Patio, Porch and Driveway Projects? Check!

Three long-planned home improvement projects have been completed. These were under the category of “when I physically feel better.” Last year’s successful hip surgeries opened the door to me feeling I could finally tackle such labor-intensive work. 

Here are before and after photos of the front porch and back patio painting projects. Preparations before painting involved cleaning and pressure washing the surfaces. Primer paint was also used on the patio. 

Get off my new paint! 

I learned about getting the proper paint roller nap for the type of concrete (no, not that nap 💤). The surface of the patio is rough. I started the job with 3/8 inch nap and found it wasn’t covering the surface completely. So at Lowes I acquired the longer and thicker 3/4 inch nap and it made all the difference. 

At Home Depot I bought several stone pavers for the plants and two bird paths. I placed them just outside the patio, giving the patio itself more empty space, thus making it look bigger, I feel. 

Another change (Alesia!) was getting a better standing for our Big Green Egg grill. 

                                                          The debut steaks were delicious! 

                                                    On to the front porch….

Sunday morning I enjoyed reading the newspaper out on the new look porch. 

                              Later that day I pressure washed the sidewalk from the house to the driveway. 

This week I am pressure washing the driveway. I do it over three or four days. 

I have had my own pressure washer for many years. Bought it at Northern Tool on Rivers Avenue. Still works like a charm. 

With the driveway, I did the the washing over three days. It is tedious work so breaking it up helps. 

I also gave some attention to the sidewalk I made years ago along the other side of the house. 

I made this walkway many years ago. The brick was left over from the home’s construction back in the early 1990s. I shaped the red brick in the foreground of the above photo to make the letter “H” for my last name. 

I pressure washed here too and removed a number of roots from under bricks that had made them uneven. I picked up some poison ivy on my arms from this work. 

Lots of sweat equity was given during these hot summer jobs! 

Back in May, I did this repair to a chunk of the driveway that was loose. I thought I could remove the wobbly section but it was mostly solid with the base. So I added concrete mix and filled the hole with sand and small rocks. Not going to win any masonry awards, but the wobble is no more.

Next task: Pressure washing the driveway. Such fun in this heat and humidity!