Sheese, when a guy spends his 3-day weekend digging and putting in a rain runoff drain under a sidewalk and down to the street, and edging the lawn with paver stones, he can't possibly keep up with so much chatter. All this talk about platforms makes me want to upchuck. I already built a big platform this spring. Today I took posession of 2 yards of sand and 7 yards of #2 base in anticipation of putting in a good portion of 600 square feet of grade-level platform (patios and walkways) this fall and next spring. All that base should make a good solid platform, and with a 70 foot long sidewalk, a feller could actually run on it. And Kokopuff makes a dandy running mate!