We poured the sidewalk this week. I will file this firmly under the "bite off more than I can chew" category. I would NEVER do this again. Not only did we mix concrete. (renting that mixer from home depot $60 a day) Then the tree hugger in me wanted to use the leftover brick. Have you ever seen the look of old brick that was had a thin layer of concrete over it, then the concrete breaks away and the brick peaks through? (often in old town square streets) That is the look I was going for.
This is my first time doing the concrete. I have seen it done a million times. (okay several thousand, I was a New Home Sales Realtor for years) Well all I can say is that it is WAY way WAY harder than the pros make it look. I will never- "never ever" be doing this again. *Lesson- if you are doing to do your own concrete then float the concrete the first time right after you screed it. The more you float it the smoother it will be. (This thing took us 8 hours to do. So the beginning looks way better than the end.) Why float? The pebble will sink and give you a smooth look, the more you float the smoother it will be. Wait to broom the concrete until the water after floating it has evaporated. There are several YouTube videos posted that are great reference videos. I did a lot of research.
We are happy with this, but I will be honest it looks better at the beginning than at the end. And again I would NEVER do this again.
I say that ,but we are now getting ready to load all that rock on the left and build a fire pit. I don't seem to learn from my mistakes, when it comes to "what I can't do" ha.
Happy pouring.
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