Deck Project "Complete"

After 8 long days (6:30AM - 9PM) as well as several evenings of hard work as well as the last few evenings after everyone has went back to work, the Deck Project is mostly complete. It was a beast of a project, but turned out exactly as we had planned.

Some stats on the project:
Deck size: 35 feet wide by 14 feet long (including steps)
Deck height: Approximately 9 feet above the concrete patio.
Number of steps: 14 (which took about 2 days all by themselves)
Unique Feature: Chalk Water Drainage System (patent pending) funnels all rainwater through a gutter system, allowing for a finished ceiling (along with lighting, ceiling fans, etc) to be installed at a later date.

Holly actually put the last screws into deck boards today, and the only things left to do is to install the downspout off the gutter and do a massive clean of the deck, patio, worksite, house, and garage. We worked our tails off, but the project turned out pretty good.

A **HUGE** Thank-You to my parents... Dad is a tremendous engineer and carpenter, and the deck is truly one of his masterpieces. Mom made many, many, many trips to and from Lowe's, Home Depot, and several other places as well as helping to craft and install the drainage system. Matt and Jenn also came out to visit, and while the visit involved mostly work (Thank you!), they did get a chance to stop in at Ravens Training Camp, Gettysburg, and have a nice Seafood dinner. As you can see in the pictures, Holly got her hands very dirty as well, and she wasn't afraid to grab a hammer, start cutting deck boards, or throw herself into a million other tasks as well.

I'll post more pictures of the completed project once everything is cleaned up, furniture is set up, and it is truly "done". There is still probably a solid day of cleanup left, but I hope to spread that over Saturday and Sunday among frequent dips into our new hot tub (that Jenn and Matt helped us break in!).

Without further ado, ChalkDeck 2.0 (ChalkDeck 1.0 can be found here):

Patio Project Complete -- Stay Tuned for Deck!

Fellow Chalboard readers,

We couldn't keep you in suspense any longer. The patio project is 99% complete, and we had to share pictures of the beautiful patio that we now have in our back yard...



We also have the last gallery of patio pictures. This should fill you in on what happened since the last step. They power-washed the concrete to bring it to the basic white-with-beige-texture color. They then finished and textured the sides. All of this happened yesterday, and today they came out to stain and seal the patio.

The staining process took about 5 hours, as two of Visual Concrete's best painstakingly stained each individual "brick" by hand. They also stained the sides and the steps as well. As you can see from the pictures, this brought the patio to life. Finally, they applied a sealer to lock in the color and to protect the concrete, stain and all so that we can enjoy this beautiful masterpiece for many years to come.

We had high expectations for the patio, but I honestly believe that Visual Concrete managed to exceed those expectations. This sets a high standard for our deck project next week! Stay tuned for pictures from the deck, as well as final pictures (hopefully!) of the entire project!

Concrete Poured and Stamped

Today was a big day in the Patio/Deck saga that is our summer. Bright and early at 6:30 this morning, the cement truck pulled up (the first of 2...). It was time to pour concrete!

Everything was a blur, but here were the key steps (once everything was prepared):
1. Concrete was poured and smoothed to a glossy finish (16 yards of concrete--which is about 1.6 loads of a heavy-duty concrete truck!).

2. Color Hardener (which is "Ash White" in color) was then thrown on the entirety of the concrete. The concrete is re-smoothed to a glossy finish so that the Ash White color is completely in the top layer of concrete.

3. Stamping time! Release color (which is "Smoke Beige" in color) was then thrown onto the top of the concrete just ahead of where several guys were starting to stamp. They used about 8 different stamps (all of them were numbered for a specific pattern). The workers would throw Release, put a stamp down, stamp it with a big, handled, weight, and then repeat. They worked one end of the patio to the other on the top, then the same on the bottom.

4. They finished the tops of the steps with a texture stamp, but not with a pattern (since the steps are too small with a pattern).

They were all done and cleaned up by noon, and the results are amazing. (Pictures below). The pictures show more the beige color in the release, but once they pressure wash it, the hardener "white" color will come back through.

Next up, they will come back and finish the sides and the risers in the steps, cut relief lines, and then power wash it.

On Wednesday, they will be back out for the staining process, where the actual "stones" will come to life as individually colored pieces. At that point, the Patio will be complete!

ALL Pictures (of the process too) below:

Patio Project -- Getting Ready for Concrete

All,

The Patio Project is moving on schedule. Concrete is being poured on Monday, and the whole patio will be finished on Wednesday... just in time for deck construction to begin.

Here are some pictures I've taken after the two main days worth of excavating and framing. You can really see the patio starting to take shape.

Enjoy!