A Split-Level Backyard That Worked Against Itself
The Longmont homeowners had good bones to work with, but the layout fought them. An elevated deck sat between the main outdoor living area and the patio below, leaving the lower level disconnected and rarely touched.
The goal was to turn a divided backyard into a natural extension of the home: a screened porch for everyday comfort up top and a stamped-concrete patio for hosting below.
A Screened Porch Up Top, a Patio for Hosting Below
One coordinated plan, two connected levels. A screened porch was added at the upper level for shaded comfort close to the house, and a stamped-concrete patio was installed below for open-air seating around a fire table. Steps and railing connect the levels, so the lower patio reads as part of the living space rather than a forgotten slab.
Materials
- Screens: Screeneze screen system, for clean, tight screen lines without the sag and gaps of older spline systems
- Decking: Deckorators Voyage in Sedona, a mineral-based composite that resists fading and surface heat under the strong Colorado sun
- Deck framing: PWT LVL, laminated veneer lumber that holds a flat line under load and resists the warping of standard lumber
- Railing: Westbury C10 Tuscany aluminum, powder-coated and rust-resistant for a thin, clean sightline
- Patio: stamped concrete, a durable surface textured to read like natural stone
- Fire table: 60-inch Regal Chestnut concrete fire pit from The Gas Connection
Where Our Build Went Wrong, and How We Made It Right
Most builders would skip what comes next. We are sharing it on purpose.
What happened:
- We poured a stamped concrete patio to match an existing slab, and its slope came out far too steep
- Pour-day conditions were not ideal: temperatures ran low, and work pushed ahead when it should have paused
- A fresh patio ended up sloped wrong, obvious as soon as furniture was set on it
How we responded:
- We took responsibility immediately. No finger-pointing. No debate over fault.
- The brand-new concrete was removed and repoured the right way.
- O’Keefe Built covered the full cost of the tear-out and second pour, because asking a homeowner to accept a finished surface that wasn’t right was never an option.
Why share this? Because we believe homeowners deserve to know what accountability looks like before they hire a contractor.
At O’Keefe Built, we tell every client up front that construction is complex and problems can happen. What matters is the response: clear communication, ownership, and the right corrective action — even when that action is expensive.
In this case, accountability meant tearing out a brand-new Longmont patio and rebuilding it correctly.
A Backyard That Finally Works as One
Up top, the screened porch gives shaded seating steps from the house, comfortable from afternoon into evening with overhead heat for cool Colorado nights. Below, the stamped concrete patio wraps around the Regal Chestnut fire table, with lounge seating, string lighting, and an open view to the field beyond.
What had been a split-level yard with a cut-off lower patio now functions as a single connected outdoor living space.
Inspired by the Longmont Project?
A screened porch, a stamped concrete patio, or a multi-level backyard redesign might be exactly what your own backyard needs. Let’s talk about making it happen.
