Comments | myrhiann: Progress!

myrhiann

Progress!

Jan 20, 2009 04:17

Les decided to have all the paving done, and chose this week for the job. I tried to tell him it needed to wait until the kitchen was finished, but he didn't listen. While the cement is curing it makes access to and from the house difficult, to say the least, but it is a move in the right direction, and it was quite thrilling to look out at the ( Read more... )

Comments 6

words_spoken January 19 2009, 18:38:23 UTC

Wow! That looks great! So crisp and clean and new! I know you can't wait to get out and walk on it. :)

myrhiann January 20 2009, 18:29:03 UTC

I was able to walk on it yesterday afternoon, Just as well, too since all my roses in pots had been moved up there and hadn't been watered for several days. I feel a lot safer on these steps.

pondhopper January 19 2009, 21:27:05 UTC

That must surely gladden your heart.
:)
It looks so new and nice!

Poor kitty. He must feel frustrated not being able to do his patrol. How long do you have to wait before stepping on it?

myrhiann January 20 2009, 18:34:47 UTC

I was able to walk on it yesterday afternoon, and went up to water my roses. They had been drying out for several days and were looking distressed. One thing that occurs to me, why do men always build paths on top of the ground, instead of digging so they would be level with the surrounding lawn? It's not the way I would do it.

I was able to let Smokey out earlier this morning, for which he was suitably grateful. Unfortunately he went hunting, and rewarded me by bringing in a young (and alive) rodent which escaped in the TV room. Now we will need a trap to (hopefully) remove it.

The cement kicked off quite quickly; it could have taken up to 4 days before we could walk on it. We are still trying not to walk on it too much, as the longer it is left the better.

myrhiann January 22 2009, 17:36:33 UTC

The 1st day you have to keep off it altogether, then if it has 'kicked off' you can walk very carefully and sparingly the 2nd, after 4 days it is OK to use as normal. During the curing process the cement has to be kept damp, which means hosing it down several times a day. I let Smokey out at 3.30am on the 2nd day, but should have kept him in longer. The longer the drying process, the stronger the cement, ideally it should be damp for 21 days.

pondhopper January 22 2009, 20:10:21 UTC

Yes, I know about cement "curing". All our construction is done with reinforced concrete and we have to hose it down for days after it's poured.