Great Grilling! Transform Unused Lawn Space Into A Grill Zone For Your Yard

Great grilling at home is easy when you transform unused lawn space into an attractive grill zone for your yard. My husband and I look forward to grilling every Sunday afternoon. We take the time to prep a lot of food and cook it for lunches all week long. We both have very busy full-time jobs and this helps us to stay on track with healthy-ish eating habits.

But our grill was under our carport. We had to move a car and roll it out to use it. After use, we cleaned it, rolled it back under the carport, and more the car back into place. Blah! Enough of that!

It was time to create a designated space for the grill. I requested a pergola to keep my red-headed self shaded from the sun while grilling. However, we compromised on a big colorful lawn umbrella to roll up when needed. It can safely be stored away if we expect a hurricane.

This was about an hour job that we worked together and quickly got done this past Sunday afternoon…just in time for grilling!

SELECT A SITE AND START DIGGING!

Select a site for your grill zone near your kitchen if possible and also near a seating area. This allows you easy access to the kitchen as you move food in and out of the house. Also, you can entertain your guests. We have a nice shady carport next to the grill zone. We purchased a couple of clearance chairs that we plan to tuck into the screened porch when not in use by the grill.

Measure your pavers and estimate the shape of your grilling area. Dig out and grass, weeds, rocks, and debris with a flat-bottomed shovel.  Use a rake to smooth out the area and get rid of all small debris. Just the tiniest rock can make your pavers uneven. This is very important because you want your grill to sit level.

Of course, you need do select an area close to your home before digging up your grilling zone. This will make it easy to bring grilled foods in and out.

Dig out the area so that your pavers will set level.

Use a rake and get rid of any stones, grass roots, or debris.

ADD YOUR PATIO PAVERS:

Add your patio pavers and leave a little bit of space between each one. You may need to play with the layout. For example, you may need to dig out a little larger space, wiggle them in to fit correctly, or stagger the patterns as we did.

STAKE YOUR UMBRELLA INTO PLACE:

We set a metal fence stake into the ground securely and added three clamps to hold our shade umbrella into place. Make sure you leave clearance to put up the umbrella so that it doesn’t hit the grill as it winds up. Also, make sure it’s high enough to not catch fire!

We did this before setting the sand. We thought it wouldn’t hurt to add a little sand around it for a little extra help keeping in place.

Of course, we plan for the unavoidable event of tropical storms or a hurricane. This is able to be pulled out of the metal clamps on a moment’s notice. We store all our patio furniture in the barn before hurricanes and this will go with those other items.

As we use our new space, I will update if we decide to squash this umbrella idea.

SET THEM IN WITH SAND:

I had an awesome guest post the other day from Brooke with Envirobond, a sand which sets your pavers permanently. Unfortunately, I couldn’t locate the product in my area. I settled for the old go-to play sand.

Dump a pretty large amount of sand onto your pavers. You will need more than you think! Grab an old broom and work the sand into the space between the patio pavers. Fill every space as tightly with sand as you can. Here’s a really short video of my hubby sweeping the sand. This demonstrates how he works one little section at a time.

Add a large amount of play sand over the pavers. Start working the sand into the spaces between the pavers. Don’t leave any nook or cranny unfilled.

This is what the pavers looked like after working all the sand into the pavers.

Does anyone else ever notice that I’m always holding the camera while he does the work?  Lol.

ADD EDGING MATERIAL

Adding some kind of edging material will make your grilling patio look more finished. We chose to use river rocks to make it easy to cut grass. We can ride the mower with the tire on the rocks instead of needing to trim with the weed eater every week. This is especially important if you have a large yard. Who wants more grass to edge? Not me!

THE GRILLING ZONE – AFTER:

The grill is closed after use. Naturally, we can store away the umbrella during storms or in the winter.

The grill is open! Where’s the beef?

We created this project in a fairly quick time frame. We were able to complete this project despite some rain showers. By the time we completed the grilling zone, the showers had cleared. And yes. We did throw a couple of steaks on the grill as a reward for our hard work!

As always, please comment with your feedback! We love hearing from your.

Have a happy DIY day!