Dan's Latest Project

After those two intense snow-storms we had back in February, the walkway to our front door looked pretty darn shabby.  

The geologist in me rejoiced at the power of freeze-thawing erosion, but the homeowner in me was a bit annoyed. One really shouldn't track SAND into the house because of the walkway.

Fortunately, Dan is quite amazing and he decided to fix it himself.  Our excellent friend Randy contributed some serious know-how and muscles, too.  Last Friday afternoon, they got to work.  Here's how it looked half an hour later:

Here's how it looked after 90 minutes of working:

Apparently, it's a lot easier to rip out cement when it's completely fragmented, even down five inches. Next day, came the pouring of concrete:

Originally Dan was going to hand-mix 30+ bags and pour it.  But brilliant Randy told him about a place that will mix it and rent you a little trailer to drag it home in.  And the extra benefit - it was WAY cheaper than hand-mixing.  I love it when that happens!

Unfortunately, the configuration of the sidewalk and driveway was such that he couldn't pour directly into the gaping hole.  And we'd had some good storms so the lawn was too mushy to drive on.  Hence, the added step of using the wheelbarrow.

My wonderful man smoothing the cement.  We wanted to imprint Camden's feet, but we waited too long and the cement was too hard.  Oh, well!  It looks pretty darn good!  I'm so glad to have such a capable husband, who is smart enough to do something he's never done before.  And be successful!  Hooray for Dan!