My fingers are healing up nicely and my back only feels like it might give-out every other time I blend over, so I figured I should post photos. I still can't type with my right middle finger though, so this is going to take a while.
Marc's dad and I originally dug up all this concrete that was lining our yard. We stacked it neatly in the back thinking: "Hey, could we maybe use this somewhere?" In the next week, both Marc and I separately found the same inspiration photo in a Garden Design magazine by Shirley Watts:
First things first though, Marc had to pour the concrete footings. That was no small job: +30 bags of concrete mixed in the wheelbarrow by hand!
Bad thing #1: The finish wasn't what we were expecting, it was way too rough, so Marc had to parge the front of the wall to make it look smooth.
Bad thing #2: The bag of parging cement he picked up said "concrete white" but was more like stark white. Can we not get a break?? Looks like he will have to re-parge it with a grey mix. Bummer.
Anyway, once the wall footing was in we started on our reclaimed concrete wall. Hold up, nothing is that easy for us, right? Well, first I had to unstack all the "stones" (i.e. reclaimed concrete chunks) and lay them out in the yard to get a good sense of what we had and then hose the dirt and bugs off of them. This took me half a day I swear.
Finally, we started stacking and mortaring. After 2 HARD days of work, and me wearing right thru a pair of gloves, we did it. I'm pretty amazed at how it looks considering that we have never really done anything like this before. I'm not saying the Fraternal Order of Mason's should give us honorary memberships but yea, we feel pretty proud:
It's a little more rustic looking than the inspiration photo, but Marc and I really like it. It didn't come easily though. As with everything that will save you a lot of $$ (in not having to buy new stone), it took a little more man-power. These rocks had very rough bottoms (hence the need for the large mortar layers in between). They look like they were formed on CMU (concrete blocks). Here is a picture of the bumps <--
This one isn't even that bad, but it is the last one that we didn't use. I was going to turn it over to get a better photo, but Marc had stacked (3) 80lb concrete bags on top of it, so this is the only photo. Sorry, I just cannot bring myself (and my aching back) to move the 240lbs off and back required to get a better shot!
Hmmm. She used reclaimed concrete and stacked it with wide joints. Looks great!
First things first though, Marc had to pour the concrete footings. That was no small job: +30 bags of concrete mixed in the wheelbarrow by hand!
Bad thing #1: The finish wasn't what we were expecting, it was way too rough, so Marc had to parge the front of the wall to make it look smooth.
Bad thing #2: The bag of parging cement he picked up said "concrete white" but was more like stark white. Can we not get a break?? Looks like he will have to re-parge it with a grey mix. Bummer.
Anyway, once the wall footing was in we started on our reclaimed concrete wall. Hold up, nothing is that easy for us, right? Well, first I had to unstack all the "stones" (i.e. reclaimed concrete chunks) and lay them out in the yard to get a good sense of what we had and then hose the dirt and bugs off of them. This took me half a day I swear.
Finally, we started stacking and mortaring. After 2 HARD days of work, and me wearing right thru a pair of gloves, we did it. I'm pretty amazed at how it looks considering that we have never really done anything like this before. I'm not saying the Fraternal Order of Mason's should give us honorary memberships but yea, we feel pretty proud:
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| The whole wall. 2" of the white (soon-to-be-grey) footing will be covered with the final gravel layer. |
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| A little close-up. Some of the pieces still have moss on them. We are hoping it will live and spread. |
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| Not too bad for junk we dug up in the yard, right? |
It's a little more rustic looking than the inspiration photo, but Marc and I really like it. It didn't come easily though. As with everything that will save you a lot of $$ (in not having to buy new stone), it took a little more man-power. These rocks had very rough bottoms (hence the need for the large mortar layers in between). They look like they were formed on CMU (concrete blocks). Here is a picture of the bumps <--This one isn't even that bad, but it is the last one that we didn't use. I was going to turn it over to get a better photo, but Marc had stacked (3) 80lb concrete bags on top of it, so this is the only photo. Sorry, I just cannot bring myself (and my aching back) to move the 240lbs off and back required to get a better shot!
Here's an update on the list. 13 & 15 completed!
Tear up patio area. (Done!)"Reclaim" stone/concrete pieces to reuse.(Done!)Relocate plants.(Done!)Install gutters (Back is 95% Done!)Bust up concrete "troughs". (Done!)"Reclaim" patio flooring flagstones from garden. (Done!)- Mark fence posts.
Get samples and select pea gravel.(Done!)Rent equipment.(Done!)Move dirt.(Done!)- Dig post holes.
- Trench for pipe and footing at new site wall and house.
Pour footing.(Done!)Install metal edging.(Done!)Install site wall reclaimed stone/concrete pieces.(Done!)Place road bond gravel.(Done!)Compact gravel.(Done!)- Lay reclaimed flooring flagstones.
- Install pea gravel.
- Install trench drains.
- Install fence posts and fence.
We've found some really gross stuff in and around this house (dead cats #1, #2, #3 & #4, adult diapers ....), so I thought I'd post something a little gross, but a lot funny.
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Marc dug up this troll doll in the backyard. He's become our unofficial patio mascot. Partly because he's pretty cute, but mostly because that is what we end up looking like after each work session!
Should we name him? Suggestions?
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