Summer Projects: The Front Porch

Kel and I've been wanting to redo the front porch since it was made of patio stones and weeds were poking through.  There was also a colony of ants living under the stones!  We decided that this year was the year to give it a new look.  I've been eyeing stamped concrete porches for a while, and got a contact from an old coworker.  The awesome thing about stamped concrete is that you can pick the pattern AND the colour you want!  We got in contact with Frank, who came and gave us an estimate for our front porch and flowerbed in late July.  We shopped around a bit, and by August, decided to go with him.  He was able to start work just after Labour Day and we were ecstatic.

When we first got the house, the front of our house looked like this:


We knew we had to change the windows since they were still original from when the house was built (circa 1956?) so while we were getting new windows, we got a new front door as well.


Below is the end of Day 1.  Frank came early in the morning, removed the patio stones, and started excavating.  He's put up the curvy border we've asked for on the porch, and the flowerbed, rounded at the end.  By our tree, you can see the new light post that Kel's put up this summer, too.


At the end of the second day, concrete's been poured and the pattern set.  We picked Arizona Flagstone for our pattern.

Close up of the pattern on our porch:


Frank came back to put in the colour the next day , but there wasn't a visible difference from the day before at this point, as there was still a good amount of concrete dust on the porch.  He told us he'd come back the next week to power wash the porch after the concrete's settled and seal.

So here it is, after Frank was completely done: the porch on the left, and the flowerbed on the right.


And here, from when we first bought the house, to what it looks like now: