October 28, 2025 • 52 mins
Welcome to the Luxury Outdoor Living Podcast hosted by Mike and Trey Farley of Farley Pool Designs. The Farleys share their insights on essential outdoor living features. The episode breaks down key elements like quality grass, shade solutions, water features, gardening tips, outdoor furniture, kitchen equipment, wellness setups, lighting, fire pits, and storage. By focusing on these essentials, they provide a roadmap for creating a welcoming and enjoyable outdoor space. Additionally, they discuss the financial and aesthetic benefits of these features, making it easier for homeowners to plan and execute their dream backyards.
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00:00 Welcome to Luxury Outdoor Living 02:26 Travel Plans and Upcoming Events 03:12 Outdoor Living Starter Pack 06:39 Creating a Comfortable Backyard 11:44 Incorporating Water Features 17:16 Gardening and Landscaping Tips 20:57 Essential Outdoor Furniture 22:19 Barbecue Bits: Outdoor Fire Media Essentials 25:25 Advancements in Fire Pit Technology 26:21 Choosing Weather-Resistant Furniture 27:11 Creating a Cozy Outdoor Space 28:07 The Importance of Outdoor Kitchens 33:33 Wellness Starter Pack for Your Backyard 35:34 Enhancing Your Backyard with Lighting 37:51 Incorporating Fire Elements 39:32 The Need for Outdoor Storage 42:36 Fencing and Privacy Solutions 44:44 Maximizing Property Value with Outdoor Living 49:24 Fun and Games for Your Backyard 51:14 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Intro (00:02):
Welcome to Luxury Outdoor Living Podcast with Mike and Trey
Farley of Farley Pool Designs.
For over 40 years, we've helpedhomeowners turn their backyards
into personal retreats, spaces ofjoy, relaxation and unforgettable
memories, and whether it's a cozy as.
Scape or a resort style oasis.
We design it all.
(00:24):
We know how overwhelming a projectcan feel, and nothing feels worse than
a homeowner having a bad experience.
And that's why after decades of designingand teaching in this industry, we're
here to share our knowledge, helping you.
The process with confidence.
Every week we break down designtrends and insider tips that
turn your vision into reality.
(00:45):
And since this is about creating somethingamazing together, drop a comment.
If you have any questions, ideas, orjust want to be part of the conversation,
if you find this helpful, a like helpsget this out to more people like you.
And if you want to keep upwith what's next, go ahead
and hit that subscribe button.
We'd love to have you along for the ride.
Let's build your paradise together.
Mike (01:12):
Good afternoon.
This is Mike Farley withLuxury Outdoor Living Podcast
sponsored by Farley Pool Designs.
So some people are like,who is Farley Pool Designs?
Several people have asked me.
So we are a design firm.
Mm-hmm.
That deals with luxury outdoor livingprojects in the Dallas Fort Worth.
north Texas area,
Trey (01:31):
but we make content for everybody.
Mike (01:32):
But we make content for everybody.
Yeah.
But, But we actuallypractice in North Texas now.
Trey (01:38):
Yeah.
That's where the money's made,
Mike (01:39):
That's where the money's made.
And I'm not a big traveler.
And so because of that, we've gotpeople that ask for information.
So that's where we came withthe YouTube channel and podcast
and all that type thing to helpshare information with people.
Now.
As Trey develops, Trey doesn'tmind traveling, so no, I don't.
The Farley pool designs may branchout over time and be coming to a
(02:00):
city near you, what's that bananabaseball thing that's going on?
Savannah?
Oh, Savannah.
Anyway, it's kind of crazy.
Trey (02:07):
No one do a back flip.
Mike (02:09):
you don't do back flips in people's backyards.
Trey (02:11):
No, you didn't see the one clip.
This guy like tried to promoteit on the news and he did a back
flip and he completely flip.
Face planted.
Mike (02:17):
Ouch.
Wow.
Yeah, there you go.
They're
Trey (02:18):
very good at social media though, 'cause I don't pay attention
to that stuff at all, but it'ssomehow weaves its way into my feed
Mike (02:24):
anyway, so totally off track there.
Yeah.
So, Today, when this episodedrops we'll be on a plane.
the guy that never travelswill be traveling 'cause
we'll be going to Las Vegas.
'cause on Wednesday that weekwe'll be teaching a class in Vegas.
Fun in the outdoors.
And so that brought up some discussions ofthings that we don't talk about normally.
(02:45):
And it was like, well, maybewe ought to handle those.
Then we will talk aboutsome of that today.
And then Thursday willbe the million dollar.
Pool design challenge and the classwill be voting on the finalist
on who gets the $10,000 grand.
and then we'll be there through Friday.
So, Come find us on the floor.
We'll be wandering aroundtrying to find things and be in
(03:05):
classes trying to learn more.
And if you've got a questionthat we haven't addressed yet,
we'd love to hear it from you.
Yep.
Today.
We're talking in our class about funin the outdoors, and we talk about
lots of crazy stuff all the time.
Mm-hmm.
But in reality, you can have fun in theoutdoors and have some simple things.
Mm-hmm.
And so what we talked about was.
(03:27):
The outdoor living starter pack.
we're gonna talk about the outdoorliving starter pack today on what
you could put in your backyard.
Yeah.
So what do you think would probablybe some of the highlights that
people want to think about?
Trey (03:40):
interesting thing when when you brought this topic up
to me, I was, trying to wrap myhead around it because I'm like.
We talk about grandiosethings all the time.
That's our niche.
Yeah.
Crazy stuff.
Yeah.
That's our niche.
We love like learning about that stuffand that, that's why we're gonna,
this the class is to learn more.
a big thing is I'm gonna bebuying a house here soon.
Eventually.
And what would I want to put in thebackyard to make it a good experience?
(04:01):
'cause I can't, obviously just off thebat, just afford a big pool or a sauna.
I wish I could have one.
I love sauna so much.
lot of these things that we talkabout that are really expensive,
I think how can I start fromempty grass to outdoor living?
And I think one of thebiggest ways for me.
Would just be having good grass.
'cause I've rented a house beforeand I have two dogs and it had
(04:23):
those thorns the stickers that growand it was just all in the grass.
So making sure I have soft grass thatI can enjoy, I can walk on because I
need to be able to enjoy the space.
I need to be able to walk on it,whether that be with sandals or if I'm
barefoot, which I prefer to be in my own.
Comfort in my own home.
yeah, I think that's the biggest,a solid foundation, which I think
(04:44):
is like a nice carpet of grass.
Mike (04:46):
Well, and that opens up all kinds of things that you can then do.
Mm-hmm.
If you have some grass.
So now we can play sports in the backyard.
Trey (04:53):
Yeah.
I could throw the football,
Mike (04:54):
you know, throw the football, play, catch play Frisbee.
I mean, there's lots ofthings you can do if you have.
So now.
You know, what I look at isdifferent aspects of activities
that you want to have.
So
Trey (05:06):
yeah,
Mike (05:06):
one of the things that happened this weekend.
Is, I was going to go to my40th reunion graduation Re oh.
Trey (05:14):
that was last weekend.
Goodness.
I stuttered.
Yeah.
Mike (05:16):
That was last weekend.
Texas Tech Homecoming was last weekend.
Yeah.
It had been 40 years since I graduatedfrom Texas Tech, and I went to
every home game from 1972 to 1985.
I haven't been back to asingle game since then.
Yeah.
So I was gonna go through somecircumstances it didn't happen,
and so I ended up with some freetime and my other daughter found
(05:40):
out about it, and she's like, oh.
Pops, would you love to babysityour two lovely granddaughters?
And I was like, okay, yeah, I can do that.
Yeah.
And they're like, well, there'sthis event that we could go
to if you could watch 'em.
And I'm like, no problem.
For nine hours I was like.
Nine hours.
Okay.
So they were like, well come over tothe house and you can watch the girls.
(06:03):
And I'm like, I'll tell you what,I want them on my territory.
'cause I want to have fun withthem and I need them not to be in
their normal routine, so I need totake 'em off their normal routine.
Yeah.
So one of the things we just did in thebackyard was hang out in the backyard
and we got to gather acorns and stufflike that, just hanging out in the grass.
But, it's nice to have a spacethat you can go out and enjoy.
(06:25):
Yeah.
And you've got a hammock set up out there.
Mm-hmm.
Which they had fun playing in.
I'm getting off topic here,but Oh, it's on topic.
Yeah.
we want some grass.
Yes.
We want a nice space foundation.
So after you have that what else do youthink people should start looking at?
Trey (06:39):
Well, if we just go off of like your place, I mean, mosquitoes are
a huge issue in that neighborhood.
you have a lot of treesthat are very tall.
So.
bug control in general is anecessity because like even if you
have nice grass, you don't want tobe hanging out outside if you're
getting bit up by mosquitoes 24 7.
Mike (06:57):
So in certain parts of the country, you're going to have something Yeah.
That's gonna make it nasty to be
Trey (07:03):
outside extra obstacle.
Mike (07:05):
Okay.
So
Trey (07:06):
not everybody's gonna have those tall trees where you're gonna have
tree lit or just on the ground 24 7.
Right.
Mike (07:10):
If you haven't heard the episode, we actually did an episode
on Mosquitoes in My Backyard.
Yeah.
Mosquito Joe.
An episode 41.
Mm-hmm.
And so, we had the perfecttrifecta for maximum mosquitoes.
He explained to me as he was swattingthem, as they swarmed around his face.
we've done that for, thisis the second year now.
It has worked extremelywell in reducing that.
(07:32):
So now we can actually go out andenjoy the stuff in our backyard.
Some parts of the country it's like shade.
Trey (07:37):
Yeah.
Mike (07:37):
Okay.
Trey (07:38):
Not many trees at all.
Mike (07:39):
We don't have any trees and we live in Scottsdale, Arizona and it's hot.
It is all get out, so we gotta have shade.
Yeah.
You know, some parts Seattle.
Washington.
They're like, we don't have aproblem with shade, but it rains all
the time, so we need some shelter.
Yeah.
So there's gonna be differentenvironmental things that you're
gonna want to have in your backyard.
Otherwise it's just gonna be miserable.
You
Trey (07:58):
know, up north you might have issues with like snow, you wanna be
outside 24 7, but it's just too cold.
Yeah.
So another form of shelter.
Mike (08:04):
So We're gonna need something to make the space where it's enjoyable.
Mm-hmm.
in our case, it was mosquitocontrol that came into play.
Anything else on that note?
Well, shade is, or protection issomething that's really important.
And we're talking aboutstarting the starter pack.
So what would you have to do?
(08:26):
I mean, you could build a nice cabanaor aval, Louvre, arbor or something like
that, but those are expensive stuff.
to me, if I was starting out as ayoung adult now, the first thing I
would get is like a 12 by 12 umbrella.
Okay.
Yeah, that's smart because I can openit up and it's the size of a room.
Okay.
And I could have, you know, a tableunder it or I could have a couch and
(08:47):
some chairs underneath it, and I couldhave shade, I could have rain protection.
I could, pull, my grill cart over to that.
So if it's really hot or if it's raining.
I would have a nice so, thatumbrella is something that is very.
Cost effective when you compareit to a permanent structure.
Yeah.
Okay.
So to me, you've gotta havesomething that's gonna protect
(09:11):
you from those elements.
And mosquitoes.
We use pyrethrum that'ssprayed once a month.
Some people will use screens some peoplewill use other things like trying to
move air with fans and things like that.
With our circumstances, we wanted tobe able to use the whole outdoor space.
So the spraying actuallyworked really well.
(09:32):
Yeah.
For us.
But you want to create whateverthat hazard is, you wanna be able
to figure out how to overcome it.
Trey (09:38):
I think shade and just Texas, 'cause it's just, I have such a big bias.
It's one of those huge things.
And the umbrella is interesting'cause you can move it around the
yard as you please depending onwhat kind of umbrella you want.
You could also do likea cheap pergola kit.
Those do exist.
Sail shades.
Rectangle awnings, stuff like that.
And for me, when I'm trying to I don'town a house yet, so I'm looking at
(10:01):
houses that already have covered patios.
That's a huge thing.
Mike (10:04):
And with all the houses that are being built today,
they all have covered porches.
A lot of 'em do.
Yeah.
But if you look at the houses thatwere built between like 1980 mm-hmm.
And the late nineties.
None of 'em have porches at all.
Trey (10:17):
Yeah.
Mike (10:17):
It wasn't a thing that got done until after nine 11 and then all of a
sudden everybody wanted to be outsidedoing stuff and so they started
building porches on houses again.
So like our house doesn'thave a back porch.
Trey (10:31):
Yeah.
I
Mike (10:32):
mean, It doesn't at all.
You basically come out the backdoor and you're in the backyard.
Trey (10:36):
Yeah.
you did a little bit of remodelingso you could consider what
used to be there, a back porch?
Mike (10:42):
we have an atrium.
Trey (10:43):
Yeah, you had a atrium that went out to a wood deck.
So that was kind of a porch type area.
Mike (10:48):
Yeah.
So we took it out and put the patio
Trey (10:49):
in.
Yeah.
But like also with the houses that I'mlooking at, like the range is ideally
275 to, but probably ideally three 50.
A lot of those houses that, and someof 'em are built after the time you're
talking about, they don't have ifthey do have a back porch or a covered
area, it's just like the little sliver.
Just so, oh, you can letthe dogs out real quick.
Or something like that.
(11:10):
It's oh, we have covered patio,but it's like checking a box.
It's not like a comfortablespace to actually,
Mike (11:14):
yeah, it's a six by six porch that you can't do anything on.
Trey (11:17):
Yeah.
You're not bringing any furnitureout there or anything like that.
No.
Mike (11:21):
Your hammock wouldn't even fit there.
No, it wouldn't.
So that's a bummer.
Okay, so we've, establishwe need some shelter.
Trey (11:29):
Yeah, shelter and shade is big.
Mike (11:30):
Okay.
And we need to be protected by stuff.
Trey (11:34):
I think one of the biggest ways to make your backyard feel more.
maybe alive or just addingthat extra oomph to it.
The extra layer is water.
And I'm not saying build a pool,but there's ways to get the sound of
water or just water in your backyardand it can create a huge difference.
Mike (11:54):
Yeah.
So we've got that broken sprinklerthat sprays up in the air.
Is that what you're talking about?
Trey (12:00):
You could do that.
I guess you could just breakyour uh, sprinkler one might
be a little costly, but
uh,
Mike (12:05):
Yeah, so water is a big deal.
So it was funny 'cause my granddaughterwent, she says, can we just go into
the backyard and look at the pool?
And I was like, yeah.
I said you can swim if you want.
And she was like, it's cold maybe.
But anyway, I said, why don't youjust stand on the tanning ledge and
decide if you wanna swim or not?
Because it was, 90 degreesoutside, but she stood on it.
(12:26):
She's like, okay, this is a littlecold, so I don't think I wanna swim.
But having water in thebackyard, just the sound.
Some people, when it comes towater, it's just simply the sound.
Trey (12:37):
Yeah.
Mike (12:37):
And so they want to create that.
Feeling of peaceful and tranquility.
Like a stream.
And so sometimes it's just a smallfountain Sometimes a little bit higher
on the maintenance aspects of them.
Yeah.
But you can go to a garden center andget a simple self-contained fountain, and
if you take care of it and keep changingthe water out and things like that, then
(13:00):
be, give you some great sound and maybeeven some visual effect in the backyard.
But yeah some people takeit a little bit farther.
And they're like, Iwant a pool to swim in.
And so, I remember during COVID youcouldn't even buy a Walmart plastic pool.
They were all sold out.
Mm-hmm.
But you know, Some people, theytook stock tanks and made
a little pool out of those.
(13:21):
And some people you did vinyl iron pools.
And so there's entry levelsthat you can get into.
So we even talked about.
Pool ends on episode 80.
Yeah.
it's
Trey (13:30):
a great
Mike (13:30):
option, an option to consider.
And they now have some of those.
I was talking to Jamie Pittman.
There's a distributor up inOklahoma that's distributing those
throughout the United States.
That's cool.
Close to here it to Texas.
Yeah.
that was a cool option and Insteadof a body of water, like a pool, some
people are gonna go with a hot tub.
So that is a sizable investmentthat you're going to make.
(13:54):
But we can get the water into the backyard
Trey (13:57):
here's the thing.
You could find one of those that are used.
And you can try to hire someoneto fix it or something like that.
You can find some for cheap.
it's not relatively easy thingwhere you can just go to Walmart
and buy something and blow it up.
But it's a great option.
And then there's also plunges as well.
Mike (14:12):
going back to the used situation, so one of the things that I would
recommend is if you're gonna buy aused hot tub, is one of the things you
want to get is when you buy a hot tub,you want one that has multiple pumps,
Trey (14:26):
okay?
Mike (14:27):
Because if something's only got one pump on it.
What happens is it runs thecirculation and the heater.
Okay.
And as soon as you go to jet mode, itturns the circulation and the heater off.
Oh, okay.
So now you're like in a bathtub.
Trey (14:41):
Yeah.
You
Mike (14:42):
know, In 15 minutes it's cooled off.
Trey (14:44):
Yeah.
Mike (14:44):
Okay.
The other thing is water startsgetting nasty, especially if
you've got a lot of people in it.
Okay.
So if you buy a used one oreven buy a new one, you want
one that's got multiple pumps.
Okay.
But yes, you can find them and thefirst one that I got, I had a client
that wanted to get rid of one.
Yeah.
And so that's how we ended up withthe one in our backyard is they
were, I'm like, you're seriouslyjust gonna have us throw it.
(15:07):
In the dump truck and they'relike, yeah well, I don't want
to sell it used to somebody andif they have problems with it.
So I was like I'll take it anyway.
there are people that is available.
Another thing that people dosometimes it's a simple water feature.
Is they'll build a pond.
Yeah.
Or they'll do a pondless water feature.
(15:28):
We talked uh, what, what happensis the water comes out of a pot and
grows down and goes into a gravelbed, and then it recirculates.
Okay.
on episode 93, we talked with Greg ofAqua Scapes and you could do a small pond
or you could do a Pondless water feature,which is even works a better situation.
(15:48):
So those are solutions to create alittle bit of sound and that's gonna
be a lower maintenance, but highercost than a self-contained fountain.
And then, There's some people thatwhen I first started in the industry.
I would go out to people's homes and theyjust bought their house and they didn't
have a stick of furniture in their house.
(16:09):
I went into one house and it hadlawn chairs in the middle of the
living room, and I was like, andthey're like you're the pool guy.
gonna get a pool beforewe get a living room set.
So this is actually gonna go outside,so I have to get something else in here.
But everybody's got differentpriorities, but a pool is a big cost.
So if we're.
Doing the outdoor living starter pack,that's gonna drain a lot of your budget.
Trey (16:30):
Yeah.
That's a big thing to save up for.
So, Especially if you just bought a house.
Mike (16:33):
So a lot of people, that's gonna be something that
comes a little bit later Yeah.
In the process.
And there's other things you couldconsider from a water standpoint
to create your sound for you.
Trey (16:44):
I think the fountain is really cool because it, creates a way to
bring, 'cause you're in the backyardsand the best benefit of the backyards
is you're in nature, in my opinion.
And you can create a little ecosystem, putlike kind of a bird feeder or something
next to a fountain, get the water running.
I think it's just cool bringingthat nature aspect to your backyard.
Mike (17:02):
Yeah.
You got squirrels and birdsfor your dogs to chase.
Trey (17:05):
Yep.
Exactly.
Yeah.
Lots of fun.
Oh yeah.
A lot of things to watch.
Mike (17:09):
Another thing besides water that some people want in their backyard
is they want to incorporate some.
Gardening.
Okay.
And some gardening is actuallylike vegetable gardens that
some people are going to want.
'cause they have a space thatthey can grow something now.
Yep.
And so they just come in with somesimple raised beds and grow some
(17:31):
vegetables and stuff like that.
But gardening, does other peoplemean I want some plants in here to
get me shade or give me privacy?
Or create a certain style orsetting, that's something that,
you can start really small andyou can get big impact with.
Oh yeah.
So when we've.
First bought our house in California.
(17:53):
We planted these redwood treesthat were in 15 gallon pots.
And now we go by and thoseguys are, 40 feet tall now.
Wow.
So there, there's things thatcan grow over a period of time.
And that's one thing is landscaping.
You could come in and if youdo things, especially the
trees right at the beginning.
(18:15):
Those are the ones that take the longest.
So you want 'em to get 'em in theground and get 'em, start growing.
Key areas, especially if you don'thave any trees and you want some trees.
So the shrubs will take, two tothree years to get full size.
The perennials will be full size withinless than a year, what you wanna do is you
wanna get those trees in the ground first.
And the one thing when plantingtrees, you wanna plant 'em from
(18:38):
the time of the greatest stress.
So here, the greateststress is the summer heat.
Trey (18:43):
So you wanna do afterwards.
That way they have enough timeto develop and pretty much get
ready to go through that stress.
Mike (18:49):
So sometimes the part of the country, it's, it is the winter and
so you would plan 'em in the spring?
Yeah.
So they have the longest timebefore they get hit by the winter.
Gotcha.
Uh, the other thing that with treesthat happens is root development
happens in the winter time.
Okay.
So if you plant something in thespring, it's not gonna grow that
much until the following year.
Here, if you plant something in the fall.
(19:11):
And then it grows roots over the winter.
It'll actually start getting fair, you'llsee good growth on it in the summertime.
Trey (19:17):
That makes
Mike (19:17):
sense.
Trey (19:17):
Trees are big with our family.
Like we love, I think all the kids,all your kids want to get fruit
trees in their backyard eventually.
Mike (19:24):
Yeah.
that goes with memories thatcome from backyard experiences.
Yep.
So.
Trey (19:28):
And then you could also incorporate, there's stuff that's
not actually, real plants, likevertical gardens and stuff like that.
And actually you could do verticalgardens with real plants as well.
But I think gardening is a great way'cause it doesn't cost a lot of money.
It takes skill.
It depends on how you could throw arounda lot of money with gardening for sure.
But if you want to dedicate a lotof time and just understand it
(19:50):
yourself, you can do a lot of thisstuff yourself for relatively cheap,
Mike (19:53):
right?
A lot of plants, they'llcome in a four inch pot.
They'll come in a one gallon pot,they'll come in a three gallon,
they'll come in a five gallon.
plant is eventually allgonna be the same size.
Yeah.
It's just you're payingfor, waiting for it to grow.
The other thing is smallerplants go through shock quicker.
The bigger plants do.
Okay.
So the bigger it is, the more likelythat it'll go into shock and die
(20:17):
if it's not taken care of well.
If you plant 50.
15 gallon plants, you're gonna get two orthree of them that are gonna probably die.
But if you plant 21 gallon plants, mostlikely they'll all live 'cause they
just handle the trans planting better.
Okay.
Trey (20:35):
Interesting.
There's also likeirrigation, like a big thing.
Just advice you can get liketimers and drip kits like that
from Home Depot would be good idea.
Especially if you're new to it,because there's a lot of people
that we meet with clients and stufflike that love gardening, but they,
the plants just always die, so
Mike (20:51):
again, here the big stress is the heat.
Mm-hmm.
So you gotta have somewater for 'em to do well.
Yep.
So now one of the biggest thingsI think that people want in their
outdoor space is we talked about havingshelter, is we want a place to sit.
So I need some furniture here.
Yeah.
And so there's a lot of differentthings that some people will
(21:14):
consider as essential furniture.
So what would be essential for yours?
Trey (21:18):
For me right off the bat is a hammock, just a comfy hammock.
If your house is able to doit a porch swing as well.
I'm just, I don't know,something about me.
Like I love those two features.
And I think they're very simpleto do, integrate with the home.
I would say next level of like, Iwant to enjoy the outside space.
Have a couch at least in a tv likewatching the game while, your husband
(21:42):
is cooking or whatever it might be.
That's just, Sundays are agreat time to spend outside.
Mike (21:47):
So the two places the granddaughters had the most fun was the round swing.
Yeah.
And the backyard.
In the hammock.
In the backyard.
Yes.
Yesterday they were there you were.
Makes sense.
They were having a lot of fun with it.
So those are really popularspaces and there's not a lot of
costs with a swing or a hammock,
Trey (22:06):
hammocks.
Perfect.
So you don't need a tree.
You can get a hammock a base for it.
But if you have a, I have somecool trees that's a bonus.
Mike (22:13):
Yeah, most definitely.
BBQ Intro (22:15):
We are gonna take a break here for a second and get into outdoor living.
So with outdoor living, we liketo go to barbecue bits here.
We're gonna share some information oneverything that you may want to consider
in your outdoor living space as far asfeatures, especially for the kitchen.
Hope you enjoy this.
Okay, so we got a display of all kinds ofdifferent, you know, pretties here, right?
(22:39):
So, uh, what's the differencebetween all these things?
So back in the late seventies, earlyeighties, it was quarter inch of
one half inch, uh, covered glass.
It was fractured.
Then we've gone into crystal.
You can use this, you'll see these asfar as river rock fire pits, these are
more of a, a tumbled is what it is.
(23:00):
Then you've got bead versus differenttypes of spheres, uh, and different
colors that are mixed and pre-mixed.
And then one thing that I've seenon a lot of your jobs on your
Instagram is the tumbled lava rockthat comes in different sizes.
But all in all, what's thedifference between a. Bucket
(23:20):
of glass in a mass merch store.
Then custom it has to do how it's, it hasto be how it's manufactured and the dyes.
If you buy a, Hey, I found 50 poundsof glass for $10, it's probably
gonna fade within that year.
And um, these glass manufacturers,you get what you get.
So usually it's about 75, $80, uh, for 10pounds, and these are gonna be your higher
(23:45):
end qualities that will keep your colors.
And they won't fade maintenance, uh,you know, one part vinegar, three
parts water to clean it in a bucketand then reappropriated back into
the fire pit or the burner itself.
So, awesome.
So one thing that we found over aperiod of time is we can use all
these medias with natural gas.
(24:05):
That's correct.
What we found is it's not a good ideato use all these medias with propane.
That's right.
So how do you get around it?
Let's say you've got a big bulktank and you've gotta use propane.
How in productive forest as whatyou're talking about, propane tends to
blacken the glass is what it does Allyou have to do, and you can use glass
(24:28):
with bulk propane or propane tank, yougotta make sure there's an airspace
under the burner and with an air mixwith, which will give a clean burner
because propane goes from liquid to gas.
If we have the air mixerunderneath the plate of the burner.
There needs to be a void for airspaceand ventilation, then you will not get
(24:48):
the blackening or the soot that you will.
So one thing also with thepropane is it's heavier.
It is.
And so it wants to sit.
Yes.
And so we've cautioned peoplewith using glass, especially with
putting heavy levels of glass.
That's correct.
'cause it'll almost make a blanket.
That's correct.
Your propane sits down there and theydon't think they're lighting it right.
(25:13):
And then all of a sudden it goes, boom.
That's correct.
Uh, so, you know, I withpropane, use a lot of Avar rock.
Correct.
Um, just because I don'twant homeowners to Right.
Risk safety situations.
Right.
However, if properly doneyou could use glass as well.
You, you can.
I think another thing that we'velooked at is technology has gotten
(25:33):
a lot better with fire pits.
Um, I'm gonna use some verbiage that'snot familiar in the industry, but VIK
systems, WeatherBeater systems are lowvoltage one 10 systems that you can
flip a switch or can go in your homeautomated system and they run a low
voltage current to the fire pit whereit can automate it on and off with.
That's, that's, that'sgotten a lot better.
(25:55):
But you're right, you have tosafety first when it comes to.
What you recommend to the customer,how you ventilated and, um, what
the customer's expectations areas sort of what it looks like.
So, yeah.
Awesome.
Yep.
Thank you.
Yep.
So I hope you enjoyed the barbecue bits that we just featured today,
and we'll have more coming up next week.
If there's something in particular thatyou're interested for, let us know and
(26:19):
we will get back into the episode now.
Mike (26:21):
One thing with your furniture, you want to get weather resistant.
Fabric that can handle likerain and things like that.
That way it'll last longer.
Trey (26:31):
Yeah.
You don't wanna let us sit on amoldy hammock or a moldy couch.
That'd be bad.
Mike (26:36):
that'd be bad.
Now, some people it's a couchand let's just do, little
tables and that'd be great.
And other people want a table.
'Cause they want to beable to eat outside dining.
But you'd rather relax and watchthe game and eat on the couch.
Trey (26:50):
I'm not at the point in my life where I have, a bunch
of kids or anything like that.
So dining isn't like a big part of my.
Lifestyle, I guess you could say.
Yeah, I like to be comfortable andhave conversations and eat food.
but you know, Eventually whenI have kids and I want to have,
dinner at the dining table, thatwould be something I would want.
But I'm just not there atmy, at that point in my life.
Mike (27:11):
One thing that also can make this.
Feel more like a home is, there'stwo things in the outdoor aspect
that, there's outdoor rugs nowthat you can put outside Yeah.
That really, cozy up a space also.
And they're not turf they're not turf.
Although you could doa rug outta turf too.
You could.
Yeah.
So if you wanted to but that'swhat they are technically.
(27:33):
Technically.
Yes, definitely.
The other thing is some people like tocome in and have some accents with some
pillows or throws or that type of thing.
Some parts of the country, it gets cold.
So it's nice to have some blankets orthrows out there to wrap up in, in when
you're in an outdoor space just accordingto the seasons that you're going through.
(27:53):
That's a
Trey (27:53):
great way also to implement style.
Especially with the colors you're talkingabout with the cushions and the pillows.
It's a great way and an opportunityto bring in some contrasting colors
depending on how like stylishyou are and how, design focused
you are with this whole project.
Mike (28:07):
So with dining area and a sitting area, a lot of people also
want to incorporate a kitchen.
Yeah.
So a kitchen is in fact anoutdoor kitchen, some people
will say is the most importantthing to do in the outdoor space.
Trey (28:23):
I can see that.
Mike (28:24):
So if you were gonna have an outdoor kitchen and you were doing the
starter pack, what would you start with?
Trey (28:31):
I'm biased.
I've learned a lot from you, so I probablygo, probably smoker right off the bat.
Mike (28:36):
Okay.
Trey (28:37):
Yeah, I think, the amount of times I've cooked steaks or bake or
whatever it might be, just cookingsome kind of meat in the kitchen and
it just smokes up the whole house.
It's so annoying.
It happens at Airbnbs, at myold rental, at your house.
it is what it is.
But then when like you cook outside andyou're smoking something, or if you're
just cooking in general, if you drive upto the house and someone's cooking in the
(28:58):
backyard, you just smell it in the air.
Or if your neighbor's cooking,you just smell in the air.
It's just.
it's hard to put words into,but it's a phenomenal aspect.
Mike (29:06):
this is where I grew up and we used the little hibachi grill.
And we put our briquettesin it and we cooked on it.
And our hamburgs, they's makingthem come back right now.
Trey (29:15):
Are they?
Yeah.
They got these hibachi tables you canbuy for your friends and just put the
propane tank in and everybody likecooks together and eats together.
Mike (29:23):
Well, That's a little bit different.
Yeah, I know, I know.
I know.
It's a little
Trey (29:26):
bit more elaborate, but
Mike (29:26):
than what we were using.
So, As I talked to people aboutinvesting in their outdoor living
space a number of years ago, I waslike, ought to go get something.
And so I actually went on to Craigslist.
And looked up and I bought a big greenegg off of Craigslist for 300 bucks.
Okay.
That was a heck of a deal.
Now, you talk,
Trey (29:47):
How much are they running for now?
They're a little over a thousand dollars.
Geez.
So gonna sponsor, I'll do a reviewor something on one of them.
They didn't figure out away to, to make it happen,
Mike (29:57):
Like I said, I went on Craigslist and got one for 300 bucks.
Yeah.
And the thing is a usedceramic grill, you can't like.
Mess 'em up.
I mean, Unless you
Trey (30:05):
drop it or something.
Mike (30:06):
Well, Yeah.
If you drop it and it'scracked, you have a broken egg.
Yeah.
Okay.
but other than that, there'snot a lot to go wrong on it.
So you're looking at issome type of ceramic cooker.
you said smoker, and that meansdifferent things to different people.
But you were referring tothe Green Egg that I use.
Trey (30:23):
You're, yeah.
The Green Egg is a, hybrid type of smoker.
And that's, I think if you're goingfor one piece of equipment to cook on
in the backyard, that is a big thing.
You need to have a little bit ofvariety unless you just like one
certain kind of dish and thenokay, then just get that certain.
Piece of equipment,
Mike (30:39):
right?
So some people are like, I want a griddle.
Some people want a grill.
Some people want a smoker.
The ceramic cookers, which likea primo, an egg, a kamado, Joe,
they all fall into that category.
Those three, I think are allvery good because the springs on
them are heavy duty and they'revery effective in how they work.
(31:04):
There's a lot of knockoffs thatI wouldn't spend the money on.
Yeah.
But those three, and the weird thingabout it's primos are black and eggs
are green, and Kamado Joe's are red.
So if you're trying to follow aparticular color palette, might
want to pick one based on that.
But they all work really well.
If you
Trey (31:23):
paint 'em with it, would it just come off from the heat?
Mike (31:26):
Oh, most definitely.
Trey (31:26):
Yeah.
Mike (31:27):
Yeah.
So the one thing that.
I don't have the, I have basicallya table sitting next to mine.
But if you're at entry level, you maywanna put one on a cart instead of
mine's in a, what they call a nest,just a thing that holds it upright.
But a cart would then give you some, prepspace and serving space off to the side.
It's
Trey (31:46):
more like a traditional grill.
Like I, I bought a grill when I was withmy buddies and it was relatively cheap and
it had just a little bit of side access.
Mike (31:53):
Yeah.
that is something that a lot of peoplesay the kitchen is the most important
because you can use it all year.
With a pool, you're onlygonna use it seasonally.
You know, Even a hot tub you'reprobably gonna use it seasonally.
Having something, that you coulduse all year and take people outside
that's something that the kitchen says.
(32:15):
It's very beneficial to have.
Oh yeah.
If we're looking at a starter pack,then I would just keep it simple.
And, the advantage of those is, youalluded to it, one of the things
is I can cook at 250 degrees.
Yeah.
For six hours and cook ribs.
Okay.
Or four hours and cookribs or hike last night.
(32:38):
I had it up to 750 degrees andcooked two ribeyes, and then actually
I dropped it down to 400 degreesand cooked six more pork chops.
it gives you flexibility.
You can cook a pizza on it.
So you want a wood-fired pizza.
You can have wood-fired pizza on your,kamado Joe or your primo or your egg.
(32:59):
Can grow vegetables in it.
You can cook ribs, you slow, cook,hot, cook, whatever you want to do.
So it gives you a lot of flexibilityas you were referring to.
Trey (33:07):
Yeah.
And if you have a freezer that createsice, I mean you just get it cooler.
And then boom, you got colddrinks, you have access to a
outside freezer temporarily.
Mike (33:17):
Yeah.
One of the things that is important todayto a lot of people is, oh, one thing I
should mention, we have episodes 21 and47 that talked about outdoor kitchens.
Okay.
So that's something thatyou may want to check out.
Wellness is really big today.
Yeah.
Now.
A wellness starter pack, whatcould you put in the space?
Trey (33:40):
Starter pack.
I just go back to the first thing I said.
If I have some nice grass where it doesn'thave thorns, you're taking care of it,
it doesn't have ants and stuff like that.
I can do yoga, I can stretch,I can do stuff in the grass.
Yeah, no problem.
Mike (33:55):
Saying, throw yoga mat out and Yeah.
Chill out in the space.
The other thing that you can do isthere's a lot of entry level cold
plunges where you get your own iceand you use it in the cold plunge.
That they're not too expensive.
So that's something thatyou could also incorporate.
Trey (34:11):
I don't know how well they work, but also they do the same thing with saunas.
I've seen portable sauna.
I've seen a lot of variation of saunas.
There's one with this guy ina van, but there are portable
saunas that you can do as well.
Mike (34:23):
Yeah, I've seen one that it looks almost like a suitcase.
Yeah.
That you open up and youget your body into it.
It's crazy.
But we did episodes on wellness like.
Cold plunges and saunas andhot tubs on episode 71 and 75.
And 79 was just on saunas.
You can generate wellness by nothaving to have an expensive piece
(34:43):
of equipment in the backyard.
Trey (34:45):
Yeah.
It just body workouts and stuff like that.
do think, the hammock, oddly enough, itties like I have a wellness routine where
after I work out, or late at nights, I'llget in the hot tub, relax, do stretches
in the hot tub and stuff like that.
But afterwards, and I'll jumpin a pool or you could do a
cold plunge to cool off, but.
I'll lay down in the hammock because myheart rate is so high and the hammock is
(35:10):
a perfect spot where you don't have toworry about bugs or anything like that.
If it's like crawling on maybe yourchairs or the decking or whatever it
might be, you can just hit the hammocka couple times and make sure there's
no spiders or anything like that.
And it's a perfect area tolay out and recalibrate.
Mike (35:26):
So do you wrap the fabric around you to keep the bugs up?
Trey (35:29):
No, I'm just worried about I'm talking about like at nighttime,
like when you can't see well.
Which I think is a great segue to one ofthe biggest things that you can implement
in your backyard, which is lighting.
Because lighting just like withgood grass, it creates a opportunity
for you to enjoy the yard.
Same thing with a mosquito situation.
At nighttime, if youcan't see in the backyard.
(35:50):
Are you gonna go outthere and throw a ball?
Are you gonna go out thereand do yoga and pitch black?
If maybe the moon's brightthat night, but I wouldn't.
Mike (35:58):
Yeah.
So that's something that can be simple.
As, there's solar lighting those features.
Don't work extremelywell, but they do work.
I think they work fairly well,so it's just, it's based on the
amount of sunlight that you have.
Yeah.
In some parts of the country it'smore overcast and so it's not
(36:18):
gonna generate as much sunlight, sothey're not gonna perform as well,
is kind of what I was alluding to.
Trey (36:23):
Also, they're not really good at probably big spotlight areas, like
actually illuminating a whole area like.
A football field or somethinglike obviously we're not talking
about a football field, biggerspaces than just like a fence line.
Mike (36:35):
Yeah.
But also, so there's solar lighting,which can be some pathway lights and
that type of situation, string lights.
But yeah, string lights are reallynice and you can get some, especially
if you've got some trees and it'sreally easy to just put those up.
So that's something thatyou can create a very.
Festive feeling for the space.
Trey (36:53):
Yeah.
LED strip lighting LEDs are so cheap.
The strip lighting you justgotta understand how you're
gonna do the lighting design.
And there's a lot of things we'retypically, I think this episode's
gonna apply to a lot of people thatdoing DIY stuff because it's, keeping
the budget down as much as possible.
And I think lighting.
If you're not, running your ownactual electrical lines 'cause
(37:14):
you're not an electrician.
This is relatively simple stuff youcan do that's gonna have a big impact.
Portable lanterns as well.
The stuff that's rechargeable, youcan take it wherever you want to.
Mike (37:25):
Yeah.
Those all will create, if.
If you don't have lighting, theparty ends when it gets dark.
Okay.
And this time of year it'sgetting dark at seven 30 at night?
Yep.
It's still all, actually this is probablyin Texas now, in the spring of the two
best times of the year to be outside.
It's not too cold, it's not too hot.
It's beautiful.
If you don't have lighting in thespace, then it gets, shut down pretty
(37:48):
early, but if you got lighting well,you can stay out there for a long time.
The other thing that which kind of tiesinto lighting a little bit is, fire.
Trey (37:56):
Yeah.
Mike (37:56):
Okay, so we've got the natural night light,
Trey (38:00):
great source of light,
Mike (38:02):
so you love it.
We can create and bug control too yes.
Although that goes with smoke
so,
Trey (38:08):
well,
It can, you have the smokelessversions as well, which, we're
trying to be relatively cheap, but.
Solo stove makes a goodsmokeless portable fire pit.
Mike (38:16):
Yeah.
there's fire pits and.
You can get portable ones thathave like propane tank underneath.
Yep.
And so it's a refillable situation.
It's a fire pit or a fire table.
Yep.
So you mentioned the solo stove.
You can just get a simple, ring thatyou can put out back and burn wood in.
So there's a lot of differentways that you can get your fire.
(38:38):
And, create a cost effective space.
But, I was all prepped for thegranddaughters to crank up the
solo stove and make s'mores.
Yeah.
And they got tired, wanted to go to sleep.
Wow.
What a bummer.
Next time.
Yeah.
So we've got the s'more bag alreadyso I put it away so I wouldn't
be eating all the s'mores myself.
(38:58):
Especially, I thought about it when Ihad the Green Egg cranked up last night.
I was like, I could make somes'mores right now, you got fire.
That's a great thing.
If it's a entry level and it's a portableunit, there's generally not codes that
come into place that's one thing that.
At the entry level, like anumbrella, there's no codes on.
(39:19):
So even in a small space you can, putit where you need to versus, when you
get into structures you usually haveto have setbacks, a certain distance
off the property and things like that.
Yeah.
Things to think about.
So mentioning structures, another thingthat some people want to incorporate
is they want to incorporate storage.
Trey (39:38):
Yes, that is probably one of the most untalked about points in
outdoor living it's storage space.
Mike (39:45):
Where do we put this stuff when we're not using it?
So I've got cushions and pillows that,I need to put 'em somewhere where's
the stuff that I'm gonna work with,the gardening, where's the fire?
I. where's charcoal andall this stuff goes.
Yeah.
Some people, storage is just as simple as,I'm gonna go buy a box at Costco that's
(40:08):
plastic and it's waterproof and I can liftthe lid of it and I can store stuff in it.
And.
We're just gonna have it out there.
And it works also as a bench.
So some people, that's as simpleas it is and then, other people
are gonna put a storage shed in.
Yeah.
And some storage sheds arefairly small and they might go
in a side yard or a backyard.
(40:28):
People also.
Put in small sheds that are, small houses.
The, she shed.
In the backyard with
Trey (40:35):
Creating more real estate.
It's hilarious on Zillow'cause I'm in the market.
I'm looking and stuff like that.
I see a bunch of homes that theywill market the house with more
square footage because of a sheshed or whatever it might be.
Like yeah.
I know.
It's like, oh, we have morelivable square footage.
and it's funny 'cause there's actually.
I've seen a couple of 'em and they havelike these decked out she sheds where I
(40:57):
can tell that they're doing like some,like massage business or like some kind
of business in the backyard in that.
That's like their office space.
You can tell 'cause like the presentationit's hilarious to me though, when it
Mike (41:08):
comes for square footage to count, I think it has to
be heated and air conditioned.
Okay.
Here in Texas, I think that's what it is.
I don't know that for a fact, but ifthey have a. Air conditioning unit
and a heater in it, then I guess youcould count it as your square footage.
Yeah.
But there are people that do live insmall buildings in backyards sometimes,
(41:30):
so I lived in a shed for two years.
Trey (41:32):
I've heard this story.
Yeah.
Mike (41:34):
So he was a contractor.
Young daughter decided to movein with him and there wasn't
enough rooms in the house.
So he remodeled the shed, whichis, I had skylights and track
lighting, so AC and everything, ac.
Oh, wow.
Whole nine yards.
I mean, How about that?
It was great.
And rent was really cheap.
He was like, you'd actually do this.
(41:55):
I was like, sure, why not?
So lived in it for two years untilI got married and bought a house.
Trey (42:00):
There you go.
Storage is huge though, like withthe amount of times that we've been
on yards for the first time and.
They don't have anything really inthe backyard, but they do have storage
that, you know, so it's finding a,good place to put that storage also.
How do you hide that?
'cause, storage isn't typically avery attracting thing to the eye.
You could, find areas like behind plantsand stuff like that to screen it off or
(42:22):
maybe build like a cheap screen fenceand then put the storage back there.
Mike (42:27):
So you just mentioned something that.
I assumed all yards would haveto start with what is that?
After I thought about it and I'mlike, no, that's not the case.
It is a lot here in Texas, but it'snot in all parts of the country
is some people don't have a fence.
Trey (42:42):
Oh,
Mike (42:43):
okay.
So, some people to create, a starterpack for your outdoor living space
is they wanna put a fence up.
Yeah.
Something that's gonna make youlook nice and also enclose it and
create privacy type situations.
So that's
Trey (42:58):
a huge, yeah, I didn't even think about that either.
That's a huge point.
Mike (43:01):
Yeah.
we lived in Jersey, wehad a. Split rail fence.
It was just two boards stuck into a post.
It just separated the yardsThere was no keeping a dog in
or any, or kids out or anything.
In fact, the neighborhood all roamedall over everybody's wild cards
Trey (43:19):
and everything.
Jersey.
Y'all got bears over there too.
Mike (43:21):
We had a lot of wildlife where we were at, we were
right off the pine barons.
I got black bears up there.
Yeah, there was black bears out there.
Along with everything else, raccoonswere, deer, all kinds of fun stuff.
Bobcats, but drunk
Trey (43:34):
teenagers, Snooky.
Mike (43:36):
yeah, that's where Jersey Shore, the Jersey Shore was where I was
raised before there was a TV show.
Yeah.
So anyway.
one of the things that you can do also isto create a luxury outdoor living setting
is, and a starter pack is sometimes paint.
You just paint the house so it looks nice.
(43:57):
But also a lot of times what people don'tthink about is you can paint the fence.
Yeah.
And a small space.
If you come in and paint the fence, itcan make space look really different.
We talked about it.
Recently about paintingthings, white or black.
I can't remember wherewe talked about that, but
Trey (44:12):
staining it.
Yeah.
Mike (44:13):
Yeah.
So if you take something that'smake it look bigger, you paint
it white, but you can also paintsomething black and then it disappears
into the background a lot better.
I
Trey (44:23):
think that was the last episode we did.
Mike (44:24):
Oh, okay.
Trey (44:25):
There you go.
That's why it's probablyfresh on your mind.
Mike (44:27):
I knew we talked about it at some point in time,
Trey (44:29):
But that is a big thing that people do nowadays.
They paint the brick of their house white.
I see that a lot.
Especially with like remodels.
The area, the Westlake, like wherewe do see that it does happen.
Mike (44:39):
So one of the things is entry level outdoor living starter pack.
What's the return going to be ifyou decide, hey, I'm moving on
and I'm gonna sell my property?
Is this something youget a good return on?
And from looking at things and frominvestigations I've made, we need to get a
realtor on here and talk about this, but.
(45:01):
This is one of the places you get avery high return on property value.
Now you can go to extremes and notdo things, but if things are done
well and you've got a nice patioand you've got a nice small water
feature, you've got some garden area.
Yeah.
You've got an outdoor kitchen spaceand it's, nicely furnished with some,
(45:22):
couch and chairs and dining room area.
It's all about the first impressionif somebody walks into a backyard
and is like, wow, this is nice.
That adds value.
Trey (45:32):
I think it needs to be a well-designed space.
I think if you add all these features,it can actually reduce the value of
the house if it's just done not ina way that most people will like.
But I do think you're right on that.
It can add a lot of value.
I think you just have to understand.
The design aspects of everything.
So
Mike (45:51):
any space that's been designed always presents a lot better than
a space that hasn't been designed.
Yeah, and the other thing thatyou may want to think about is
by having something designed.
What you can do is you can add thesepieces over a period of time and it's been
thought out on where all the things go.
(46:12):
Yeah.
When you create different zones, youknow where they're going to be, then
everything flows and fits together.
I've got my utility area, I've got mygathering area, I've got my cooking area,
I've got my, is the area where the dogs
Trey (46:25):
are gonna run or the kids are gonna play football or whatever it might be.
Yeah.
Mike (46:30):
By designing your space, things will fit together better, and then they'll
look like it was all planned to be, evenif you add things over a period of time
Trey (46:40):
versus it randomly put together.
Like it's a house that has a bunch,all these features, but it just
feels very random and Unor Unorganic,like it feels like it's a mess.
I mean, I would probably ratherhave a home that's a blank slate
where I can create the dream I want.
But if it already is, I see like realgood bones and something that aligns with
my vision, then I'm like, yeah, they'vealready done all this work and it's way
(47:03):
it's worth more than that blank slatebecause it's already got established.
Mike (47:07):
Yeah.
So one of the things that we'regonna talk about at the show is.
You've got these entry level things.
Mm-hmm.
But then over a period of timepeople have desire for more
things and cooler stuff and Yeah.
Places that you can create morememories so we'll talk about the
whole gamut of things, but if you'vegot these things right here, you
(47:29):
can create a great environment.
To have an enjoyable space.
And good memories with friendsand family you're gonna get
a lot of enjoyment out of it.
Trey (47:38):
Yeah.
I don't even think youneed all these things.
I think, oh no.
You could pick and choose to whateveryou think you want, but these items
open up your at the end of theday, it's just enjoy your backyard.
If you have a home and youhave a backyard, that's a
huge probably portion of.
Your home that you might not be using orutilizing and taking down the barriers
(47:59):
to be able to enjoy that backyard.
Like for instance, with the fire.
you can take an empty patio and ifyou have a bonfire, like me and my
buddies used to burn those little thepallets that people use, like at Sam's
Club and in Walmart, we would take thepallets and we would just burn 'em.
We would have a little fire.
And that turned that empty patiothat they had into a routine,
(48:20):
a ritual like every Friday.
That was the thing that we did.
We would go every Friday nightand go hang out in Sanger and
burn some pallets and have fun.
And that's all it was.
But it turned it into an experience and,using these different elements that we
talked about you can just enjoy yourlife a little bit more in the back doors.
Mike (48:39):
A critical thing is you just gotta take the time to do it.
So Pops went out Saturday and spentnine hours with his granddaughters.
Okay.
Yeah.
I guarantee you they will remember thattime, which was a lot better than me
going over to their house and playingwith their same toys and watching their
same videos that they always watched.
(49:01):
Yeah.
So we had a lot of fun and that's whatyou have to do is you have to take a
little bit of time and set it up and then.
Invite the people over and createthe memories and have the fun.
Trey (49:12):
Yeah.
Mike (49:12):
So hopefully that gives you a good start to the outdoor living starter pack.
And if there's something that you thinkwe should have talked about and we
didn't give us some comments on that.
Otherwise we, we
Trey (49:24):
didn't talk about sports recreation much at all.
Cornhole is a huge one.
I just wanna put out there,there's also like spike ball.
You can have a little puttinggreen or ping pong table, but
cornhole relatively cheap.
An amazing game that's so much fun toplay with the family, whoever it might be.
I just wanna put that out there.
Mike (49:41):
Yeah, if you wanna really go old school you could play croquet.
Croquet.
Okay.
Trey (49:46):
So don't know what that is, but, all right.
It sounds familiar.
I know the word.
I just don't know what it's it was
Mike (49:49):
a wooden ball.
Okay.
And you had a little hammer.
Kinda like a golf club andyou hit it and you, is this
Trey (49:56):
like something you used to play and put it through these little wire wickets?
Is this what you play on?
Like you're riding a horse or
Mike (50:02):
No, that's
Trey (50:03):
polo.
Okay.
That's a big hammer, right?
Hammer.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Same thing without the horse.
Mike (50:08):
Yeah you're walking, there's no horse involved in, so it's the four
Trey (50:11):
version of Polo.
I've never
Mike (50:13):
thought of it quite that way, but, I don't have a
Trey (50:15):
horse, so I would enjoy it.
It was a
Mike (50:17):
very English thing to do a long time ago.
Okay.
So with, Yes.
Sorry I skipped over that, thank youfor bringing that to our attention.
No,
Trey (50:25):
it's all good.
But ping pong tables are awesome.
You could play so many games on those.
Mike (50:29):
if you take your standard ping bong table outside and leave it in the
rain, ooh, it's not a good situation.
No, that wood just doesn'thold up really well.
Gotta get that umbrella or, or you goto ledge lounger and get their ping pong
table, which is set up for outside use.
And then you've got benches on theside and you can use it as a table too.
Trey (50:49):
So we're trying to stay relatively cheap.
So I would say is look into somekind of waterproofing you could
add to it to keep that cost down.
'cause I'm pretty sure those tables arepretty expensive, but they're phenomenal.
If I could afford a one, I would have one.
They're awesome.
Mike (51:02):
Yeah.
You use it as a dining room table too.
Yeah.
So it's a dual purpose.
Yeah, it's versatile.
Yeah.
And that's what you gotta look for toget the best experience in your backyard.
Find those dual usesor triple or whatever.
Hopefully this was good informationfor you if it was, pass it
on to your friends, share it.
And then we will look forwardto talking to y'all about
some more fun stuff coming up.
Trey (51:23):
Yeah, if you're listening to this episode, man depending on what platform
you're on, you can give it a good rating.
You can like the video,whatever it might be.
Help us out.
We're trying to grow weappreciate y'all being here and
being on this journey with us.
Take
Mike (51:34):
care.
Trey (51:35):
See you.
Outro (51:36):
This show is all about helping you become a better buyer, a better pool
owner, and hopefully you're gonna findsome insights into how to enjoy your pool
even more so how to help your friends,your family, anybody looking to buy a
pool in the future or that want to remodeltheir backyard, add an outdoor fireplace,
fire pit, add an outdoor kitchen area, addsome shade cells, or whatever else it is.
(52:00):
We wanna be that resource for you, andthat's the end goal here, and we promise.
That there's gonna bea ton of information.
We'll try to go through it, youknow, as relatively quickly, but
also slow so people can understand.
But the intent of the show, thereason Mike and I are doing this
is because we just got a lot inour heads and we wanna share it.
So we hope to see youhere every single week.
Thanks for listening.
Welcome to Luxury Outdoor Living Podcast with Mike and Trey
Farley of Farley Pool Designs.
For over 40 years, we've helpedhomeowners turn their backyards
into personal retreats, spaces ofjoy, relaxation and unforgettable
memories, and whether it's a cozy as.
Scape or a resort style oasis.
We design it all.
(00:24):
We know how overwhelming a projectcan feel, and nothing feels worse than
a homeowner having a bad experience.
And that's why after decades of designingand teaching in this industry, we're
here to share our knowledge, helping you.
The process with confidence.
Every week we break down designtrends and insider tips that
turn your vision into reality.
(00:45):
And since this is about creating somethingamazing together, drop a comment.
If you have any questions, ideas, orjust want to be part of the conversation,
if you find this helpful, a like helpsget this out to more people like you.
And if you want to keep upwith what's next, go ahead
and hit that subscribe button.
We'd love to have you along for the ride.
Let's build your paradise together.
Mike (01:12):
Good afternoon.
This is Mike Farley withLuxury Outdoor Living Podcast
sponsored by Farley Pool Designs.
So some people are like,who is Farley Pool Designs?
Several people have asked me.
So we are a design firm.
Mm-hmm.
That deals with luxury outdoor livingprojects in the Dallas Fort Worth.
north Texas area,
Trey (01:31):
but we make content for everybody.
Mike (01:32):
But we make content for everybody.
Yeah.
But, But we actuallypractice in North Texas now.
Trey (01:38):
Yeah.
That's where the money's made,
Mike (01:39):
That's where the money's made.
And I'm not a big traveler.
And so because of that, we've gotpeople that ask for information.
So that's where we came withthe YouTube channel and podcast
and all that type thing to helpshare information with people.
Now.
As Trey develops, Trey doesn'tmind traveling, so no, I don't.
The Farley pool designs may branchout over time and be coming to a
(02:00):
city near you, what's that bananabaseball thing that's going on?
Savannah?
Oh, Savannah.
Anyway, it's kind of crazy.
Trey (02:07):
No one do a back flip.
Mike (02:09):
you don't do back flips in people's backyards.
Trey (02:11):
No, you didn't see the one clip.
This guy like tried to promoteit on the news and he did a back
flip and he completely flip.
Face planted.
Mike (02:17):
Ouch.
Wow.
Yeah, there you go.
They're
Trey (02:18):
very good at social media though, 'cause I don't pay attention
to that stuff at all, but it'ssomehow weaves its way into my feed
Mike (02:24):
anyway, so totally off track there.
Yeah.
So, Today, when this episodedrops we'll be on a plane.
the guy that never travelswill be traveling 'cause
we'll be going to Las Vegas.
'cause on Wednesday that weekwe'll be teaching a class in Vegas.
Fun in the outdoors.
And so that brought up some discussions ofthings that we don't talk about normally.
(02:45):
And it was like, well, maybewe ought to handle those.
Then we will talk aboutsome of that today.
And then Thursday willbe the million dollar.
Pool design challenge and the classwill be voting on the finalist
on who gets the $10,000 grand.
and then we'll be there through Friday.
So, Come find us on the floor.
We'll be wandering aroundtrying to find things and be in
(03:05):
classes trying to learn more.
And if you've got a questionthat we haven't addressed yet,
we'd love to hear it from you.
Yep.
Today.
We're talking in our class about funin the outdoors, and we talk about
lots of crazy stuff all the time.
Mm-hmm.
But in reality, you can have fun in theoutdoors and have some simple things.
Mm-hmm.
And so what we talked about was.
(03:27):
The outdoor living starter pack.
we're gonna talk about the outdoorliving starter pack today on what
you could put in your backyard.
Yeah.
So what do you think would probablybe some of the highlights that
people want to think about?
Trey (03:40):
interesting thing when when you brought this topic up
to me, I was, trying to wrap myhead around it because I'm like.
We talk about grandiosethings all the time.
That's our niche.
Yeah.
Crazy stuff.
Yeah.
That's our niche.
We love like learning about that stuffand that, that's why we're gonna,
this the class is to learn more.
a big thing is I'm gonna bebuying a house here soon.
Eventually.
And what would I want to put in thebackyard to make it a good experience?
(04:01):
'cause I can't, obviously just off thebat, just afford a big pool or a sauna.
I wish I could have one.
I love sauna so much.
lot of these things that we talkabout that are really expensive,
I think how can I start fromempty grass to outdoor living?
And I think one of thebiggest ways for me.
Would just be having good grass.
'cause I've rented a house beforeand I have two dogs and it had
(04:23):
those thorns the stickers that growand it was just all in the grass.
So making sure I have soft grass thatI can enjoy, I can walk on because I
need to be able to enjoy the space.
I need to be able to walk on it,whether that be with sandals or if I'm
barefoot, which I prefer to be in my own.
Comfort in my own home.
yeah, I think that's the biggest,a solid foundation, which I think
(04:44):
is like a nice carpet of grass.
Mike (04:46):
Well, and that opens up all kinds of things that you can then do.
Mm-hmm.
If you have some grass.
So now we can play sports in the backyard.
Trey (04:53):
Yeah.
I could throw the football,
Mike (04:54):
you know, throw the football, play, catch play Frisbee.
I mean, there's lots ofthings you can do if you have.
So now.
You know, what I look at isdifferent aspects of activities
that you want to have.
So
Trey (05:06):
yeah,
Mike (05:06):
one of the things that happened this weekend.
Is, I was going to go to my40th reunion graduation Re oh.
Trey (05:14):
that was last weekend.
Goodness.
I stuttered.
Yeah.
Mike (05:16):
That was last weekend.
Texas Tech Homecoming was last weekend.
Yeah.
It had been 40 years since I graduatedfrom Texas Tech, and I went to
every home game from 1972 to 1985.
I haven't been back to asingle game since then.
Yeah.
So I was gonna go through somecircumstances it didn't happen,
and so I ended up with some freetime and my other daughter found
(05:40):
out about it, and she's like, oh.
Pops, would you love to babysityour two lovely granddaughters?
And I was like, okay, yeah, I can do that.
Yeah.
And they're like, well, there'sthis event that we could go
to if you could watch 'em.
And I'm like, no problem.
For nine hours I was like.
Nine hours.
Okay.
So they were like, well come over tothe house and you can watch the girls.
(06:03):
And I'm like, I'll tell you what,I want them on my territory.
'cause I want to have fun withthem and I need them not to be in
their normal routine, so I need totake 'em off their normal routine.
Yeah.
So one of the things we just did in thebackyard was hang out in the backyard
and we got to gather acorns and stufflike that, just hanging out in the grass.
But, it's nice to have a spacethat you can go out and enjoy.
(06:25):
Yeah.
And you've got a hammock set up out there.
Mm-hmm.
Which they had fun playing in.
I'm getting off topic here,but Oh, it's on topic.
Yeah.
we want some grass.
Yes.
We want a nice space foundation.
So after you have that what else do youthink people should start looking at?
Trey (06:39):
Well, if we just go off of like your place, I mean, mosquitoes are
a huge issue in that neighborhood.
you have a lot of treesthat are very tall.
So.
bug control in general is anecessity because like even if you
have nice grass, you don't want tobe hanging out outside if you're
getting bit up by mosquitoes 24 7.
Mike (06:57):
So in certain parts of the country, you're going to have something Yeah.
That's gonna make it nasty to be
Trey (07:03):
outside extra obstacle.
Mike (07:05):
Okay.
So
Trey (07:06):
not everybody's gonna have those tall trees where you're gonna have
tree lit or just on the ground 24 7.
Right.
Mike (07:10):
If you haven't heard the episode, we actually did an episode
on Mosquitoes in My Backyard.
Yeah.
Mosquito Joe.
An episode 41.
Mm-hmm.
And so, we had the perfecttrifecta for maximum mosquitoes.
He explained to me as he was swattingthem, as they swarmed around his face.
we've done that for, thisis the second year now.
It has worked extremelywell in reducing that.
(07:32):
So now we can actually go out andenjoy the stuff in our backyard.
Some parts of the country it's like shade.
Trey (07:37):
Yeah.
Mike (07:37):
Okay.
Trey (07:38):
Not many trees at all.
Mike (07:39):
We don't have any trees and we live in Scottsdale, Arizona and it's hot.
It is all get out, so we gotta have shade.
Yeah.
You know, some parts Seattle.
Washington.
They're like, we don't have aproblem with shade, but it rains all
the time, so we need some shelter.
Yeah.
So there's gonna be differentenvironmental things that you're
gonna want to have in your backyard.
Otherwise it's just gonna be miserable.
You
Trey (07:58):
know, up north you might have issues with like snow, you wanna be
outside 24 7, but it's just too cold.
Yeah.
So another form of shelter.
Mike (08:04):
So We're gonna need something to make the space where it's enjoyable.
Mm-hmm.
in our case, it was mosquitocontrol that came into play.
Anything else on that note?
Well, shade is, or protection issomething that's really important.
And we're talking aboutstarting the starter pack.
So what would you have to do?
(08:26):
I mean, you could build a nice cabanaor aval, Louvre, arbor or something like
that, but those are expensive stuff.
to me, if I was starting out as ayoung adult now, the first thing I
would get is like a 12 by 12 umbrella.
Okay.
Yeah, that's smart because I can openit up and it's the size of a room.
Okay.
And I could have, you know, a tableunder it or I could have a couch and
(08:47):
some chairs underneath it, and I couldhave shade, I could have rain protection.
I could, pull, my grill cart over to that.
So if it's really hot or if it's raining.
I would have a nice so, thatumbrella is something that is very.
Cost effective when you compareit to a permanent structure.
Yeah.
Okay.
So to me, you've gotta havesomething that's gonna protect
(09:11):
you from those elements.
And mosquitoes.
We use pyrethrum that'ssprayed once a month.
Some people will use screens some peoplewill use other things like trying to
move air with fans and things like that.
With our circumstances, we wanted tobe able to use the whole outdoor space.
So the spraying actuallyworked really well.
(09:32):
Yeah.
For us.
But you want to create whateverthat hazard is, you wanna be able
to figure out how to overcome it.
Trey (09:38):
I think shade and just Texas, 'cause it's just, I have such a big bias.
It's one of those huge things.
And the umbrella is interesting'cause you can move it around the
yard as you please depending onwhat kind of umbrella you want.
You could also do likea cheap pergola kit.
Those do exist.
Sail shades.
Rectangle awnings, stuff like that.
And for me, when I'm trying to I don'town a house yet, so I'm looking at
(10:01):
houses that already have covered patios.
That's a huge thing.
Mike (10:04):
And with all the houses that are being built today,
they all have covered porches.
A lot of 'em do.
Yeah.
But if you look at the houses thatwere built between like 1980 mm-hmm.
And the late nineties.
None of 'em have porches at all.
Trey (10:17):
Yeah.
Mike (10:17):
It wasn't a thing that got done until after nine 11 and then all of a
sudden everybody wanted to be outsidedoing stuff and so they started
building porches on houses again.
So like our house doesn'thave a back porch.
Trey (10:31):
Yeah.
I
Mike (10:32):
mean, It doesn't at all.
You basically come out the backdoor and you're in the backyard.
Trey (10:36):
Yeah.
you did a little bit of remodelingso you could consider what
used to be there, a back porch?
Mike (10:42):
we have an atrium.
Trey (10:43):
Yeah, you had a atrium that went out to a wood deck.
So that was kind of a porch type area.
Mike (10:48):
Yeah.
So we took it out and put the patio
Trey (10:49):
in.
Yeah.
But like also with the houses that I'mlooking at, like the range is ideally
275 to, but probably ideally three 50.
A lot of those houses that, and someof 'em are built after the time you're
talking about, they don't have ifthey do have a back porch or a covered
area, it's just like the little sliver.
Just so, oh, you can letthe dogs out real quick.
Or something like that.
(11:10):
It's oh, we have covered patio,but it's like checking a box.
It's not like a comfortablespace to actually,
Mike (11:14):
yeah, it's a six by six porch that you can't do anything on.
Trey (11:17):
Yeah.
You're not bringing any furnitureout there or anything like that.
No.
Mike (11:21):
Your hammock wouldn't even fit there.
No, it wouldn't.
So that's a bummer.
Okay, so we've, establishwe need some shelter.
Trey (11:29):
Yeah, shelter and shade is big.
Mike (11:30):
Okay.
And we need to be protected by stuff.
Trey (11:34):
I think one of the biggest ways to make your backyard feel more.
maybe alive or just addingthat extra oomph to it.
The extra layer is water.
And I'm not saying build a pool,but there's ways to get the sound of
water or just water in your backyardand it can create a huge difference.
Mike (11:54):
Yeah.
So we've got that broken sprinklerthat sprays up in the air.
Is that what you're talking about?
Trey (12:00):
You could do that.
I guess you could just breakyour uh, sprinkler one might
be a little costly, but
uh,
Mike (12:05):
Yeah, so water is a big deal.
So it was funny 'cause my granddaughterwent, she says, can we just go into
the backyard and look at the pool?
And I was like, yeah.
I said you can swim if you want.
And she was like, it's cold maybe.
But anyway, I said, why don't youjust stand on the tanning ledge and
decide if you wanna swim or not?
Because it was, 90 degreesoutside, but she stood on it.
(12:26):
She's like, okay, this is a littlecold, so I don't think I wanna swim.
But having water in thebackyard, just the sound.
Some people, when it comes towater, it's just simply the sound.
Trey (12:37):
Yeah.
Mike (12:37):
And so they want to create that.
Feeling of peaceful and tranquility.
Like a stream.
And so sometimes it's just a smallfountain Sometimes a little bit higher
on the maintenance aspects of them.
Yeah.
But you can go to a garden center andget a simple self-contained fountain, and
if you take care of it and keep changingthe water out and things like that, then
(13:00):
be, give you some great sound and maybeeven some visual effect in the backyard.
But yeah some people takeit a little bit farther.
And they're like, Iwant a pool to swim in.
And so, I remember during COVID youcouldn't even buy a Walmart plastic pool.
They were all sold out.
Mm-hmm.
But you know, Some people, theytook stock tanks and made
a little pool out of those.
(13:21):
And some people you did vinyl iron pools.
And so there's entry levelsthat you can get into.
So we even talked about.
Pool ends on episode 80.
Yeah.
it's
Trey (13:30):
a great
Mike (13:30):
option, an option to consider.
And they now have some of those.
I was talking to Jamie Pittman.
There's a distributor up inOklahoma that's distributing those
throughout the United States.
That's cool.
Close to here it to Texas.
Yeah.
that was a cool option and Insteadof a body of water, like a pool, some
people are gonna go with a hot tub.
So that is a sizable investmentthat you're going to make.
(13:54):
But we can get the water into the backyard
Trey (13:57):
here's the thing.
You could find one of those that are used.
And you can try to hire someoneto fix it or something like that.
You can find some for cheap.
it's not relatively easy thingwhere you can just go to Walmart
and buy something and blow it up.
But it's a great option.
And then there's also plunges as well.
Mike (14:12):
going back to the used situation, so one of the things that I would
recommend is if you're gonna buy aused hot tub, is one of the things you
want to get is when you buy a hot tub,you want one that has multiple pumps,
Trey (14:26):
okay?
Mike (14:27):
Because if something's only got one pump on it.
What happens is it runs thecirculation and the heater.
Okay.
And as soon as you go to jet mode, itturns the circulation and the heater off.
Oh, okay.
So now you're like in a bathtub.
Trey (14:41):
Yeah.
You
Mike (14:42):
know, In 15 minutes it's cooled off.
Trey (14:44):
Yeah.
Mike (14:44):
Okay.
The other thing is water startsgetting nasty, especially if
you've got a lot of people in it.
Okay.
So if you buy a used one oreven buy a new one, you want
one that's got multiple pumps.
Okay.
But yes, you can find them and thefirst one that I got, I had a client
that wanted to get rid of one.
Yeah.
And so that's how we ended up withthe one in our backyard is they
were, I'm like, you're seriouslyjust gonna have us throw it.
(15:07):
In the dump truck and they'relike, yeah well, I don't want
to sell it used to somebody andif they have problems with it.
So I was like I'll take it anyway.
there are people that is available.
Another thing that people dosometimes it's a simple water feature.
Is they'll build a pond.
Yeah.
Or they'll do a pondless water feature.
(15:28):
We talked uh, what, what happensis the water comes out of a pot and
grows down and goes into a gravelbed, and then it recirculates.
Okay.
on episode 93, we talked with Greg ofAqua Scapes and you could do a small pond
or you could do a Pondless water feature,which is even works a better situation.
(15:48):
So those are solutions to create alittle bit of sound and that's gonna
be a lower maintenance, but highercost than a self-contained fountain.
And then, There's some people thatwhen I first started in the industry.
I would go out to people's homes and theyjust bought their house and they didn't
have a stick of furniture in their house.
(16:09):
I went into one house and it hadlawn chairs in the middle of the
living room, and I was like, andthey're like you're the pool guy.
gonna get a pool beforewe get a living room set.
So this is actually gonna go outside,so I have to get something else in here.
But everybody's got differentpriorities, but a pool is a big cost.
So if we're.
Doing the outdoor living starter pack,that's gonna drain a lot of your budget.
Trey (16:30):
Yeah.
That's a big thing to save up for.
So, Especially if you just bought a house.
Mike (16:33):
So a lot of people, that's gonna be something that
comes a little bit later Yeah.
In the process.
And there's other things you couldconsider from a water standpoint
to create your sound for you.
Trey (16:44):
I think the fountain is really cool because it, creates a way to
bring, 'cause you're in the backyardsand the best benefit of the backyards
is you're in nature, in my opinion.
And you can create a little ecosystem, putlike kind of a bird feeder or something
next to a fountain, get the water running.
I think it's just cool bringingthat nature aspect to your backyard.
Mike (17:02):
Yeah.
You got squirrels and birdsfor your dogs to chase.
Trey (17:05):
Yep.
Exactly.
Yeah.
Lots of fun.
Oh yeah.
A lot of things to watch.
Mike (17:09):
Another thing besides water that some people want in their backyard
is they want to incorporate some.
Gardening.
Okay.
And some gardening is actuallylike vegetable gardens that
some people are going to want.
'cause they have a space thatthey can grow something now.
Yep.
And so they just come in with somesimple raised beds and grow some
(17:31):
vegetables and stuff like that.
But gardening, does other peoplemean I want some plants in here to
get me shade or give me privacy?
Or create a certain style orsetting, that's something that,
you can start really small andyou can get big impact with.
Oh yeah.
So when we've.
First bought our house in California.
(17:53):
We planted these redwood treesthat were in 15 gallon pots.
And now we go by and thoseguys are, 40 feet tall now.
Wow.
So there, there's things thatcan grow over a period of time.
And that's one thing is landscaping.
You could come in and if youdo things, especially the
trees right at the beginning.
(18:15):
Those are the ones that take the longest.
So you want 'em to get 'em in theground and get 'em, start growing.
Key areas, especially if you don'thave any trees and you want some trees.
So the shrubs will take, two tothree years to get full size.
The perennials will be full size withinless than a year, what you wanna do is you
wanna get those trees in the ground first.
And the one thing when plantingtrees, you wanna plant 'em from
(18:38):
the time of the greatest stress.
So here, the greateststress is the summer heat.
Trey (18:43):
So you wanna do afterwards.
That way they have enough timeto develop and pretty much get
ready to go through that stress.
Mike (18:49):
So sometimes the part of the country, it's, it is the winter and
so you would plan 'em in the spring?
Yeah.
So they have the longest timebefore they get hit by the winter.
Gotcha.
Uh, the other thing that with treesthat happens is root development
happens in the winter time.
Okay.
So if you plant something in thespring, it's not gonna grow that
much until the following year.
Here, if you plant something in the fall.
(19:11):
And then it grows roots over the winter.
It'll actually start getting fair, you'llsee good growth on it in the summertime.
Trey (19:17):
That makes
Mike (19:17):
sense.
Trey (19:17):
Trees are big with our family.
Like we love, I think all the kids,all your kids want to get fruit
trees in their backyard eventually.
Mike (19:24):
Yeah.
that goes with memories thatcome from backyard experiences.
Yep.
So.
Trey (19:28):
And then you could also incorporate, there's stuff that's
not actually, real plants, likevertical gardens and stuff like that.
And actually you could do verticalgardens with real plants as well.
But I think gardening is a great way'cause it doesn't cost a lot of money.
It takes skill.
It depends on how you could throw arounda lot of money with gardening for sure.
But if you want to dedicate a lotof time and just understand it
(19:50):
yourself, you can do a lot of thisstuff yourself for relatively cheap,
Mike (19:53):
right?
A lot of plants, they'llcome in a four inch pot.
They'll come in a one gallon pot,they'll come in a three gallon,
they'll come in a five gallon.
plant is eventually allgonna be the same size.
Yeah.
It's just you're payingfor, waiting for it to grow.
The other thing is smallerplants go through shock quicker.
The bigger plants do.
Okay.
So the bigger it is, the more likelythat it'll go into shock and die
(20:17):
if it's not taken care of well.
If you plant 50.
15 gallon plants, you're gonna get two orthree of them that are gonna probably die.
But if you plant 21 gallon plants, mostlikely they'll all live 'cause they
just handle the trans planting better.
Okay.
Trey (20:35):
Interesting.
There's also likeirrigation, like a big thing.
Just advice you can get liketimers and drip kits like that
from Home Depot would be good idea.
Especially if you're new to it,because there's a lot of people
that we meet with clients and stufflike that love gardening, but they,
the plants just always die, so
Mike (20:51):
again, here the big stress is the heat.
Mm-hmm.
So you gotta have somewater for 'em to do well.
Yep.
So now one of the biggest thingsI think that people want in their
outdoor space is we talked about havingshelter, is we want a place to sit.
So I need some furniture here.
Yeah.
And so there's a lot of differentthings that some people will
(21:14):
consider as essential furniture.
So what would be essential for yours?
Trey (21:18):
For me right off the bat is a hammock, just a comfy hammock.
If your house is able to doit a porch swing as well.
I'm just, I don't know,something about me.
Like I love those two features.
And I think they're very simpleto do, integrate with the home.
I would say next level of like, Iwant to enjoy the outside space.
Have a couch at least in a tv likewatching the game while, your husband
(21:42):
is cooking or whatever it might be.
That's just, Sundays are agreat time to spend outside.
Mike (21:47):
So the two places the granddaughters had the most fun was the round swing.
Yeah.
And the backyard.
In the hammock.
In the backyard.
Yes.
Yesterday they were there you were.
Makes sense.
They were having a lot of fun with it.
So those are really popularspaces and there's not a lot of
costs with a swing or a hammock,
Trey (22:06):
hammocks.
Perfect.
So you don't need a tree.
You can get a hammock a base for it.
But if you have a, I have somecool trees that's a bonus.
Mike (22:13):
Yeah, most definitely.
BBQ Intro (22:15):
We are gonna take a break here for a second and get into outdoor living.
So with outdoor living, we liketo go to barbecue bits here.
We're gonna share some information oneverything that you may want to consider
in your outdoor living space as far asfeatures, especially for the kitchen.
Hope you enjoy this.
Okay, so we got a display of all kinds ofdifferent, you know, pretties here, right?
(22:39):
So, uh, what's the differencebetween all these things?
So back in the late seventies, earlyeighties, it was quarter inch of
one half inch, uh, covered glass.
It was fractured.
Then we've gone into crystal.
You can use this, you'll see these asfar as river rock fire pits, these are
more of a, a tumbled is what it is.
(23:00):
Then you've got bead versus differenttypes of spheres, uh, and different
colors that are mixed and pre-mixed.
And then one thing that I've seenon a lot of your jobs on your
Instagram is the tumbled lava rockthat comes in different sizes.
But all in all, what's thedifference between a. Bucket
(23:20):
of glass in a mass merch store.
Then custom it has to do how it's, it hasto be how it's manufactured and the dyes.
If you buy a, Hey, I found 50 poundsof glass for $10, it's probably
gonna fade within that year.
And um, these glass manufacturers,you get what you get.
So usually it's about 75, $80, uh, for 10pounds, and these are gonna be your higher
(23:45):
end qualities that will keep your colors.
And they won't fade maintenance, uh,you know, one part vinegar, three
parts water to clean it in a bucketand then reappropriated back into
the fire pit or the burner itself.
So, awesome.
So one thing that we found over aperiod of time is we can use all
these medias with natural gas.
(24:05):
That's correct.
What we found is it's not a good ideato use all these medias with propane.
That's right.
So how do you get around it?
Let's say you've got a big bulktank and you've gotta use propane.
How in productive forest as whatyou're talking about, propane tends to
blacken the glass is what it does Allyou have to do, and you can use glass
(24:28):
with bulk propane or propane tank, yougotta make sure there's an airspace
under the burner and with an air mixwith, which will give a clean burner
because propane goes from liquid to gas.
If we have the air mixerunderneath the plate of the burner.
There needs to be a void for airspaceand ventilation, then you will not get
(24:48):
the blackening or the soot that you will.
So one thing also with thepropane is it's heavier.
It is.
And so it wants to sit.
Yes.
And so we've cautioned peoplewith using glass, especially with
putting heavy levels of glass.
That's correct.
'cause it'll almost make a blanket.
That's correct.
Your propane sits down there and theydon't think they're lighting it right.
(25:13):
And then all of a sudden it goes, boom.
That's correct.
Uh, so, you know, I withpropane, use a lot of Avar rock.
Correct.
Um, just because I don'twant homeowners to Right.
Risk safety situations.
Right.
However, if properly doneyou could use glass as well.
You, you can.
I think another thing that we'velooked at is technology has gotten
(25:33):
a lot better with fire pits.
Um, I'm gonna use some verbiage that'snot familiar in the industry, but VIK
systems, WeatherBeater systems are lowvoltage one 10 systems that you can
flip a switch or can go in your homeautomated system and they run a low
voltage current to the fire pit whereit can automate it on and off with.
That's, that's, that'sgotten a lot better.
(25:55):
But you're right, you have tosafety first when it comes to.
What you recommend to the customer,how you ventilated and, um, what
the customer's expectations areas sort of what it looks like.
So, yeah.
Awesome.
Yep.
Thank you.
Yep.
So I hope you enjoyed the barbecue bits that we just featured today,
and we'll have more coming up next week.
If there's something in particular thatyou're interested for, let us know and
(26:19):
we will get back into the episode now.
Mike (26:21):
One thing with your furniture, you want to get weather resistant.
Fabric that can handle likerain and things like that.
That way it'll last longer.
Trey (26:31):
Yeah.
You don't wanna let us sit on amoldy hammock or a moldy couch.
That'd be bad.
Mike (26:36):
that'd be bad.
Now, some people it's a couchand let's just do, little
tables and that'd be great.
And other people want a table.
'Cause they want to beable to eat outside dining.
But you'd rather relax and watchthe game and eat on the couch.
Trey (26:50):
I'm not at the point in my life where I have, a bunch
of kids or anything like that.
So dining isn't like a big part of my.
Lifestyle, I guess you could say.
Yeah, I like to be comfortable andhave conversations and eat food.
but you know, Eventually whenI have kids and I want to have,
dinner at the dining table, thatwould be something I would want.
But I'm just not there atmy, at that point in my life.
Mike (27:11):
One thing that also can make this.
Feel more like a home is, there'stwo things in the outdoor aspect
that, there's outdoor rugs nowthat you can put outside Yeah.
That really, cozy up a space also.
And they're not turf they're not turf.
Although you could doa rug outta turf too.
You could.
Yeah.
So if you wanted to but that'swhat they are technically.
(27:33):
Technically.
Yes, definitely.
The other thing is some people like tocome in and have some accents with some
pillows or throws or that type of thing.
Some parts of the country, it gets cold.
So it's nice to have some blankets orthrows out there to wrap up in, in when
you're in an outdoor space just accordingto the seasons that you're going through.
(27:53):
That's a
Trey (27:53):
great way also to implement style.
Especially with the colors you're talkingabout with the cushions and the pillows.
It's a great way and an opportunityto bring in some contrasting colors
depending on how like stylishyou are and how, design focused
you are with this whole project.
Mike (28:07):
So with dining area and a sitting area, a lot of people also
want to incorporate a kitchen.
Yeah.
So a kitchen is in fact anoutdoor kitchen, some people
will say is the most importantthing to do in the outdoor space.
Trey (28:23):
I can see that.
Mike (28:24):
So if you were gonna have an outdoor kitchen and you were doing the
starter pack, what would you start with?
Trey (28:31):
I'm biased.
I've learned a lot from you, so I probablygo, probably smoker right off the bat.
Mike (28:36):
Okay.
Trey (28:37):
Yeah, I think, the amount of times I've cooked steaks or bake or
whatever it might be, just cookingsome kind of meat in the kitchen and
it just smokes up the whole house.
It's so annoying.
It happens at Airbnbs, at myold rental, at your house.
it is what it is.
But then when like you cook outside andyou're smoking something, or if you're
just cooking in general, if you drive upto the house and someone's cooking in the
(28:58):
backyard, you just smell it in the air.
Or if your neighbor's cooking,you just smell in the air.
It's just.
it's hard to put words into,but it's a phenomenal aspect.
Mike (29:06):
this is where I grew up and we used the little hibachi grill.
And we put our briquettesin it and we cooked on it.
And our hamburgs, they's makingthem come back right now.
Trey (29:15):
Are they?
Yeah.
They got these hibachi tables you canbuy for your friends and just put the
propane tank in and everybody likecooks together and eats together.
Mike (29:23):
Well, That's a little bit different.
Yeah, I know, I know.
I know.
It's a little
Trey (29:26):
bit more elaborate, but
Mike (29:26):
than what we were using.
So, As I talked to people aboutinvesting in their outdoor living
space a number of years ago, I waslike, ought to go get something.
And so I actually went on to Craigslist.
And looked up and I bought a big greenegg off of Craigslist for 300 bucks.
Okay.
That was a heck of a deal.
Now, you talk,
Trey (29:47):
How much are they running for now?
They're a little over a thousand dollars.
Geez.
So gonna sponsor, I'll do a reviewor something on one of them.
They didn't figure out away to, to make it happen,
Mike (29:57):
Like I said, I went on Craigslist and got one for 300 bucks.
Yeah.
And the thing is a usedceramic grill, you can't like.
Mess 'em up.
I mean, Unless you
Trey (30:05):
drop it or something.
Mike (30:06):
Well, Yeah.
If you drop it and it'scracked, you have a broken egg.
Yeah.
Okay.
but other than that, there'snot a lot to go wrong on it.
So you're looking at issome type of ceramic cooker.
you said smoker, and that meansdifferent things to different people.
But you were referring tothe Green Egg that I use.
Trey (30:23):
You're, yeah.
The Green Egg is a, hybrid type of smoker.
And that's, I think if you're goingfor one piece of equipment to cook on
in the backyard, that is a big thing.
You need to have a little bit ofvariety unless you just like one
certain kind of dish and thenokay, then just get that certain.
Piece of equipment,
Mike (30:39):
right?
So some people are like, I want a griddle.
Some people want a grill.
Some people want a smoker.
The ceramic cookers, which likea primo, an egg, a kamado, Joe,
they all fall into that category.
Those three, I think are allvery good because the springs on
them are heavy duty and they'revery effective in how they work.
(31:04):
There's a lot of knockoffs thatI wouldn't spend the money on.
Yeah.
But those three, and the weird thingabout it's primos are black and eggs
are green, and Kamado Joe's are red.
So if you're trying to follow aparticular color palette, might
want to pick one based on that.
But they all work really well.
If you
Trey (31:23):
paint 'em with it, would it just come off from the heat?
Mike (31:26):
Oh, most definitely.
Trey (31:26):
Yeah.
Mike (31:27):
Yeah.
So the one thing that.
I don't have the, I have basicallya table sitting next to mine.
But if you're at entry level, you maywanna put one on a cart instead of
mine's in a, what they call a nest,just a thing that holds it upright.
But a cart would then give you some, prepspace and serving space off to the side.
It's
Trey (31:46):
more like a traditional grill.
Like I, I bought a grill when I was withmy buddies and it was relatively cheap and
it had just a little bit of side access.
Mike (31:53):
Yeah.
that is something that a lot of peoplesay the kitchen is the most important
because you can use it all year.
With a pool, you're onlygonna use it seasonally.
You know, Even a hot tub you'reprobably gonna use it seasonally.
Having something, that you coulduse all year and take people outside
that's something that the kitchen says.
(32:15):
It's very beneficial to have.
Oh yeah.
If we're looking at a starter pack,then I would just keep it simple.
And, the advantage of those is, youalluded to it, one of the things
is I can cook at 250 degrees.
Yeah.
For six hours and cook ribs.
Okay.
Or four hours and cookribs or hike last night.
(32:38):
I had it up to 750 degrees andcooked two ribeyes, and then actually
I dropped it down to 400 degreesand cooked six more pork chops.
it gives you flexibility.
You can cook a pizza on it.
So you want a wood-fired pizza.
You can have wood-fired pizza on your,kamado Joe or your primo or your egg.
(32:59):
Can grow vegetables in it.
You can cook ribs, you slow, cook,hot, cook, whatever you want to do.
So it gives you a lot of flexibilityas you were referring to.
Trey (33:07):
Yeah.
And if you have a freezer that createsice, I mean you just get it cooler.
And then boom, you got colddrinks, you have access to a
outside freezer temporarily.
Mike (33:17):
Yeah.
One of the things that is important todayto a lot of people is, oh, one thing I
should mention, we have episodes 21 and47 that talked about outdoor kitchens.
Okay.
So that's something thatyou may want to check out.
Wellness is really big today.
Yeah.
Now.
A wellness starter pack, whatcould you put in the space?
Trey (33:40):
Starter pack.
I just go back to the first thing I said.
If I have some nice grass where it doesn'thave thorns, you're taking care of it,
it doesn't have ants and stuff like that.
I can do yoga, I can stretch,I can do stuff in the grass.
Yeah, no problem.
Mike (33:55):
Saying, throw yoga mat out and Yeah.
Chill out in the space.
The other thing that you can do isthere's a lot of entry level cold
plunges where you get your own iceand you use it in the cold plunge.
That they're not too expensive.
So that's something thatyou could also incorporate.
Trey (34:11):
I don't know how well they work, but also they do the same thing with saunas.
I've seen portable sauna.
I've seen a lot of variation of saunas.
There's one with this guy ina van, but there are portable
saunas that you can do as well.
Mike (34:23):
Yeah, I've seen one that it looks almost like a suitcase.
Yeah.
That you open up and youget your body into it.
It's crazy.
But we did episodes on wellness like.
Cold plunges and saunas andhot tubs on episode 71 and 75.
And 79 was just on saunas.
You can generate wellness by nothaving to have an expensive piece
(34:43):
of equipment in the backyard.
Trey (34:45):
Yeah.
It just body workouts and stuff like that.
do think, the hammock, oddly enough, itties like I have a wellness routine where
after I work out, or late at nights, I'llget in the hot tub, relax, do stretches
in the hot tub and stuff like that.
But afterwards, and I'll jumpin a pool or you could do a
cold plunge to cool off, but.
I'll lay down in the hammock because myheart rate is so high and the hammock is
(35:10):
a perfect spot where you don't have toworry about bugs or anything like that.
If it's like crawling on maybe yourchairs or the decking or whatever it
might be, you can just hit the hammocka couple times and make sure there's
no spiders or anything like that.
And it's a perfect area tolay out and recalibrate.
Mike (35:26):
So do you wrap the fabric around you to keep the bugs up?
Trey (35:29):
No, I'm just worried about I'm talking about like at nighttime,
like when you can't see well.
Which I think is a great segue to one ofthe biggest things that you can implement
in your backyard, which is lighting.
Because lighting just like withgood grass, it creates a opportunity
for you to enjoy the yard.
Same thing with a mosquito situation.
At nighttime, if youcan't see in the backyard.
(35:50):
Are you gonna go outthere and throw a ball?
Are you gonna go out thereand do yoga and pitch black?
If maybe the moon's brightthat night, but I wouldn't.
Mike (35:58):
Yeah.
So that's something that can be simple.
As, there's solar lighting those features.
Don't work extremelywell, but they do work.
I think they work fairly well,so it's just, it's based on the
amount of sunlight that you have.
Yeah.
In some parts of the country it'smore overcast and so it's not
(36:18):
gonna generate as much sunlight, sothey're not gonna perform as well,
is kind of what I was alluding to.
Trey (36:23):
Also, they're not really good at probably big spotlight areas, like
actually illuminating a whole area like.
A football field or somethinglike obviously we're not talking
about a football field, biggerspaces than just like a fence line.
Mike (36:35):
Yeah.
But also, so there's solar lighting,which can be some pathway lights and
that type of situation, string lights.
But yeah, string lights are reallynice and you can get some, especially
if you've got some trees and it'sreally easy to just put those up.
So that's something thatyou can create a very.
Festive feeling for the space.
Trey (36:53):
Yeah.
LED strip lighting LEDs are so cheap.
The strip lighting you justgotta understand how you're
gonna do the lighting design.
And there's a lot of things we'retypically, I think this episode's
gonna apply to a lot of people thatdoing DIY stuff because it's, keeping
the budget down as much as possible.
And I think lighting.
If you're not, running your ownactual electrical lines 'cause
(37:14):
you're not an electrician.
This is relatively simple stuff youcan do that's gonna have a big impact.
Portable lanterns as well.
The stuff that's rechargeable, youcan take it wherever you want to.
Mike (37:25):
Yeah.
Those all will create, if.
If you don't have lighting, theparty ends when it gets dark.
Okay.
And this time of year it'sgetting dark at seven 30 at night?
Yep.
It's still all, actually this is probablyin Texas now, in the spring of the two
best times of the year to be outside.
It's not too cold, it's not too hot.
It's beautiful.
If you don't have lighting in thespace, then it gets, shut down pretty
(37:48):
early, but if you got lighting well,you can stay out there for a long time.
The other thing that which kind of tiesinto lighting a little bit is, fire.
Trey (37:56):
Yeah.
Mike (37:56):
Okay, so we've got the natural night light,
Trey (38:00):
great source of light,
Mike (38:02):
so you love it.
We can create and bug control too yes.
Although that goes with smoke
so,
Trey (38:08):
well,
It can, you have the smokelessversions as well, which, we're
trying to be relatively cheap, but.
Solo stove makes a goodsmokeless portable fire pit.
Mike (38:16):
Yeah.
there's fire pits and.
You can get portable ones thathave like propane tank underneath.
Yep.
And so it's a refillable situation.
It's a fire pit or a fire table.
Yep.
So you mentioned the solo stove.
You can just get a simple, ring thatyou can put out back and burn wood in.
So there's a lot of differentways that you can get your fire.
(38:38):
And, create a cost effective space.
But, I was all prepped for thegranddaughters to crank up the
solo stove and make s'mores.
Yeah.
And they got tired, wanted to go to sleep.
Wow.
What a bummer.
Next time.
Yeah.
So we've got the s'more bag alreadyso I put it away so I wouldn't
be eating all the s'mores myself.
(38:58):
Especially, I thought about it when Ihad the Green Egg cranked up last night.
I was like, I could make somes'mores right now, you got fire.
That's a great thing.
If it's a entry level and it's a portableunit, there's generally not codes that
come into place that's one thing that.
At the entry level, like anumbrella, there's no codes on.
(39:19):
So even in a small space you can, putit where you need to versus, when you
get into structures you usually haveto have setbacks, a certain distance
off the property and things like that.
Yeah.
Things to think about.
So mentioning structures, another thingthat some people want to incorporate
is they want to incorporate storage.
Trey (39:38):
Yes, that is probably one of the most untalked about points in
outdoor living it's storage space.
Mike (39:45):
Where do we put this stuff when we're not using it?
So I've got cushions and pillows that,I need to put 'em somewhere where's
the stuff that I'm gonna work with,the gardening, where's the fire?
I. where's charcoal andall this stuff goes.
Yeah.
Some people, storage is just as simple as,I'm gonna go buy a box at Costco that's
(40:08):
plastic and it's waterproof and I can liftthe lid of it and I can store stuff in it.
And.
We're just gonna have it out there.
And it works also as a bench.
So some people, that's as simpleas it is and then, other people
are gonna put a storage shed in.
Yeah.
And some storage sheds arefairly small and they might go
in a side yard or a backyard.
(40:28):
People also.
Put in small sheds that are, small houses.
The, she shed.
In the backyard with
Trey (40:35):
Creating more real estate.
It's hilarious on Zillow'cause I'm in the market.
I'm looking and stuff like that.
I see a bunch of homes that theywill market the house with more
square footage because of a sheshed or whatever it might be.
Like yeah.
I know.
It's like, oh, we have morelivable square footage.
and it's funny 'cause there's actually.
I've seen a couple of 'em and they havelike these decked out she sheds where I
(40:57):
can tell that they're doing like some,like massage business or like some kind
of business in the backyard in that.
That's like their office space.
You can tell 'cause like the presentationit's hilarious to me though, when it
Mike (41:08):
comes for square footage to count, I think it has to
be heated and air conditioned.
Okay.
Here in Texas, I think that's what it is.
I don't know that for a fact, but ifthey have a. Air conditioning unit
and a heater in it, then I guess youcould count it as your square footage.
Yeah.
But there are people that do live insmall buildings in backyards sometimes,
(41:30):
so I lived in a shed for two years.
Trey (41:32):
I've heard this story.
Yeah.
Mike (41:34):
So he was a contractor.
Young daughter decided to movein with him and there wasn't
enough rooms in the house.
So he remodeled the shed, whichis, I had skylights and track
lighting, so AC and everything, ac.
Oh, wow.
Whole nine yards.
I mean, How about that?
It was great.
And rent was really cheap.
He was like, you'd actually do this.
(41:55):
I was like, sure, why not?
So lived in it for two years untilI got married and bought a house.
Trey (42:00):
There you go.
Storage is huge though, like withthe amount of times that we've been
on yards for the first time and.
They don't have anything really inthe backyard, but they do have storage
that, you know, so it's finding a,good place to put that storage also.
How do you hide that?
'cause, storage isn't typically avery attracting thing to the eye.
You could, find areas like behind plantsand stuff like that to screen it off or
(42:22):
maybe build like a cheap screen fenceand then put the storage back there.
Mike (42:27):
So you just mentioned something that.
I assumed all yards would haveto start with what is that?
After I thought about it and I'mlike, no, that's not the case.
It is a lot here in Texas, but it'snot in all parts of the country
is some people don't have a fence.
Trey (42:42):
Oh,
Mike (42:43):
okay.
So, some people to create, a starterpack for your outdoor living space
is they wanna put a fence up.
Yeah.
Something that's gonna make youlook nice and also enclose it and
create privacy type situations.
So that's
Trey (42:58):
a huge, yeah, I didn't even think about that either.
That's a huge point.
Mike (43:01):
Yeah.
we lived in Jersey, wehad a. Split rail fence.
It was just two boards stuck into a post.
It just separated the yardsThere was no keeping a dog in
or any, or kids out or anything.
In fact, the neighborhood all roamedall over everybody's wild cards
Trey (43:19):
and everything.
Jersey.
Y'all got bears over there too.
Mike (43:21):
We had a lot of wildlife where we were at, we were
right off the pine barons.
I got black bears up there.
Yeah, there was black bears out there.
Along with everything else, raccoonswere, deer, all kinds of fun stuff.
Bobcats, but drunk
Trey (43:34):
teenagers, Snooky.
Mike (43:36):
yeah, that's where Jersey Shore, the Jersey Shore was where I was
raised before there was a TV show.
Yeah.
So anyway.
one of the things that you can do also isto create a luxury outdoor living setting
is, and a starter pack is sometimes paint.
You just paint the house so it looks nice.
(43:57):
But also a lot of times what people don'tthink about is you can paint the fence.
Yeah.
And a small space.
If you come in and paint the fence, itcan make space look really different.
We talked about it.
Recently about paintingthings, white or black.
I can't remember wherewe talked about that, but
Trey (44:12):
staining it.
Yeah.
Mike (44:13):
Yeah.
So if you take something that'smake it look bigger, you paint
it white, but you can also paintsomething black and then it disappears
into the background a lot better.
I
Trey (44:23):
think that was the last episode we did.
Mike (44:24):
Oh, okay.
Trey (44:25):
There you go.
That's why it's probablyfresh on your mind.
Mike (44:27):
I knew we talked about it at some point in time,
Trey (44:29):
But that is a big thing that people do nowadays.
They paint the brick of their house white.
I see that a lot.
Especially with like remodels.
The area, the Westlake, like wherewe do see that it does happen.
Mike (44:39):
So one of the things is entry level outdoor living starter pack.
What's the return going to be ifyou decide, hey, I'm moving on
and I'm gonna sell my property?
Is this something youget a good return on?
And from looking at things and frominvestigations I've made, we need to get a
realtor on here and talk about this, but.
(45:01):
This is one of the places you get avery high return on property value.
Now you can go to extremes and notdo things, but if things are done
well and you've got a nice patioand you've got a nice small water
feature, you've got some garden area.
Yeah.
You've got an outdoor kitchen spaceand it's, nicely furnished with some,
(45:22):
couch and chairs and dining room area.
It's all about the first impressionif somebody walks into a backyard
and is like, wow, this is nice.
That adds value.
Trey (45:32):
I think it needs to be a well-designed space.
I think if you add all these features,it can actually reduce the value of
the house if it's just done not ina way that most people will like.
But I do think you're right on that.
It can add a lot of value.
I think you just have to understand.
The design aspects of everything.
So
Mike (45:51):
any space that's been designed always presents a lot better than
a space that hasn't been designed.
Yeah, and the other thing thatyou may want to think about is
by having something designed.
What you can do is you can add thesepieces over a period of time and it's been
thought out on where all the things go.
(46:12):
Yeah.
When you create different zones, youknow where they're going to be, then
everything flows and fits together.
I've got my utility area, I've got mygathering area, I've got my cooking area,
I've got my, is the area where the dogs
Trey (46:25):
are gonna run or the kids are gonna play football or whatever it might be.
Yeah.
Mike (46:30):
By designing your space, things will fit together better, and then they'll
look like it was all planned to be, evenif you add things over a period of time
Trey (46:40):
versus it randomly put together.
Like it's a house that has a bunch,all these features, but it just
feels very random and Unor Unorganic,like it feels like it's a mess.
I mean, I would probably ratherhave a home that's a blank slate
where I can create the dream I want.
But if it already is, I see like realgood bones and something that aligns with
my vision, then I'm like, yeah, they'vealready done all this work and it's way
(47:03):
it's worth more than that blank slatebecause it's already got established.
Mike (47:07):
Yeah.
So one of the things that we'regonna talk about at the show is.
You've got these entry level things.
Mm-hmm.
But then over a period of timepeople have desire for more
things and cooler stuff and Yeah.
Places that you can create morememories so we'll talk about the
whole gamut of things, but if you'vegot these things right here, you
(47:29):
can create a great environment.
To have an enjoyable space.
And good memories with friendsand family you're gonna get
a lot of enjoyment out of it.
Trey (47:38):
Yeah.
I don't even think youneed all these things.
I think, oh no.
You could pick and choose to whateveryou think you want, but these items
open up your at the end of theday, it's just enjoy your backyard.
If you have a home and youhave a backyard, that's a
huge probably portion of.
Your home that you might not be using orutilizing and taking down the barriers
(47:59):
to be able to enjoy that backyard.
Like for instance, with the fire.
you can take an empty patio and ifyou have a bonfire, like me and my
buddies used to burn those little thepallets that people use, like at Sam's
Club and in Walmart, we would take thepallets and we would just burn 'em.
We would have a little fire.
And that turned that empty patiothat they had into a routine,
(48:20):
a ritual like every Friday.
That was the thing that we did.
We would go every Friday nightand go hang out in Sanger and
burn some pallets and have fun.
And that's all it was.
But it turned it into an experience and,using these different elements that we
talked about you can just enjoy yourlife a little bit more in the back doors.
Mike (48:39):
A critical thing is you just gotta take the time to do it.
So Pops went out Saturday and spentnine hours with his granddaughters.
Okay.
Yeah.
I guarantee you they will remember thattime, which was a lot better than me
going over to their house and playingwith their same toys and watching their
same videos that they always watched.
(49:01):
Yeah.
So we had a lot of fun and that's whatyou have to do is you have to take a
little bit of time and set it up and then.
Invite the people over and createthe memories and have the fun.
Trey (49:12):
Yeah.
Mike (49:12):
So hopefully that gives you a good start to the outdoor living starter pack.
And if there's something that you thinkwe should have talked about and we
didn't give us some comments on that.
Otherwise we, we
Trey (49:24):
didn't talk about sports recreation much at all.
Cornhole is a huge one.
I just wanna put out there,there's also like spike ball.
You can have a little puttinggreen or ping pong table, but
cornhole relatively cheap.
An amazing game that's so much fun toplay with the family, whoever it might be.
I just wanna put that out there.
Mike (49:41):
Yeah, if you wanna really go old school you could play croquet.
Croquet.
Okay.
Trey (49:46):
So don't know what that is, but, all right.
It sounds familiar.
I know the word.
I just don't know what it's it was
Mike (49:49):
a wooden ball.
Okay.
And you had a little hammer.
Kinda like a golf club andyou hit it and you, is this
Trey (49:56):
like something you used to play and put it through these little wire wickets?
Is this what you play on?
Like you're riding a horse or
Mike (50:02):
No, that's
Trey (50:03):
polo.
Okay.
That's a big hammer, right?
Hammer.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Same thing without the horse.
Mike (50:08):
Yeah you're walking, there's no horse involved in, so it's the four
Trey (50:11):
version of Polo.
I've never
Mike (50:13):
thought of it quite that way, but, I don't have a
Trey (50:15):
horse, so I would enjoy it.
It was a
Mike (50:17):
very English thing to do a long time ago.
Okay.
So with, Yes.
Sorry I skipped over that, thank youfor bringing that to our attention.
No,
Trey (50:25):
it's all good.
But ping pong tables are awesome.
You could play so many games on those.
Mike (50:29):
if you take your standard ping bong table outside and leave it in the
rain, ooh, it's not a good situation.
No, that wood just doesn'thold up really well.
Gotta get that umbrella or, or you goto ledge lounger and get their ping pong
table, which is set up for outside use.
And then you've got benches on theside and you can use it as a table too.
Trey (50:49):
So we're trying to stay relatively cheap.
So I would say is look into somekind of waterproofing you could
add to it to keep that cost down.
'cause I'm pretty sure those tables arepretty expensive, but they're phenomenal.
If I could afford a one, I would have one.
They're awesome.
Mike (51:02):
Yeah.
You use it as a dining room table too.
Yeah.
So it's a dual purpose.
Yeah, it's versatile.
Yeah.
And that's what you gotta look for toget the best experience in your backyard.
Find those dual usesor triple or whatever.
Hopefully this was good informationfor you if it was, pass it
on to your friends, share it.
And then we will look forwardto talking to y'all about
some more fun stuff coming up.
Trey (51:23):
Yeah, if you're listening to this episode, man depending on what platform
you're on, you can give it a good rating.
You can like the video,whatever it might be.
Help us out.
We're trying to grow weappreciate y'all being here and
being on this journey with us.
Take
Mike (51:34):
care.
Trey (51:35):
See you.
Outro (51:36):
This show is all about helping you become a better buyer, a better pool
owner, and hopefully you're gonna findsome insights into how to enjoy your pool
even more so how to help your friends,your family, anybody looking to buy a
pool in the future or that want to remodeltheir backyard, add an outdoor fireplace,
fire pit, add an outdoor kitchen area, addsome shade cells, or whatever else it is.
(52:00):
We wanna be that resource for you, andthat's the end goal here, and we promise.
That there's gonna bea ton of information.
We'll try to go through it, youknow, as relatively quickly, but
also slow so people can understand.
But the intent of the show, thereason Mike and I are doing this
is because we just got a lot inour heads and we wanna share it.
So we hope to see youhere every single week.
Thanks for listening.
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