I for sure thought we would have more to write about this week! The weather over the weekend did not cooperate and we had a few hiccups getting started. But isn’t that life?
Learning to grow through it with grace and a lot of concrete dust…
Read on to find out what we DID get done though!
If you missed week one, you can find it here!
Follow along on Instagram for behind the scenes and updates as they happen.
Hiccup #One: Should we or should we not waterproof the concrete for even more added protection. The answer for us was no. But this decision took some time to get to. Our patio is not directly on the ground, so freezing and moving is not as much of an issue. There is a framed area under this section, and we are betting on the fact that it should not get a lot of moisture from under the concrete. In our research, it seems no-one does this extra step. Are they wrong? Are we wrong? Are we just being overly cautious? AND it would add almost $800 to the project, not counting the time lost. Oh and the mortar we bought wouldn’t stick to it, so we would have take that back and get more expensive mortar. With that being said, we got a later start on the only nice day we had. Honestly, I would rather do all the research I can to be well informed and not worry later about the choices made. Really, who am I kidding, it was Ben doing all the research HAHA
In the week three post I will cover the exact tile we got and the mortar we used!
HOPEFULLY week three will be our tiling week!
Hiccup #Two: Now we start squaring everything off for the second time (measure twice, cut once type of thing) and decide the concrete on the edge needs evened it out. We (Ben) used his DeWalt angle grinder and a Masonry blade to do this. One afternoon later and an inch of concrete dust on everything and we are ready to start prepping to lay the tile.
Then it rained while we were at home and was sunny while we were at work LOL of course!
On a fun note, I have some of the decor bought and we have the TV hung up! Let’s start with the TV first. Our porch is covered, and the area I was creating for the TV is a pretty protected space. Weather has not been a large concern. Just in case, we did get THIS outdoor cover for it. In this area, we will have the sectional couch that also doubles as our patio dining table and the pass through window that leads into the kitchen. I have started to wonder if barstools would fit here…. might be too tight. We will test that when time comes.
No turning back now! We put 8 large holes in our siding LOL – (LP lap siding)
Be sure to check out the other One Room Challenge participants here https://www.oneroomchallenge.com/blog/orcspring2021wk2