Case Study: Backyard Patio Installation in Chapin, SC

A Chapin homeowner in the Timberlake neighborhood had a large backyard that was nothing but grass. No patio, no defined entertaining space, no fire pit, no plantings. The family had lived there 4 years and barely used the backyard because there was nothing to do out there except mow it.

Their wish list: an outdoor dining area accessible from the kitchen door, a fire pit area for fall and winter evenings separated from the dining area, and low-maintenance privacy landscaping.

The backyard had good bones: relatively flat grade with a gentle 6-inch slope toward the rear fence, full sun exposure, and the back of the house faced northwest providing afternoon shade in summer.

We designed three connected outdoor zones. Zone 1: a 400 sq ft paver patio adjacent to the back door for dining and grilling. Zone 2: a 12-foot diameter fire pit circle positioned 15 feet from the patio edge with a built-in curved seating wall. Zone 3: a planted buffer between the outdoor space and the fence line for privacy.

Material selection: Belgard Catalina pavers in Toscana blend — warm earth tones complementing the home’s brick exterior. Matching Belgard coping for the seating wall and a Belgard fire pit kit in the same color family.

The design connected all three zones with a 4-foot-wide paver walkway creating a natural circulation path from the back door to the fire pit.

Excavated the 400 sq ft patio area to 8-inch depth. Installed 4 inches of compacted ABC stone base in two lifts, 1 inch of leveling sand, and laid Catalina pavers in a running bond pattern. Cutting border pieces with a wet saw for clean edges.

The fire pit circle required 10-inch excavation depth for the heavier load. Poured a 4-inch concrete footer for the fire pit kit base. Installed the seating wall (24 inches high, 8 linear feet) with matching coping stones.

Drainage: 4-inch perforated pipe along the patio edge draining to a pop-up emitter. Patio surface sloped 1/4 inch per foot away from the house. Applied polymeric sand to all joints.

Privacy hedge: 8 Green Giant arborvitaes at 5-foot spacing — they grow 3-5 feet per year and will fill in to a solid screen within 2-3 years. Underplanted with Knockout Roses for continuous color and Dwarf Fountain Grass for texture.

3 accent beds around the patio: Japanese Holly, Stella de Oro Daylilies, and Creeping Phlox. All plants selected for Zone 8a, drought tolerance, and minimal pruning.

Installed low-voltage LED landscape lighting: 6 path lights along the walkway, 4 uplights on the arborvitae hedge, and 2 down-lights under the eave for the patio dining area. All fixtures at 2700K warm white on a smart timer set to dusk-to-11pm.

Total lighting cost: approximately $800-$1,200 installed. The lighting doubled the usable hours of the outdoor space and the uplighting on the arborvitae created a dramatic wall of green at night.

Applied 4 cubic yards of dark brown hardwood mulch to all new beds. Repaired sod damage from equipment access with fresh Bermuda sod patches. Power-washed the existing adjacent concrete walkway to match the new paver cleanliness.

Final cleanup: blew all surfaces, removed all construction debris, and walked the project with the homeowner to verify every detail.

The homeowner hosted a cookout for 12 guests the first weekend. The fire pit has been used almost every weekend since. They said the backyard went from ‘wasted space’ to the most-used area of the house.

Total project: 5 days. The project added an estimated $15,000-$20,000 in home value based on comparable sales in Timberlake with and without outdoor living spaces.

Midlands Exterior Solutions designs and installs patios, fire pits, seating walls, and outdoor living spaces across Chapin, Lake Murray, Irmo, and the Midlands. Every project starts with a free on-site consultation.

Design consultations are typically scheduled within 1 week of first contact, and most projects begin within 2-4 weeks of approval. Call (839) 250-1959 or use our smart quote tool.