Spring 2020 One Room Challenge Week Four

We’re halfway through! Here’s last week’s to-do list:

• Test limewash
• Set final two posts for deck stairs (using fast setting concrete for this)
• Build deck stairs
• Build more concrete forms
• Remove second remaining brick walkway
• Remove gravel from patio to prep for pavers
• Cut and cap sprinklers (can only happen if we remove the gravel)
• Start setting/leveling concrete forms

And here’s how well we did:

• Test limewash
• Set final two posts for deck stairs (using fast setting concrete for this)
• Build deck stairs
• Build more concrete forms
• Remove second remaining brick walkway
• Remove gravel from patio to prep for pavers
• Cut and cap sprinklers (can only happen if we remove the gravel)
• Start setting/leveling concrete forms

Not only did I test the limewash, but I ended up getting almost half of the wall started before a pop up thunderstorm washed me out. Thankfully, most of the limewash survived but I need to go back and wash some off where I went a little too thick. The nice thing about the product I’m using is that you can wash it off within 5 days of applying it to the brick. The not so nice thing is that it’s been raining most of the week and I’m on day 4.5. I’ll also need to go back and get into the mortar better in a few spots. Our mortar is pretty deep set and it’s been difficult to get good coverage using the masonry brush. I remembered afterward that we have a paint sprayer so I might try that out for the rest of the wall. I was hoping I could leave the door to the garage alone but after painting the brick, I don’t think the color is working. My plan is to find a light gray but the gutters and downspout will likely stay the same color unless I can’t stand it and then we’ll see what happens. The gutters also need to be cleaned ASAP. We’re thinking we’re going to build a raised planter along the other wall (stained to match the deck) and plant some hostas to help hide the foundation and maybe help disguise our meters. Hopefully we can get that done during the ORC but it’s an extra project that wasn’t in our original plan. We finished our deck expansion on Saturday with help from Kyle’s parents. Not sure if we’ll be able to get it stained by the end of the ORC but at least the building part is done! Kyle installed some temporary stairs down into the yard for OG and the dogs but Phase 2 of this project will include adding some big box steps and railings to finish everything off. We are still planning on building an outdoor fireplace at some point but that will also be a Phase 2 project and won’t be done during the ORC. We’re planning on going ahead and pouring a concrete pad for it when we rent the mixer for our pavers but the actual building and plastering we’ll save for later. There are still a lot of details to figure out there. As for moving the gravel, we’ve gone back and forth on this but we decided to leave it all in place and just move it around as we need to. We have a lot of leveling to do this weekend since the patio is sloped about 6-8 inches and we’ll probably just use the gravel that’s there as a base layer and get marble chips to go on top and between the pavers instead of using the aggregate. We also didn’t cut/cap any sprinklers because we’ve only come across one so far and it’s not in the way so we can deal with it later if we need to. We did start leveling out the first concrete form but got rained out. It’s supposed to be nice most of this weekend so I’m hoping we can get a lot of leveling done and most, if not all, of the forms in place. We weren’t able to build anymore over the weekend so we’ll start by setting the 5 we have and go from there. Here’s our plan for this weekend:

• Finish limewashing
• Finish building concrete forms (for pavers)
• Dig/level patio area
• Set/level concrete forms (hopefully all of them)
• Choose a paint color for the garage door
• Clean the gutters?

I can’t believe we’re halfway through and I’m so glad we have 8 weeks instead of 6 this time or else I’d really be sweating! You can check out all of the other guest participants right here.