Working on that Patio

I have not been having much time for blogging.  Okay, my computer has been working badly for the past several weeks as well. We finally got a new monitor, and it cleared up a lot of problems, much to our surprise. However, we've got bigger projects to stay on task for. One is getting our windows replaced. A necessary evil, but a project that's way overdue. We have had 4 bids come in, and are going with a local company. Still working on getting that approved through our homeowners association, the paperwork we submitted first time had a couple of missing items, so it's going through again.

The bigger one for the moment is replacing the wood deck on our patio with a brick one.  The wood deck had been in a state of decay for the past few years, we'd had boards actually breaking on us.  I'd hoped the framework underneath would be in good enough condition to just recover with new boards, but when we removed the top boards, the frame itself was rotting. So we decided to remove the whole thing and put in brick.

Sounds simple, doesn't it?  My poor husband has been at it for the past few weeks.  He had to cut the boards into small, manageable pieces for removal.  That air conditioner was a tricky procedure, we gently as possible lifted it, using the boards underneath as a fulcom, just a few inches and put pavers under it so we could pull out the boards from under it.

Then my hubby set to work removing these foundation blocks. These blocks had been buried in the ground to hold up the framing for the wood deck. They had to come out, but it was a lot of work, both digging and hauling.

So my lovely deck is currently a dusty mess.  Today we will be trying to level the ground more, then put in the beams to frame out where the brick will be laid.  We will build a base with gravel and sand, then start putting the actual brick down.  Whew! I'm tired just thinking of it.  Better go throw on my working duds.  My poor man needs some help today, he's done most of it himself so far.