The Front Patio is Done!

September 23, 2012

So, we're finally done with our patio project. See here for the initial condition of the front of our house.

Our ducks had a habit of pooping on our concrete. I was able to train them to stay away, but the poop stained it, so we decided to cover it with a more appropriate stain.
 

I cleaned it with this Quickrete cleaner.



I scrubbed it in, but it didn't quite clean it as much as I would have liked, so I went ahead and pressure washed it, too.   

Before staining, I taped off squares to create a tiled appearance.   


1/2-inch painter's tape is difficult to find, so I just bought some 1-inch rolls and cut them down the middle with box cutters. That was extremely dangerous and tedious, but I've learned that what Momma wants, Momma gets.   

Oh my knees and back   


Stained and done!

Our concrete is porous, so the stain actually seeped under the tape and didn't give us solid lines for the tiled appearance, so we just stained the whole area. It still looks much better than raw concrete.

 

We are very pleased with the result!

You can't see them from the front, but we also installed some lanterns on the insides of the posts.