Barbecue Island Orange County Archives - Orange County Landscape Contractor

How To Setup Your Outdoor Space For Holiday Gatherings

The holiday season is fast approaching, and homeowners are starting to plan for this year’s holiday gatherings. One aspect of preparing for holiday events that is often overlooked is preparing the outdoor space. A well-prepared outdoor space can transform a simple holiday gathering into a memorable and enjoyable experience for guests. In this article, we will discuss five easy steps to set up your outdoor space for holiday gatherings.

5 steps For Holiday Gatherings

1) Patio Covers: One of the essential features of a comfortable outdoor space is having some form of coverage from the elements. A patio cover is an excellent option to give your outdoor space a sense of enclosure, provide shade from the sun, and protect you and your guests from any potential rain during the holiday season. Some great options for patio covers include pergolas, covered patios, and retractable awnings.

2) Fire elements, fire pit, fireplaces: During the holiday season, having a fire element in your outdoor space can quickly create an intimate and cozy ambiance. Fire pits, outdoor fireplaces, and custom-built fire features are great choices for creating a welcoming atmosphere. They can also provide enough warmth for outdoor activities to continue as the temperatures drop during the colder months.

3) Outdoor kitchens: Preparing food indoors during the holidays can be challenging, as it can get overcrowded and result in an uncomfortable living space. The solution? An outdoor kitchen. Outdoor kitchens are a perfect option for homeowners who love to cook and entertain guests during holidays and other events. With built-in grills, sinks, refrigerators, and storage cabinets, outdoor kitchens can make for a fun and convenient dining experience.

4) Interlocking pavers: Maintaining a sturdy, safe, and attractive surface is crucial for your outdoor space. Interlocking pavers are excellent for creating a beautiful and durable surface for your patio, walkways, and driveways. They come in various patterns, shapes, and colors, making it easy for you to customize your space to your liking.

5) Light it up: Lighting sets the mood in any space, especially during the holiday season. Adding outdoor lighting can highlight key features of your space and create a warm and inviting atmosphere for your guests. String lights, garden torches, spotlights, and lanterns are all great options for outdoor lighting.

Orange County Outdoor Living

In conclusion, preparing your outdoor space for holiday gatherings does not have to be a daunting task. With the right strategy and equipment, you can quickly transform your outdoor space into a welcoming and enjoyable environment for your guests. Consider implementing some or all of our tips and enjoy a hassle-free and memorable holiday season with your loved ones!

We would love to help design and build this Outdoor Living area. Call today for a free consultation 1-866-487-1359

www.trulandscape.com

Barbecue Island Orange County

Barbecue Islands Before

TRU Landscape Services just completed a full remodel of a barbecue Island in Orange County. The original BBQ island was built roughly 8 years back. The customer told us that the landscape contractor hired a sub contractor to perform the project. We believe this is where the whole problem started. The contractor was no longer on site to oversee the project. The customer hired a licensed contractor to perform the work and yet they were not sure if the sub contractor was licensed! Judging by the quality of the work, if he was licensed, he didn’t care very much about his customers or his license. The Barbecue Island was built out of cinder block, which was proper but the counter top was not level. The customer explained that because the concrete was not level they couldn’t build the Barbecue island level. That brings us to another problem…the Barbecue Island was not built on concrete footings. To fix this problem, we would have had to tear the whole island down. The customer didn’t want to tear the BBQ Island down, so we decided to remodel the BBQ Island. We have been building Barbecue Islands in Orange County for several years and have never before seen such poor quality!

Concrete BBQ Island’s

After deciding to remodel the Barbecue Island, we removed the counter top. The counter top took our crew just over an hour to remove and to clean up the debris. Now, our crews work fast but this demo was too fast. We soon found out why, the counter top was built out of wood. The original landscape contractor applied tile straight to the wood. Tile is a great product for a Barbecue island but the grout lines will let the water seep through the tile directly to the plywood underneath. Once plywood gets wet it starts to deteriorate, so for the last 7 years the wood had been rotting. Because of this deterioration, the tile started to come loose. The proper way to build a Barbecue Island is with concrete. If our customer desires a tile top or any other material, we will usually build a 3” inch concrete slab under the product. The concrete counter top always has rebar installed in it as well, to give the concrete strength, just like the Fire pits we build.

Orange County Hardscape

A common question from our customers is “what is the difference between a pre-built Barbecue island and the BBQ island that you build?” The difference is in the product and the customized design to complement your landscape. The pre-built islands are made out of metal studs with a small layer of concrete board. Our BBQ islands are built out of block, rebar and concrete! Most of those pre-built BBQ islands come with a cheap, built in grill. These grills are usually not American made grills. These cheap grills will usually fail and have very little warranty.

Barbecue Ilsand

The grills we install are all made in America with a several year or life time warranty. We design your BBQ islands right on your property. TRU landscape services has been building Barbecue Islands in Orange County for over 25 years. Whether you’re looking for a Fire pit or a Barbecue island give us a call at 1-866-487-1359. We are Orange Counties premier landscape contractor.