Saturday was a great day! It dawned clear - not too cold but not too hot and we could start building UP! It is kind of like the Phoenix rising from the ashes. Too metaphysical for you? Then I guess you've never done home remodeling.
Last time we did block, I did the tooling - basically making the mortar joints look pretty. This time, I was presented with my own trowel. Quite a vote of confidence from my mentor/supervisor!
We started by laying out the lines on the footings. The block had to be off-center as we are facing the outside with brick. We started with the corners.
Making them straight, plum, and level in two directions can be a challenge. Some blocks I placed 4 times. You can't adjust, you have to start from scratch. If you need practice in the art of patience, try block!
Once the corners were set a bit, we could begin filling in.
Not many pictures of this project. My hands were covered in mortar. The pro's handle a trowel like a surgeon handles a scalpel. It is definitely an art - a fast dying one at that. For me, the most efficient way was using my hands. My hands and my nails paid a HEAVY price! Hands are all dried out and my nails are toast. (manicure on Sunday!)
The original idea was both of us laying block. In the end, I slopped mortar and Troy laid the block. I just couldn't get a hang of adjusting them without over-adjusting.
We had to work against the rain clock at the end of the day, but we got it done.
A full day's work and a job well done. We were both hungry and tired. Sunday, we'll take a day off and take the bike out to Yorktown for lunch. I will post some pics later this week.
But before I leave you .....
#RocktheRed
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