Stamped Concrete Pad to Transition to the Lawn

I used Chris with AtoZ construction to do my new rear parking lot last fall, and instantly liked the guy. 

So, I was very happy when he was nice enough to fit me in between other jobs he had going.

Even though there is a 6" drop from East to West, Chris was able to level up under where the gates go to only about an inch difference.

True to his word, Chris was at our house the next day at 6 am to seal the stamped concrete so Derek and I could start building the columns at noon.

Derek is also juggling several jobs and I wanted to catch him while he was available and the weather is still good.

Crested Butte Labor Day Weekend Trip

Joanne and I took off Thursday afternoon for  a Labor Day Weekend trip to Crested Butte, Colo.

The 4.5 hour drive down to Crested Butte from Golden is very pretty, and the scenery only gets better when one explores the sorrounding valleys out of town.

We 4wd, hiked, biked, strolled the town for great eats, and

breakfast at Izzy's every morning - one of the best bagel shops I have ever found.

It was a nice break from work and the back yard arbor project!

Mounting Lam Beams

Mounting the lam beams was pretty easy with two people.  The only difficulty was getting the right number and right size of bolts, washers and nuts.   We are lucky to have so many Lowes and Home Depots close by!

Derek made a decorative cut on the cross beams, and then I spent a 12 hour day sanding it all.

The sanding was easy compared to staining everything.  I knew that was not going to be fun when Derek wasn't offering to help.

The penefin stain is really thin and is hard to not make a mess.  It was a long day, but I was happy on how it looked and happy to throw my clothes away.

The next step was pouring the concrete around the posts, 38 sxs.

Then leveling the pad underneath for stamped concrete.....