So I bought a new house and it has come with some surprises!

[surferguy]

been working on the house a bit again.

The inside is now all painted and window trims are on. Was a long couple of months over the winter but I am happy the first stage of getting this place in order is complete.

Now that the weather has turned I moved back outdoors! Working on making the front boardwalk a bit better.

Last summer I installed the boardwalk to get around a large patch of dead grass due to the spruce in the front. Over the winter I noticed how much i like the look of the boardwalk with snow piles on each side, it felt as though it was sunk into the landscape. This is how I went about making that look happen year round.


Clear out the weeds and mulch and add in landscape fabric rocks and concrete.



Then I set up some custom pathway lights.


Set up the mixing station



Mix up some concrete and slump it over the rocks and diamond lath



after a few hours of drying it becomes carvable. Add some color and boom faux rock




add in some plants








When I moved in:



Today



I have one more addition to this area before I move on from it, Ill post it when I get it finished.

Next major renovation is my main bathroom in July.

[surferguy]

Its been just over a year since Ive bumped this thread

I'd like to share what Ive accomplished in the last year or so:

I took down my main bath starting in early July last year. It took me about two weeks or so to have it operational again.

Here is before:







I stripped the room back to the studs and started over. It was an intense couple of weeks of work but once operational I could lay off the long hours and focus on the details. The last while Ive been working on those details. I spent the time building everything in this room. It is all custom. I am very happy with the results. Thought I would share.














I still need to replace the door to the room as it looks like a piece of garbage. I will do that this winter (at the same time as all my other doors on the main floor).

Now it is time to place focus on the outdoors.

[surferguy]

I have also recently done some more landscaping at the front of the house.

As depicted here - this is a reminder of how it looked shortly after I moved in almost three years ago now:



Last summer I added a small sign placard with my house numbers on it.

Last weekend I built some more faux rocks to help make the areas under the spruce look a little better where the grass would not grow.







I have another small flower bed area on the front of the house to deal with this summer. Not exactly sure what to do just yet, I am sure I will come up with something.

Next project - July - dealing with an existing death trap of a deck. Strip it out and start over.

Cheers for following along.

[Coach]

Looks awesome surferguy. I forgot how cool it was. I like your style.

[Street Pharmacist]

I love your style Surferguy. So jealous of your talent

Did you say...deck?

[Fuzz]

Nice work on the bathroom. It appears we bought the same tub. Oh, and my caulking method is only about 3/4 successful with a few small gaps opening, how is your holding up? I think I'm going to try something other than the GE silicone.

[SeeGeeWhy]

Here here, really unique style. I like your art, clearly a talented man!

[Madman]

Looks awesome - now you can come do the tile at my house.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by surferguy

Last weekend I built some more faux rocks to help make the areas under the spruce look a little better where the grass would not grow.

How do you "build" faux rocks?

[Madman]

Originally Posted by ken0042

How do you "build" faux rocks?

http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showpos...&postcount=141

[Coach]

[Buff]

Originally Posted by Puxlut

Did you say...deck?

He has been dreaming of what it would be like to have a big deck.

[aaronck]

Looks great Dion!

[surferguy]

Originally Posted by MattyC

Looks awesome surferguy. I forgot how cool it was. I like your style.

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

I love your style Surferguy. So jealous of your talent

Originally Posted by SeeGeeWhy

Here here, really unique style. I like your art, clearly a talented man!

Originally Posted by aaronck

Looks great Dion!

Thank you for the kind words. I appreciate the feedback.

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Nice work on the bathroom. It appears we bought the same tub. Oh, and my caulking method is only about 3/4 successful with a few small gaps opening, how is your holding up? I think I'm going to try something other than the GE silicone.

I still havent done much since we last chatted. It hasn't pulled anymore than the original failure points. Nothing that is compromising the shower or tub so "I'll get to it" at some point in the future! Let me know if you have success with a different product. I find it weird that the caulking wont stick to this tub... a mystery to me.

Originally Posted by Madman

Looks awesome - now you can come do the tile at my house.

You have been threatening this for a couple years! You know where to find me when you are ready!

[Hack&Lube]

I'm interested in your faux rock creation procedure. Was it difficult/time instensive? So it's basically just cheap rocks with a diamond wire mesh/lattice over top of it? How did you paint them with rock texture? How did you shape them?

[Canehdianman]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

I'm interested in your faux rock creation procedure. Was it difficult/time instensive? So it's basically just cheap rocks with a diamond wire mesh/lattice over top of it? How did you paint them with rock texture? How did you shape them?

Link in post 151

[surferguy]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

I'm interested in your faux rock creation procedure. Was it difficult/time instensive? So it's basically just cheap rocks with a diamond wire mesh/lattice over top of it? How did you paint them with rock texture? How did you shape them?

Yeah as mention in the last post check out the top of this page for the "procedure"

It takes a while as the concrete is a slow cure and you need to "carve" it in a few different stages. Everything Ive found online says you dont need the diamond lath but I wanted to add it for extra strength. The rocks in the 151 post were done last summer and rode the winter with minimal impact to them. This winter was very mild though so I am still not sure of a rough freeze thaw season will impact them.

I used a variety of iron oxide colors and free hand carved in the veins.

[mrkajz44]

This thread always motivates me to catch up on my to-do list around the house. If surferguy can take on these huge projects (and make them look awesome), I'm sure I can do some of the more minor things around my place that I never seem to get around to.

Thanks for the kick in the rear!

[puffnstuff]

Looks good...but take your christmas lights down man