When we originally started the backyard remodel, we wanted stamped concrete. It seemed like an upgrade over a plain concrete slab, but I’ll be honest with you—no one wants to do stamped concrete. We got three quotes, and every one of them jumped dramatically when we asked about stamped concrete. Even then, Wenscalo’s bid was still about $6,000 to $10,000 less than everyone else’s.
So just know, if you ever decide to include stamped concrete in your own remodel, be prepared to pay an arm, a leg… and probably a hand too.
Robert designed the entire backyard himself, but after looking over his plans, the materials we had chosen for the outdoor kitchen, and the natural stone that would border the concrete, I started to wonder whether stamped concrete would actually distract from the heart of the backyard rather than enhance it.
I also knew I wanted a big sectional out there. I wrote about that here. Then I wanted a rug under the sectional, and before long I found myself wondering if anyone would even notice the extra $10,000 we were about to spend on stamped concrete.
So the week before the pour, Robert texted Wenscalo, our contractor, and told him we wanted to switch to brushed concrete instead.
Wenscalo replied that it was no problem.
That was just like Wenscalo.
He’s a hardworking, easygoing contractor our family grew to love. He has three sons who work at the nuclear plant, and Robert says they’ve given their family name a great reputation there. I haven’t met them, but if they’re anything like their dad, I imagine they work just as hard.
Most days, Wenscalo worked alone. Occasionally he’d have two or three guys helping him, but honestly, he worked like a crew of ten all by himself.
We grew attached to him. Robert would cook breakfast just to convince him to stop long enough to eat.
One of the things I admired most about Wenscalo was how thorough he was.
When Robert first showed me his backyard design, something about it felt unfinished, but I couldn’t figure out why. Once Wenscalo began pouring the concrete, he brought over several different stone samples and asked me which one I liked.
That was it.
The concrete needed a natural stone border. My brain knew something was missing, but because I’d never built a backyard before, I couldn’t identify it until Wenscalo laid those stones in front of me.
Wenscalo speaks mostly Spanish with a little English, but somehow we became friends anyway.
We’d feed him lunch or breakfast, and he’d return the favor by bringing fresh vegetables from his garden. I love to garden, but Wenscalo knows how to garden—and there’s definitely a difference.
He brought us pounds of cucumbers and fresh green beans.
Robert spent a lot of time talking with him despite the language barrier, and eventually we started helping him with the concrete work.
The second day of the pour, one of Wenscalo’s employees didn’t show up.
Robert asked, “How can I help?”
Wenscalo handed him the concrete buggy while he spread and finished the concrete, making sure it stayed level and moist enough for brushing.
The next day Robert had to work, so I took over driving the buggy. It was a neat experience getting to help him and learn a little about his trade.
Once the concrete was finished being poured, Wenscalo arrived with the stone on his trailer.
I was excited to help unload it.
Then I tried to lift one.
It wasn’t happening.
Those stones weighed somewhere around seventy pounds each, and they weren’t thin decorative veneer. They were solid, full-thickness natural stone that would become the face of the patio and the border around our concrete. The fireplace stones were a little lighter—probably forty or fifty pounds each—but that may have been my limit.
What impressed me wasn’t just the weight.
It was the craftsmanship.
Every stone had to be considered before it was ever mortared into place. Wenscalo would pick one up, turn it, set it back down, try another, chip a corner, saw the edges, adjust the mortar, and somehow make pieces that came from a quarry look like they’d always belonged together.
At one point he told me, “If you do too many at a time, it will not be level.”
That sentence stuck with me.
Standing there in late-June Arkansas heat, watching him wrestle those massive stones into place one by one, I realized I wasn’t just watching someone build a wall.
I was watching an artist.
Looking back, I’m so glad we skipped the stamped concrete. I think another $10,000 worth of decorative concrete would have competed with what became the real centerpiece of the backyard. Instead, my eyes are naturally drawn to the outdoor kitchen and those beautiful stone walls every time I walk into the backyard.
Then Wenscalo surprised us.
He wrapped the steps in the same stone even though we hadn’t asked him to. He also built a walkway from the outdoor kitchen to the breezeway leading to our guest house.
He didn’t charge us a dime for the walkway.
He simply had extra stone and wanted the project to feel complete.
Then he suggested we install lights beneath the stone on the pergola.
After the stone and lights, looking back, choosing brushed concrete with natural stone instead of stamped concrete was one of the best decisions we made during our backyard remodel.
He was right. They looked amazing.
It made an incredible difference.
The day he installed those lights, he brought his wife and his two youngest boys.
When the boys wandered up to my office door, I picked up the youngest and introduced myself.
Wenscalo smiled and said, “They are fine.”
I laughed and replied, “I know, but they’ll have more fun with me.”
So I stole his kids for the day while he and his wife worked.
We had so much fun.
Alex, the older brother, spent half the day pretending to shoot all of us. We became surprisingly good at dramatically collapsing to the floor and playing dead. Then we dressed him in Spider-Man clothes, ate ice cream, went swimming.
By the end of the day, he’d had so much fun that he kept telling Wenscalo the same Spanish phrase over and over when it was time to leave.
“Me quedo.”
“I stay.”
Even though I was exhausted from our own late nights laying fireplace stone, his happiness reminded me how fulfilling it can be to be tired because you spent yourself creating joy for someone else.
Alex had a little brother named Juan.
Juan wasn’t quite as adventurous as Alex, but he loved to be held, and I enjoyed rocking a little one to sleep again.
Relationships between homeowners and contractors can sometimes be full of stress, but ours turned into something entirely different.
Abby and I miss all of them.
I think Robert misses his friendship with Wenscalo too.
One of my favorite memories still makes me laugh.
Robert had spent hours trying to level the mortar for the outdoor kitchen’s first course of stone. Wenscalo walked by, glanced at it for about two seconds, smiled, and said,
“Okay… now give it a little hit.”
Robert tapped it with his trowel.
Perfectly level.
Just like that, Robert gained the confidence to keep building.
Some people leave their mark because of what they build.
I think Wenscalo and his family left theirs because of the kind of people they are.
They built us a beautiful backyard, but somewhere along the way they also became friends.
And I have a feeling we’ll be hiring them again.
If you’re in the Arkansas River Valley and need someone to build concrete, stonework, or an outdoor living space, we couldn’t recommend Wenscalo more highly.
Wenceslao Flores
phone 479 747 3015
email. wenceslaoflores45@gmail.com
address. PO.BOX 1311