Concrete Countertops

I don't even remember where the idea came from... maybe just something that had been in one of our minds for awhile, but we knew we wanted new counters, and neither of us were terribly impressed with much on the market.  I think Sarah brought home a sample chip that looked a little like concrete to me and the project went from there.  It took awhile to pull everything together, but come together it did.  Here's a quick tour of the process.  Skip to the end if you just want to see the new counters.

Making the forms in front of the old white house... boy does it look horrendous now that we're used to the new colour (green?  I've been told a few times, but I can never remember... it's definitely an earth tone... like green or brown).  I've written it before, but it bears repeating, loving to work with the person you love is a blessing that should never be taken for granted.  We're lucky enough to enjoy working together AND have skills and traits that compliment one another (Sarah may or may not feel the same way... it's possible my traits don't compliment hers, but that she is compensating for me).

Tools of the trade.

Lots of sketches.  Lots of math.  LOTS of measuring and remeasuring.  If memory serves, this page is a combination of my sketches and Dad's.  It's pretty great to get to share ideas and learn with him.

One day, while working on the counter tops, I turned around to see Sarah looking at paint chips.  (That's a little hyperbole, but the point stands)

So, somewhere along the line, I lost the pictures of pouring the concrete, or maybe we didn't take any because we were so engrossed in the chore.  But it did happen, and we eventually wound up with big slabs that looked pretty much like sidewalk.

Getting ready to grind and polish.  We did most of our work in the front lawn, which has its advantages and disadvantages.  It was certainly nice to work outside on sunny days.

This is what the slabs looked like fresh out of the mold.



We had to buy a specialty tool for this job, a wet grinder.  If it hadn't been for that investment, the countertops would have come in well below $300.  The wet grinder is pretty fun to use on warm sunny days.  I could not figure out any way to do this work without getting soaking wet.  I guess I could have bought a rubber apron, but I already own a bunch of axes and knives, so that seemed like just a bit too many checked boxes on the serial killer survey.

Demo was pretty fun and straight forward.  Plus we got to clean up all the mold and nasty from under the old sink.  It was super gratifying to bust out the Sawzall and chop out the stained crappy counters and cabinets.

There was a lot of framing and support to do.  Concrete is heavy.  That is probably why one usually finds it on the ground.  The counters need to stay ~3' above the ground, so... bracing and support.  I LOVE it when the little bubble is between the two lines!

Grandpa Cressman's circular saw saw heavy rotation (get it); which was a great reason to spend a bunch of time thinking about him and grandma.

1/2" off!  We had to take the counters back off, unscrew the cabinets, and move them 1/2" to the right! 1/2"!  Oh well.  Live and learn.

Where is the water running?  No where!

Lots of little scraps of wood.  Thanks to a couple friends, we had all the scrap 2x4s we needed and didn't have to buy any!  Reduce, REUSE, then recycle.  Lots of supervision, too.

"Slow down.  Take breaks." -Pat Harrington.  Yessir.

Voila! Ignore the unpainted cabinet.  We need to install a backsplash, then decide on new wall and/or cabinet colours, but this is a pretty good start.  Sarah waxed and polished the concrete like Ralph Macchio, 'til we could see our reflections.

I did some problem solving (of course) and got the sink cobbed together in a way that holds water.

And it works!  Holds stuff off the floor with a bit of flare.  Look to the comments for the inevitable oversights or exaggerations that Sarah will correct.  Come on over for dinner.

Small miracles: Weekend round up

I went back to work yesterday and, while chatting with students, invariably asked, "How was your weekend?  Did you do anything fun?"  While a few kids will tell me about a movie they watched or even a sleep over, most of them reply with some variation of, "I was so bored."  This blows my mind.  I'm SURE that I said the same thing when I was in middle school, and am so glad to be out of there.  Boredom, to me, is a concept like conservatism; I know it exists and that some people experience it, but I can't imagine why, how, or the effect of it.  Sarah and I have been packing (over-stuffing) our weekends to a glorious extent.  I thought I'd share some of the happenings in and around 54 Ridgeway with you.  They're not earth shattering, but they keep us out of trouble.

A small miracle occurred the weekend before last when I tried to start one of my saws and it wouldn't keep running.  That wasn't the miracle, that was frustratingly predictable.  Anyway, after calling Agway for an estimate, I decided to clean out the carburetor, change the gas filter, gas line, spark plug, and air filter, myself.  It cost less to do all that than to take it in for a tune up.  The problem, of course, was I didn't know what I was doing.  But after viewing some Youtube, we were off and running.

After disassembling way more than I had any right to think I could put back together, and cleaning all the parts and replacing some parts, I managed to get it all put back together.  In between episodes of tinkering, we went into town, Sarah and Jenn and Zhora went to a ballet, Bob and I cut down, bucked, and moved a bunch more trees (with the saw that wasn't in a dozen pieces), Vinnie came over, we had a fire,  we looked at the moon and the stars and sat by the fire.  And then, as dusk set in, the last piece of the saw slid back in place, I pulled the cord, and it fired up on the first try.  So cool.  To be sure, working on engines is still not something I enjoy, but the feeling of accomplishment was great.

From left to right, Monkey, Zhora, Sarah, and Jonas get ready to look at the craters of the moon.  Will they see the princesses and zombies that live there?

On Sunday, Sarah made a grilled polenta cake with arugula, raspberries, and cucumbers.  It was quite a fun little dish.  So, that was weekend number one.  Weekend number two, this weekend past, follows.


Turkey season started on Friday, May 1, so on Thursday I made my donation to conservation by purchasing a hunting license.

Thursday night Sarah and I worked outside in the yard and in the garden.  Sarah has the veggie garden looking really good and we're stacking wood like it's our job.  Some of the logs are really big, so wedges were needed to split them.

Making wooden wedges is a great skill to have.  It comes in handy to be able to whip out some quick, functional wedges, and practice makes perfect.

Thursday evening I headed over to Jenn and Bob's new place to hang out, eat dinner, and hunt the next morning.  Zhora and I hung out some, too.  She is quite the little goat princess.

Friday morning was beautiful!  The view from the hill top was inspiring.  Although there were a few gobbles, none of the turkeys would come in.  Time ran out and I headed to work.

After hunting with Tony on Saturday morning, Sarah and I went to work on our new countertops.

Of course it took longer than we thought it would and there were some mistakes, but we got it done and enjoyed our time together.  Working with Sarah on the garden, with the horses, on the house, in the woods, etc. is one of the greatest happinesses in my life.  She was positive and incredibly helpful.

We finished up around 6 and took the rented mixer back to Home Depot, picked up some burritos from Moe's, and headed home for a well deserved sleep.

On Sunday I rolled out of bed around 3:50am and headed out to Pat's to hunt.  Although there were no gobbles (incredible), I saw a flying squirrel and had two piliated woodpeckers hammer on the tree I sat under.  Fortunately, Pat brought out some eggs for me and we sat in the sunny field watching the boys munch grass.  Then I met Sarah at Agway and we headed back to Pat's to fix the fence, put a new battery on the electric fence, pull some trees out of the woods, and fill the truck with compost.  Sarah learned to use the tractor and I stood by looking on, proud as punch.  She looks so good behind that bucket!

Came home and unloaded the compost.

Started working on this year's been tipis.

Burned some yard waste and had a beer.

The pile of fresh wood would have to wait until Monday.  "Bored", they say... 

Home on the range

We're now solidly into the spring (thankfully) and have been outside a lot. We get out in the winter, too, and we try not to complain about it, but the warm sun really gets us going. What follows are a few photos of our recent weeks since we got back from Philadelphia.

Now that we're not burning so much wood in our stove, it's time to start cutting wood for next year.  In the spring we approach this chore at a leisurely pace, so for a little bet of fun and exercise I've been dropping some of the trees with my axes.  And lookin a bit menacing at the same time.

Don't worry, I always have attentive supervision.

One day a couple weeks ago Hobbs came out to help me with some homework.  He was so happy and active... I have to admit he was a bit of a distraction for me.

He seems to be asking, "Is that all you've gotten done.  Here, let me poop on your computer; maybe that'll help."

This is an axe head that Nathan gave me awhile ago.  It was a big, beautiful, rusty mess.  After some clean up and a new handle, it looks pretty good.  It cuts even better.  Seriously, this is my new favorite felling axe.

I had to rehang my favorite limbing axe, too.  I love this little axe, and learned, again, about using the right tool for the right job.  This axe is for limbing and chopping kindling.  It is NOT for splitting logs.  So... learned that the hard way.

Three rehung axes and a rejuvenated blacksmithing hammer that I can't wait to use.

One day of my spring break I helped Jenn and Zhora transport some hay bales from one farm to their farm.  They have goats now and goats need food.  We went for a hike to the top of their beautiful property and looked out over the valley.

The farmer's market is officially open!  Cold, but open.

Sarah is teaching me to sew and to use her sewing machine!  I LOVE working with her on anything.  It's such an amazing feeling to teach and learn from/with her.  As always, we have close supervision.

We are in the early days of this complex sewing machine, so there are a lot of direction reading breaks.

This is what it would look like if you put a machine in front of a cave man.  Unfortunately, I am not acting.  This is what I actually look like.

April 7.  Happy anniversary 21st amendment!

Take a close look.  This is what the kitchen looks like right now.  If all goes well, in two weeks it will look completely new!  ... Well, not the nasty linoleum, that has to wait, but the counters will be new at least.

Mom and dad came for a visit last weekend and we had so much fun.  This photo is of the result of the fun.  Everyone needed to take a nap!  I think this is after the Cornell Vet Hospital's open house.  Mom helped out all morning, then we toured it ourselves, then we went to lunch, then we worked around the house... then we napped.  That huge box from frozen turkey taco filling is full of papers that I still need to grade.  Teaching is so cool because we get so much time off and tenure is easy and all we have to do is put some overheads up.

We also worked in the yard and did A LOT of problem solving and prep for the concrete counter tops.  It was great to have Dad around for measuring and problem solving.

On the final night of their visit we carved a few more hours out and had a fire and looked at the stars through the astronomical binoculars Ian and Eleftheria got us as a wedding present.  It was amazing to see the Pleiades and the Orion nebula.  Sarah and I are really looking forward to the next full moon!  Hopefully there will be a full moon sometime this summer when everyone is around.

The next day I had to take a little nap after school.

 

Indy tried to help rock my hammock.

Sarah has been talking about this drink for a month or so now.  She and Jenn went to a mixology class at the Argos Inn and learned all about shrub and sampled lots of amazing sounding drinks.  I'm pretty skeptical about any drink made with bourbon besides a glass of bourbon, but I'd heard so much about the Woodsman that I had to try it.  We had a wonderful time sipping our drinks, chatting in the sunshine, and trying to tune out the sound of "jazz" coming from the other room.  It sounded like a bunch of drugged emus running through a music shop.  There was quite a crowd gathered pretending to understand it, too.  Kind of like modern art.  I know... no culture.

And this is from this past Sunday.  Sarah  and I finished up the forms to pour the concrete into for the counter tops.  It was a lovely day, made all the more lovely by working together on a house project. 

Strict supervision.

Not related to the countertops.

Not related to the chainsaw.

FINALLY!

What's next?!

Till next time!