Patio Remodel: Episode 8

I’m back in the hole! After excavating twin 31” deep cube for the patio column footings I began my preparations to fill them in with concrete. Where I’d cut through the existing patio (in episode 7) the curvature of the big saw blade didn’t let me get tight into the corners.

As soon as I felt it was late enough in the morning to make some noise so close to the neighbor’s house, I fired up my grinder with a concrete cutting blade. It made short work of the clumps left in the corners of both pits.

I didn’t want the new concrete to adhere to the old concrete and cause cracks due to the two surfaces expanding and contracting at different rates. Squaring up the corners would allow me to separate the two.

The pool deck nicely framed one of the holes. The other one needed a wooden form to keep concrete from gooshing out into the yard.

To separate the old from the new, I cut some expansion joint to fit. It’s some kind of asphalt impregnated fiber stuff, easily cut with a knife.

I buttered the backside with some Liquid nails to hold it in place before filling the holes.

They later fell down so I had to tap them in gently with some concrete nails. It think I should have wiped the dust of the sides first.

CONCRETE DAY!

I’d originally intended to hand mix the concrete in a wheelbarrow, but changed my mind and decided to rent an electric mixer instead. I popped up to Home Depot and snagged one mid-day.

I was still worn out from all the lugging of heavy bags so I’m glad I’d gotten the mixer. I’d still need to pick them up one last time to load them.

Right around that time, I noticed the neighbors get a delivery from Lowes. The truck paused, dropped a forklift, and wheeled a pallet into their garage in about 5 minutes. I’m an idiot.

I turned on the mixer and started alternating water and concrete mix, doing about two and a half bags at a time. It took a couple cycles before I got my process perfected.

Once it was at that perfect, lumpy pancake batter consistency, I tipped the mixer forward like a wheel barrow. With the drum still spinning, it spewed the concrete into the pit.

While I mixed the next batch I chopped away at the fresh stuff in the bottom of the hole with my shovel. I settled it into all the nooks and crannies of the hole and avoided any air pockets.

It was a routine, batch after batch, my arms coated in concrete dust while I baked in the Arizona sun. While it mixed for a few minutes, I’d retreat under the remaining half of the patio cover, sip some water, and listen to some tunes.

Finally, the last batch went in the hole and I could scrape off the excess with a board. I troweled it smooth, forcing the stones below the surface.

It looked pretty good when I was done. It took so much work for that little square of concrete in the back corner of the patio didn’t it?

The next morning I started earlier. I had to get the mixer back before my rental time ran out. I had my routine down this second time around, moving more efficiently.

Mix and dump, mix and dump. The hole slowly filled.

When I did my shovel chop trick, I also had to shove concrete sideways at every load, since almost half the hole was under the pool deck. I’d attached some thick plastic sheeting to the underside to make sure the two surfaces didn’t stick together and could move independently.

I also had to hose off the deck from time to time to make sure I didn’t damage the coating.

Finally, the last batches topped up the second hole.

I had to quickly trowel it off so I could clean up and get the mixer back.

I jumped in the truck, filthy and wet, with soaked shoes and socks. I made it back in time to avoid over charges on the rental.

A few days later I removed the wooden forms. One little square of concrete, in the corner Jeeze.

I can imagine, a half a century from now, some future remodeler will be merrily jack hammering out the 4-inch thick patio and come up against the deceptive beast in the far corner.

Heh heh, I’ll be a hundred years old, living on my estate on Mars by then. Not my problem.

With this massive footing project done, I can really pick up the pace from here. I can move to the rest of the demolition and start construction. Smooth sailing, my friends!

Narrator: It would NOT be smooth sailing. John had no idea.