Digg in to

We dig as long as rain allowed us. Sometimes friends came for help sometimes bymyself. 

we had to go 3 feet deep under the pillars to pass frost line. Only thing in my mind was not to see next year it is sinking in to ground  and I'm trying to fix it and working on it again. 

Spring=Rain

Rain, originally uploaded by oocoskun.

Rain as expected, it is Spring.

Digging

Digging, originally uploaded by oocoskun.

As a family we dig more around the trench line.

Killing the Grass and Compacting/Tools

After we killled the grass we compcted the area. They say compacting is very important for pavers for future stability. Especially we are building a raised brick pattio, it is crutial to compact every 3 inch or less sand and gravel. That is the reason I decided to buy a compactor instead of renting it. I will be working bymyself, it wiltake time to build 900  sqft patio. Renting is 100 a week I paid 710 for my compactor. I would say it will pay itself when I sell it. Plus it saved me multiple trips to rental store. 

I used the same logic for brick cutter. I bought it online and I will sell it when I complete the project. Will I? Will see. 

Playing around

We lay the bricks around the future pattio line to see the size will make us comfortable and get a feeling of it. Also i wanted to see will the bricks enough or not, i had doubts about the caps i had a feeling they won't be enough. Cycle thru the photos.

Proud Brick Owners

Proud Brick Owners, originally uploaded by oocoskun.

After we carried first truck load of bricks to backyard we wanted to see how it will create a curved wall and what is the comfortable seat height.
We did not want to make something cuts your back side of your legs. So we gave it a try.

String

String, originally uploaded by oocoskun.

When we realized Bora is a big help.

Bricks on the driveway

Bricks on the driveway, originally uploaded by oocoskun.

We received two semi trucks of bricks on two weekends, both weekends it rained. Truck driver was willing to ride on the grass area if it was not raining past two days. His forklift and a brick pallet would total 5 tons that would sink in to grass easily. We had to carry all the bricks to backyard with barrels. I was willing to work and loose weight and reduce cholesterol so here is the opportunity. I believe at this point my neighbors start to think their neighbor is crazy.

Deniz and Bora get excited and start to digg.

Here some pictures of how Deniz and Bora get excited and start to digg. Our big project started officially with Bora's toys. It was May 4th 2008

Shopping Concrete Mix and other materials

Concrete Mix, originally uploaded by oocoskun.

I start to calculating and shopping for materials and tools. Lowe's, Home Depot, Menard's and EBay was my main locations.