It’s been so long since we’ve been able to get onto our property without walking over dirt, it is almost unbelievable.  Yesterday, they poured the front steps and walkway, and today, we can walk on it.

It was quite a project, and required 10 yards of concrete.  We colored the concrete, a slight sandstone tint.  The ready mix company has a name for it, called Schlagel Buff.  You might remember Schlagel Stone from a previous post – named after the same guy.

Technically, it works out to 1.5 lbs of the sandstone color per sack of cement, 5 sacks per yard of concrete.

The last step after pouring and finishing is texturization.  They spray on an acid over all the concrete, and let it sit for a day.  It slightly etches the top layer of concrete.  The next morning, they power wash off the top layer revealing a slightly rough surface.  It makes a great non-slip surface and takes the shiny edge off of the concrete.

At the bottom of our steps, by the sidewalk, sits the brickslot drain.

Yea, I didn’t know what they were either.  This particular drain was called out by the civil engineer.  The building codes required us to collect EVERY little bit of water runoff from an impermeable surface and direct it to our filtration basin, this small section of concrete being no exception.  The brickslot is a type that has a pretty low visibility as far as drains go.