuals.

Front. Columns are mortared, finished and painted.. awaiting the pergola.

Pergola main beams are attached to the roof trusses and rested on top of the columns.

Nice shot of the mechanism for attaching the pergola main beams to the columns. The stainless steel bolts are cemented into the top of the columns. Stainless steel was used becuase I live close to the beach and the bolts will get salt spray on them regularly.

Angled view of install pergola main beams.

Front view of install pergola main beams.

My parents and I right after installing the secondary beams for the pergola.

The lattice for the pergola is partially installed.

Me mortaring up the cinder block for the fire pit.

The fire pit partially finished.

The fire pit with the fourth course in place.

The fire pit with the fifth course in place and the border for the raised shop area has been mortared in place and partially filled with dirt.

My dad and I planning before pouring the concrete floor for the fire pit.

Here I am doing a very shotty job of working the concrete floor for the fire pit.

The concrete floor for the fire is finished and awaiting tile. A couple of 18 inch pavestones are sitting on the seat area for a visual.

An angled view of the front with the pergola finished and some flowers in the retaining walls.

A front view of the front with the pergola finished and some flowers in the retaining walls.

Panorama view of the back yard with the footer for the firepit complete and the forms installed for the footer that will support the raised floor for the shop area.

Panorama view of the forms for the footer that will support the raised floor for the shop area.

Panarama view of the back yard with the fire pit completely mortared and the raised floor for the shop area mortared and partially filled.

I used the old rotten form boards and some old mortar sacks to stuff the top of the blocks in preparation for mortaring in the top of the seat-back. I try to reuse anything that I can to keep from being wasteful.

After mortaring in the top of the seat-back for the fire pit. I decided to free-hand a rounded top to soften the look of the very square looking structure.

After the first coat of paint. It took 1.5 gallons of paint for the first coat. Concrete is very porous so the first coat maily fills the small holes... the second coat usually takes much less paint and improves the looks greatly.

This is the saw and the blades that I use to cut the stones. You should be able to get both from your local Lowes/Home Depot for about $50 (saw) and $20 (blades). This blades will wear out eventually, so I suggest getting a discount 10 pack like this one if you expect to be doing much stone cutting. I completed this job with one blade, but it was showing decent wear afterwards.

This is a shot of the fire pit after the seat stones have been placed and some of the floor stones have been cut.

This is the tool that I used to smooth the rough edges of the stones that I used for the seat. You just use it like sandpaper on the cinder block. You should be able to get one of these from your local Lowes/Home Depot for about $15.

This is a shot of the finished stone floor for the fire pit. I put about 1/2 inch of fine sand over the concrete floor and leveled it before placing the stones. I should have been placing these stones directly on the ground but my previous plans were to use ceramic tile for the floor, but the stone was much cheaper, easier and it gave a more solid/permanent look to the floor.

This is a shot of the raised floor for the shop area in preparation for the paveing stones. I use a long 1x4 to screed off excess dirt using the cinder block as a guide which makes the floor perfectly flat.