One brick at a time

Another week in the addition project.

Monday morning, one of my brothers came to finish the concrete.


First, he washed off the top powder dye.


Then he power washed the concrete.

Finally he brushed on a sealer. Now the true color of the concrete came out. It was sort of a guessing game of what the final result will be. And with concrete there is no changing your mind, unless you want to grind it off and start over! I'm very happy with the way it turned out.

Ed's spare time this week was laying brick in the chimney. I would never recommend anyone tackle a do-it-yourself project like this unless you are willing to give up all your evenings and Saturdays for an undetermined amount of time. Ed acts like he is still enjoying the project.


Saturday was rainy, so he moved inside at the fireplace.

Fewer angles and less brick cutting means this project went quite a bit faster then the chimney.


I've never seen a mason tender in an apron and braids but our daughter was tickled to "help Daddy" by raking out the joints.  Or maybe it was just the fun of standing on the scaffolding!

And speaking of help, our mason neighbor has been incredible. He has lent us scaffolding and other tools but more important, given wise advice. This project would have been impossible without his help.


The fireplace was almost finished on Saturday but Ed ran out of light, time, and energy. More work for another day.