Creating Backyard Adventures with Concrete

Scott Cohen of The Green Scene brings to life a Swiss Family Robinson themed backyard

By Khara Dizmon, ConcreteNetwork.com Managing Editor

Adventure doesn't have to be found in far away places, on South Seas islands or remote paradises, when a little creativity and a lot of concrete can bring the experience to your backyard. Just like the heroic tale of Swiss Family Robinson chronicles the escapades of a family shipwrecked on a deserted island, this backyard brings adventure everyday.

Designed by Scott Cohen, owner of The Green Scene and known as HGTV's Favorite Garden Artisan, this backyard was designed for a family looking to create a bit of paradise of their own. "It has a Robinson Crusoe or "Lost" TV show theme," says Cohen, "with the idea that the family was out boating and it crashed into the rocks." That little bit of Swiss Family Robinson fun is demonstrated with the sparkling pool and stunningly realistic wood-stamped concrete boat that serves double duty as a spa. But that alone isn't the only thing that makes this 8,000 square foot backyard fun, it also includes a palapa with fire pit, an outdoor kitchen with a hand-seeded seashell concrete countertop, a concrete pool slide with a cave underneath it, a garden bridge that crosses a sandy beach which is also a sand trap for a putting green. And one other detail, "the kids are allergic to grass so the whole thing is artificial turf for the entire project," explains Cohen.

Cohen's Favorite Concrete Products
Read about why Cohen prefers certain concrete stains for creating just the right effects on his projects.

Faux Wood Boat

To bring the adventure to life, Cohen designed a faux wood "shipwrecked boat" to serve as the spa. "It's made entirely out of concrete," says Cohen. "Our pool start-up service guy commented, 'this looks great, but I'm not sure how this wood boat will hold up,'" recalls Cohen. "He couldn't tell it was made out of concrete."

"We used the faux material of house siding with wood texture. We put release agent on it, and then shot gunite against the forms." When the forms were removed, the concrete had the texture of wood. Cohen stained the boat with tan, coffee, and walnut brown acid stains (from Triple S and Brickform) to give it an even more, weathered realistic look. Cohen likes Triple S jade moss stain to pour down spillways and waterfalls. "We typically use it uncut," he explains. "Where water spills over the boat into the pool, we used walnut brown and jade. We pour them at the same time and let them spill over the side."

Always one to pay attention to the details, Cohen included an umbrella stand in the spa where the sail mast would be on the boat. The spa seats 12 and includes four back jets, two in-floor foot jets, and a deep well hydrotherapy area with six full body jets.

Concrete Slide

One of the pool's focal points is a large, handcarved concrete slide. The slide was built to look like a large rock formation with a carved out cave beneath it. "We carved out the cave and made the inside look like stone. Then we put in old-world style light fixtures so it looks like a fort. It goes back 7 feet and is about 4-5 feet wide," says Cohen.

The cave and slide were built with a steel frame, shot with gunite, and then carved and textured with an overlay. To achieve the look of faux rock, Cohen's crew texture-stamped the formations and then stained it with amber and weathered bronze. To make the rock look like water had been traveling over it for years, Cohen used stains to give it an old-world patina wash. "We splatter black stain, then take opaque concrete paints in white, gray, sandstone and black, and speckle the concrete to look like granite. When you apply layer after layer, it looks realistic," explains Cohen.

Concrete Barbecue Counter

The barbecue counter was also made out of concrete, and was hand-seeded with seashells. "We bullfloat with a wood trowel," says Cohen, "then hand-seed with seashells. We tamp them into the cream of the concrete, and then grind it down. Where the seashells leave gaps, we epoxy-fill and polish again." Cohen used sandstone colored concrete for the countertop. (Read Cohen's seven-step process to hand-seeding concrete countertops.)

It Doesn't Cost More to Be Creative

When Cohen designs he tries to incorporate anything that can make the job fun. "It doesn't necessarily cost more to be creative," he explains. His unique approach with concrete stains to create a weathered look "cost no more than a tiled spillway," he says. Cohen's motto is 'have a little bit of theme park in your own backyard.'

"People are calling it 'stay-cationing,' says Cohen. "They're staying home to vacation. Because it's difficult and expensive to travel, and because there are concerns with the economy, more people are choosing to stay home, and to create a vacation at home." Cohen remembers this mindset when he designs backyard adventure experiences such as this one.

For an extra special touch of fun on this project, Cohen helped the family celebrate the completion of their backyard. "When the job was finally done, and the pool was filled with water, I brought pirate costumes for the whole family to help celebrate." There's no doubt a backyard like this will bring adventure everyday.

The Green Scene
Canoga Park, CA

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