Today I was reminded of the first time I saw towers of balanced rocks on the beach. It was obvious that they were stacked by a person, but it was also unbelievable that they were not falling. The interesting thing to me was that it almost didn't matter what kind of rock it was (big, small, or lopsided), but that it seemed to just have to be positioned properly in order to balance it. Someone found that exact spot on each rock that would allow it to balance on top of the rock beneath it. Maybe they sifted through rocks and looked for one that would work best, but no matter the process, every rock was different and somehow working in unison with the stack of other rocks, creating its own unique tower. No doubt, this process requires someone with a steady hand and great patience. It's an art.
My life seems to have a lot of different rocks in it right now. And it feels as though they are just in a heaping pile right at my feet. I don't know how to sort them or balance them most of the time. Sometimes I get a few stacked and balanced and the next one I try to put on top causes my tower to collapse. Life brings us all sorts of things to balance. Sometimes our rocks are heavier and more lopsided than others, but this doesn't mean we can't find a balance.
When I hit "rock bottom" (couldn't resist the pun) and life seems to come crashing down all at once, I realize how much I need to turn to the Lord to help me re-balance and rebuild. Sometimes it's just those days that there's way too much to do around the house and my little mess-makers helpers continue to undo my hard work. Other times there are more serious family concerns or trials that overwhelm us spiritually and emotionally. Whatever the burden, I know that my Savior is the steady hand that has carried every rock and every burden that I will experience. No matter how small or large our burdens or trials are, he graciously commits to carry them with us - if we allow Him.
The following message from Elder D. Todd Christofferson reminds us to just "take life one day at a time". So, whether it's laundry piles and dishes in the sink that I think I'll never get to or greater concerns that weigh heavy on my heart, I will take it one day at a time and allow the Lord to lead me through this life.
Or you can watch it here:
https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2013-08-013-daily-bread-experience?category=mormon-messages/mormon-messages-2013&lang=eng&cid=HPWE100814473
Several months ago, the ugly, worn CARPET, that had been previously installed by other owners finally ripped - right at the step, so it was a major safety hazard. So, I ripped up the carpet one day only to find this pretty picture underneath. This is all the glue residue left behind. Some marks are actually from the grinder from when my hubs tried to grind it off - without much success.
From here we needed to figure out what to do wit this porch without breaking the bank. Tiling was ultimately what we thought we would do. We visited the home improvement stores and some tile stores and realized it would be at least a few hundred dollars just to buy the tiling supplies - plus, we've never tiled a porch before, so we had our hesitations. Months passed and we continued to let it slip to the bottom of the project list.
Finally, we had had enough of our ugly porch! We decided to restart our research and this time we starting looking into concrete resurfacing. A family member mentioned they knew of a company who did that so we called and ultimately found out that they had a $2000 minimum contract - so that was out. We only have less than a 30 square foot area to cover. Sure, we have plenty of places around the house that could probably use resurfacing, but we weren't ready to fork over the money for that yet.
Obviously the next logical step: YOUTUBE! The hubs and I sat down one afternoon and searched through several videos on how to fix our troubled porch. Here's the one that convinced us that we could do this:
I picked up a 40lb bag of Quikrete Concrete Resufacer from Lowes for $20. (Actually I bought 2 bags just in case, but we only needed one). Each bag says it will cover about 35 sq ft at 1/8" thick
Step #1: Clean and Prep the surface
Power-wash or brush and vacuum old surface
The night before we power-washed the original concrete to remove anything that might keep the resurfacing material from adhering properly. Remember all the glue crud that was stuck to the porch? This actually started to come up with the pressure washer, so we realized that we needed to do our best to get the rest off. This was the hardest part. We got chisels and went to town. Once it looked pretty clean of residue, we were ready for the next step.
Men at work.
"One of these things is not like the other"....(the little man's contribution to the tools)
Step #2: Wet surface
Pull out the hose and give your area a good spray and then brush off any standing water or puddles.
Step #3: Mix the Quikrete Resurfacer
Fill a 5 gallon bucket with 3.5 quarts of water (but you may need to add more water later). Then slowly add the concrete mix into the water and mix for 5 minutes using a mixing bit attached to an electric drill. (This seems like a long time, but I would recommend not cutting it short)
Here are the tools you'll need for the job:
Power drill, mixing bit, concrete trowel, edging trowel
Also, the video recommends using a concrete broom to make it a non-slip surface (adds texture), but we actually used a large car sponge instead
Step #4: Pour the mixture and spread with trowel
Start with a small area and begin to spread the concrete evenly over the surface using the concrete trowel. *Make sure you plan out which direction you're working so you don't back yourself into a corner or have to step over your work.
In our case, our mixture was a little on the thick side, so seemed like it wasn't spreading very easily. At that point, we used a spray bottle to wet the mix that we poured and it help a ton to wet it down a bit. We ended up adding more water to the bucket too. Every time it got sticky or wasn't spreading smooth, we sprayed it down with the squirt bottle.
The step was the most difficult part. Since it's a vertical surface, the concrete mixture needs to be thicker in order to get it to stick. This part took a little more finesse and there was some drop-off, so cover any other surface with newspaper that you don't want affected. (We did this a little too late, so there's some residue on the walkway, but we'll probably end up resurfacing that too since the porch went well)
*Once the step is covered, let it set for a few minutes and then use the edging trowel to get a nice clean edge on your step. (If you feel like it doesn't look great at this point, don't worry - the sponge technique will remove any imperfections)
Step #6: Use broom or sponge to add texture
If you look closely at the picture above, you can see the more textured area further away from the front of the step. When we first started troweling, it seemed like we couldn't get a perfectly smooth surface (we kept getting random streaks since it wasn't perfectly level). However, we had the idea to use our car washing sponge (like the one pictured below) to lightly smooth over the area and it worked perfectly!
*Note: Let the surface start to thicken up and dry before you do go over it with the broom or sponge (refer to video recommendations for the broom). We probably waited at least 10-15 min before using the sponge and it was thicker to begin with. And for the front step, we had to wait even longer. You can gently rub down uneven spots and even give the edge on the step some roundness so it's not so sharp.
Step 7: Let it Dry!
Remember to block off your newly resurfaced area to keep little hands and feet out!
(Our 10 yr old was excited to make her contribution with this sign:
"Wet cement. If you need us, please call.")
And here it is (mostly dry):
We will definitely be doing this again because we were very happy with the result! Seriously, what a difference this made for only $20!!! Now, that's my kind of home improvement project. Now we're not the 'neighbors with the ugly porch' anymore.
