benja22

Now that Summer is here, I finally broke down and started doing the the things I promised to have done in the spring. The main task at hand was to finally, after nine years of procrastination, pour a sidewalk in the front yard. It wasn’t going to be anything fancy, just a straight run from the porch to the street. A few hours work at best.

Yep.

Just grab a shovel and start digging. Dig, dig, dig, dig, dig, dig. That should be deep enough.

Sigh.

Dig, dig, dig, dig, dig. That should be closer.

It’s a pretty steep drop from the house to the street. Run a string to check out the slope. It’s really really steep. Maybe a step halfway down would help. Okay, two steps. Okay, nine steps. With the porch, that will be an unlucky 13 steps to the house. No problem. I’m not superstitious. The forms however, are a bit more difficult to build. Making steps takes more time and of course, more wood.

Going to need some sand and concrete. Yes, they can deliver my puny 1.75 yds. of concrete but I have to pay for a minimum of 4 yards. Yes, they can deliver one and a half tons of sand but that will require a $45 delivery fee. How much is 5 tons delivered? $35.00. Wha?

Guess I’ll build a patio then. Dig, dig, dig, dig, dig, dig.

Making a patio takes more time and of course, more wood.

The sand is dumped on a tarp in the back yard. It’s close enough to the patio that you can shovel it right in. The sidewalk in the front yard will require a wheelbarrow.

Throw the sand in the patio, tamp it down, screed it to four inches thick, water it down.

Tape up the blisters and start hauling wheelbarrow loads of sand to the front yard and shovel some more. Screed the sidewalk in the form of steps and now we are ready for the concrete.

It will be there at 1:30 tomorrow afternoon. Friends and family standing by to help. Here comes the rain. There goes the sand. It washes right down into the street.

Call the friends and family. Call the concrete company and postpone.

Four days go by before the back yard is dry enough to drive a cement truck onto it. We order our 4 yards to be delivered at 2:00 the next afternoon.

The weather reports become more and more gloomy throughout the day. There is a 60% chance for rain and thunderstorms by 2 P.M. on the day of the pour. I go to bed worried about further delays.

Early the next morning I drive to town to rent a bull float (a really big trowel attached to a 12 ft. pole) for $22.00. I go home and watch weather reports and wait for 2 o’clock to arrive.

Friends and family show up at 1:30 p.m. and we watch the weather and chew our fingernails.

The cement truck arrives right on time and we begin pouring the steps in the front yard. It goes surprisingly well in spite of the heat and humidity.

The truck pulls around to the back yard and fills the patio. We screed it with a 12 ft. long 2 by 6 board. It’s constant shoveling and filling holes. Every couple of feet the concrete builds up in front of the board to the point where we can no longer push it forward.

Dig, dig, dig, dig, dig, screed, screed, dig, dig, dig, dig, screed.

My wife gives us continuous updates of exactly where the storm is located. It’s 10 miles away.

We finally get it screeded and break out the trowels and bull float.

The rain begins to come.

We get tarps put over the steps in the front yard just before the rain. It takes ten more minutes to have the patio ready to be covered but the rain is already upon us.

We get it covered and manage to get our tools put away as the storm hits. The water heater blows. We drink many beers.

It’s all over now except the weeping. The sidewalk is nice. The patio is also but has a noticeable rain pattern on it. The water heater was replaced. I may have time to blog again. She thinks a new bathroom would be nice.