Concrete Connection

The alarm woke me at 5:45 this morning.  Waking to an alarm is not my favorite morning ritual, but we were told that Cory and the cement crew would be here somewhere around 7:00 a.m. to pour our sidewalk today, and both Rick and I wanted to be showered and dressed before they arrived.

The pathway to our front door awaited concrete.

Matt watches as the concrete truck fills his
wheelbarrow.

The cement truck arrived at 6:55.  Cory was not here yet, but that was OK because the skies were still pitch black so no cement could be poured anyway.  Cory arrived at approximately 7:20, driving up just as the daylight crept across the morning sky.  He brought along Matt, his brother-in-law and fellow worker, to help with the job.

Cory starts working the concrete next to the porch.

Of course, the cat had made one final appearance in the night, digging up the walkway dirt in various places. However, the garden rake quickly took care of that nuisance, and they set about the work.  The cement truck was a pumper truck which noisily pumped concrete into wheelbarrows which the two men rolled up the driveway.  I am sure the early-Saturday-morning noise was not appreciated by our neighbors, but I do not feel too badly about it since the neighbor wakes us up each week day at 6:00 a.m. as she heads for work.

Slowly the concrete starts to fill the sidewalk area.

The freshly poured concrete releases
the moisture into the cool morning air.

Cory, Matt, and the cement truck driver worked well together, and by 9:00, they had the basic sidewalk poured.  Today dawned cloudy and cool, so the cement did not cure as quickly as they hoped that it would.

Cut joints and the initial broom finish in parts
starts to show how the final result will appear.

They worked the concrete beautifully, cutting the joints where necessary to avoid cracking, and rounding the edges for a finished look.  All told, they were able to broom finish the sidewalk by approximately 12:30 p.m.

The result?  We now have a beautiful porch extension and a four-foot-wide sidewalk that leads to our driveway. We have a concrete connection from the house to the driveway. We are so happy to have something that is solid, properly sloped away from the house, and free of the mud that used to quickly develop when we received rain.

I also am delighted that the &@#$ cat will have to find someplace else to use as a little box.  If we continue to have trouble with the cat, we will be setting out a live trap and then calling animal control.  I have had enough of other people's pooping pets in our yard.

A view from the front porch reveals our new
walkway to the driveway.

After Cory and crew left, we took a quick ride to Lowe's to see a powder-coated aluminum bench that I found in their catalog.  The Lowe's in town had one, so we had a chance to sit on it.  It was fairly comfortable (for a park bench), and the size was right for the porch area.  Since it is aluminum, it should not rust even in the Florida humidity.

The park bench we ordered for the porch will give us
a place to relax or to remove shoes before we enter the house.

We then went to Customer Service where we ordered two sheds for the back yard, 40 bags of concrete, two lengths of re-bar, and the park bench.  I'll write more about the backyard adventure that awaits us later.

For now, we are finished with the sidewalk and looking forward to tackling the next project on our list: the sheds.