The dog run fence is up and has been somewhat cleaned up now. I think it looks really nice, and it really works well with the rest of the back yard. It still has a ways to go though: I need to finish cleaning the area up, remove the extra soil from the post digging, make and attach the new trellises, and plant the clematis vines I have waiting for this space.
In other news, I also had the back step fixed, and I took it out of the concrete molds myself this morning. The original step was this broken down, narrow brick thing which was an accident waiting to happen until it actually did. A busted knee, ankle and hand later, I decided it had to go sooner rather than later. Here is the original brick step
and here is the new step, which is made from concrete that I exposed the aggregate on.
It was actually a lot easier than I thought, and it was done without any of that special chemical used to keep the top from setting … basically just a brush and a bit of water, watched carefully over a day or so. The exposed aggregate basically matches the concrete used on the rest of the patio, and will be the same treatment the side of the house will be getting when the new step is poured to replace out the rotten deck we removed. I used a larger brush on the overall surface, and (funny enough) a little nail brush on the top part to get under the sill. I redid the treatment 3-4 times over the course of a day and a half, after waiting for the initial set period, until it was a look I liked. On the last time, I also brushed the sides (once the frame was removed) and scrubbed some of the extra off the bottom. I still need to clean it up a bit more, but I really like it! I think the trick is to not use a heavy hand on it—you can always go back and do more, but you can’t replace that which you have scrubbed too hard on! So I poured a bit of water on it and lightly brushed the surface until I was happy with what I had.
