On Mar 30, 9:59*am, "cshenk" wrote:
"cshenk" wrote

"Elam" wrote
"cshenk" wrote:
The right front corner isn't even resting on anything. *I'm surprised
it hasn't cracked already. *I think I can do the whole job tomorrow.
We'll see.

Just curious but have you been able to work on it since yet? *I know here,
it's been rainy last 2 weekends so would have caused a delay if I had that
project going on.

Howdy!

It ended up taking me about two weeks, with the bulk of the work done
on a Saturday, and then a brick a day during the week. I made a lot
of mistakes but learned a lot as well.

http://param.us/porch/104.jpg
http://param.us/porch/105.jpg
http://param.us/porch/106.jpg

I started on the front outside corners first, then the sides(sans the
bricks against the foundation), and then the front. I used this
mortar at first, http://www.ctscement.com/MortarMix_FAQ.asp . Not
knowing anything about mortar I just picked it up, at $17.00/50lbs.
It dries *really* fast and is rock hard. I ran out of that stuff and
ended up buying some Quickcrete Type S mortar, which is way cheaper
and takes a lot longer to dry. I don't know if this is a bad
practice, mixing mortar brands, but hey.

One thing that bugged me was packing in the 4 inches of mortar between
the slab and brick. It tended to bulge out, via gravity I suppose,
when left alone to dry. I'd come back every 15 minutes and smooth it
out again, but I couldn't stop it altogether. So where the mortar
meets the brick is not a smooth transition. I've been going out and
shaving it down with a flat chisel and that kind of works, but I'm
going to cover it all up anyway.

Speaking of which, I spent a couple of hours at Lowes and Home Depot
yesterday looking at tile. Any suggestions in this regard would be
appreciated. Everyone is telling me not to use slate on the surface
of the porch due to the cold weather and ice, but I've found some
pretty rough slate, so I don't know. I certainly don't want the
mailman to slip and fall.

Go Michigan State!

- Elam