It's a Patio!

Here we (I'm behind the camera) are on day one. Getting read to dig up the grass, remove the mulch and level the area.

The post dig.  Do you like our primitive leveling devices?  A rock, a rope and a stick.  

Superior concrete arrived at 12:20 pm last Thursday, cut down our fence and grabbed a wheel barrow.  I'm sure I made them nervous with my camera.

Even though we paid someone else to make the forms and pour the patio we still acquired quite a few tools for this project.  I think I like the sod cutter the best and it is the tool we will have the least amount of use for in the future. 

Since our yard is sloped on the new patio side they had to double up the forms.  It is quite the step off that side, but I'm thinking once we get grass back over there that it won't seem like such a massive drop off.

Jason also talked them into curving the outside corner, which is very wonderful.  It looks so much nicer than a pointy corner.  I hate that he's right about just about everything.

When they were pouring the cement into the nice flat hole I asked if they were going to pin it to the house, and got the "oh yes" but I don't think they did.  I doubt that the slab will move unless we have a big quake and if that happens we'll have other fish to fry.  I just won't be paying for the pinning and am thankful I have a photo to show that there are no pins in our house.

Once the patio was poured and smoothed I had a minor heart attack that the aggregate look of the old patio wouldn't be matched on the new slab as promised, but about an hour after it was poured someone popped into our backyard and "sugared" it with some red powder which I was then worried would stain the house.

About 30 minutes before Jason got home they came back and did this last step of watering it down and using a handy push broom to scrub away the top layer. (I once brought a push broom a gift to a family gift exchange and everyone hated it and made fun of me for bringing the worst gift ever. But the person who got it uses it all the time - how's that presto sandwich press working out..don't use it at all? I thought so, so  there!)

The new slab is a darker color, but I'm assured it is because it hasn't cured yet.  We have had our first glass of wine on the deck and when Jason's parents were around we even had treats under the umbrella.

I'm quite happy!

This weekend we will collect more sod to fill in the far side that you can't see.  I wish we hadn't disposed of the original sod, but at the time it was good to see it go and I suppose that organic material will help to decompose non organics at the land fill... or I'm just fooling myself.