Building a Patio or a Verandah ..

A few years ago when we bought our dream house, we had decided to do up the interiors and generally spruce up and repair the old house that had been neglected for a number of years by the previous owners.We had seen a lot of other houses but the old house was the only one, that came within our budget . When we decided to buy the house, the main attraction for us was the garden around it and some lovely seasonal flowering trees which were apparently more than 50 years old. It took us a whole year to make the house completely livable . When we began decorating it and once we moved in, the first thing that struck was the need for a verandah or a patio where we could relax with a drink in the evenings or during weekends with our guests and friends. I felt that it was far better to have sunlight, breeze and also a view of the garden while we entertained our guests .

We realised that there was not much space outside either in the front or in the backyard of the house to carry out any kind of additions.The only space available was to the side of the house .The site is an odd shaped one with an elongated portion, where there are a couple of really old flowering trees that I mentioned earlier , some really attractive hibiscus flower plants and a lot of potted plants which I have arranged on ledges by the wall. Initially, we decided to open out the Dining hall, by extending the side wall, but, it had some practical structural difficulties. Finally, we decided to leave the dining hall alone, and add a patio by the side of it.

The first thing we did was to consult our architect and he advised us not to invest much on the struture. We got a half wall measuring 2 feet high built all round the verandah.. The entire patio area measures roughly about 14 feet x 9 feet. Not too large, but , because of the design it could be fully utilised. The diniing hall window was opened out to make the entrance Glass doorway to the patio . The patio had grilled walls all round it with glass windows . Since, we have very heavy monsoons it was necessary to keep the water and floods away.

It was completed very quickly, since, there was no roofing work involved . Cement sheets were placed on metal grids and screwed down which took just 2 days to complete. For more light and sunshine , a few square pieces were cut on the cement sheets . This had to be done by professionals , and Glass squares were placed and glued on to the cement sheets .We tried out something new for the outside wall of the patio ,which was recommended by one of our frends who heads a green movement. Red mud was mixed with lime and very little cement and water was added to make a thick mixture , and this was painted on to the short 2 feet wall around the patio. It turned a greyish brown after it dried and looked very earthy and attractive besides being very economical.We all liked the effect so much so that we decided to go in for the same on the inside walls of the Patio too. It looked slightly darker and on one of the walls I tried my own painting with white lime , drawing some traditional folk paintings !...With pootted plants , comfortable bamboo furniture, colourful cushions and jute mats the patio has become our favorite place to relax.

One has the view of the flowering trees , my potted plants , some of which have been placed inside the patio and, now a Purplish pink bougenvillea has grown and covered the entire roof of the patio. It is a lovely sight when the shrub is in full bloom .I spend a lot of time here doing most of my work like writing , reading , browsing , listening to music or just sit watching the greenery around me...Many a times I take a nap on the Rattan sofa ..

Going by my personal experience, I personally think that it is fairly easy to build a patio or a verandah in any convenient area of your garden .One can do this with the bare minimum of expenditure by going in for environmentally friendly materials and turning any drab outdoor space into an attractive outdoor living area