Weekend Project

Since moving into this house we have been improving things little by little! The year we got married we totally renovated the inside of the house. The summer after we got married, we did a new front porch, siding and soffit and whatever else that stuff up by the roof is called. Now this summer, it's time to start working on landscaping! Finally the outside will start matching the inside! HMmmm....just hit me that there's a spiritual analogy here too. Maybe someday I will blog about that!

This weekend we decided to start working on the walkway to the front door. It was old concrete and needed a new look.

See what I mean?

So we (Ok my hubby) got to work eliminating the old concrete walks. It was no easy chore. I am so thankful that I married such a strong man. The night he took out the walks, my neice and nephews were here. My youngest nephew was amazed at the way Brad swung that sledgehammer like it was nothing! They were even more amazed when I told them that "Brad is so strong, he can even throw ME into bed". Which is true, and it is not easy cuz our bed sits about 4 feet off of the floor and I am no feather! But moving on...he chunked up the walks. I wanted a different curve in our new walks so we figured out the shape and cut out the grass.

Then we went on a date to Home Depot. Wasn't very datey but that makes it sound more fun! We decided to do a sample run of dying our own concrete. I like the "Stamp-Crete" look but after realizing that it would cost around a $1,000 we decided to do it ourselves. We bought concrete dye and a bunch of quickrete.
After figuring out exactly how much dye and water to use per sack we started mixing. Basically I just poured in the water and watched my hubby mix it all. Remember what I said about him being strong. It sure came in handy here. We were too "cheap" to rent a mixer. Brad had to do it all the old fashioned way.

I suggested he make it easier for me to watch him! He was happy to oblige! I was perfectly happy watching him do his thing, and shouted out encouragement when he started getting tired!

Brad had used this mold thing when he did another walkway. After the concrete was mixed, we set the mold just where we wanted it and filled it up.

Brad did the first one and then it was my turn. He filled the mold and then I used the trowel and squished it in all of the cracks, and smoothed out the top to make it look just right. Sadly I have no pictures to prove my part in the project. But just ask my hubby. He says he couldn't have done it without me! For real, he does! The fun part was lifting the mold and seeing how neat everything looked!

We were so, so pleased with the final results. We finished it up last night, handmolding the pieces where the mold didn't fit. We still need to fill in the cracks with sand and then seal it all.

The walkway cost us about $200.00. Definitely more work but worth the $800.00 savings! And it's always fun to work on things like this with my husband. Next comes landscaping this whole area. Can't wait to see how that looks.