We were asked to change a very broken-down concrete driveway into something nicer to look at by this very nice gal, Marion. She was very self-conscious about her home and its appearance and she had become tired of patching the constant breakage of her cement driveway and patio out back. People would come by to “repair” the drive and then finish with at least 3 different colors of cement left behind. It did look bad, for sure.

So we gabbed about it all and made arrangements for myself and one other guy to replace the works with new pavers. It was Winter in Reno and we were not entirely geared up yet to open up the year, so I went for it with my good Kiwi friend, Greg, who was also between gigs and with whom I had a very spirited dart competition. So we agreed and I went with her to select the colors.  I felt we came up with a good match for her house and roof. Unfortunately, I could not talk her out of replacing the edging, so we were beset with using a rather red loopy brick on the outer edges. It turned out, they had some sentimental value to her and, in the end, it was not the worst thing in the world. So – we went to work!

(Left click all images to enlarge)

To save on costs, we arranged for a one day trucking operation to haul away everything we tore out. It led to a bit of a scheduling and staging problem, but then it always does. We combined the materials we got from the side walkway and rear patio and added it to a “hole” we created in the existing driveway. Another look:

Needless to say, it got bigger, both the “hole” and the material pile –

The way we loaded to one side left her still able to park inside the garage for a few extra days. But, eventually, we needed it all – the bricks on their pallets alone took up a tremendous amount of room. And, since we squeezed all the work into just me and another guy doing all the work, needless to say the process was a bit longer than would normally be the case. Still, we were in and out in about 2 weeks.

There was also the issue of the  sidewalk and the patio to the rear to replace which were also very broken up over the time of their existence. Unfortunately, I’ve lost the patio pictures, but here is a ‘before and after’ of the sidewalk to the back:

And after: (note the Channel Drain running across the entire driveway. It goes to the left in this view, fed into a pipe taking it away. This was yet another diabolically-designed home with a street higher than the home itself.)

And here are views of the finished product. The first one is taken before we applied the sealer.

And then we have the truly finished product in all it glory. Marion was delighted, needless to say. We were too. 😉

Very simple design, really, but it sure made the home look different and far more “in place”, especially considering what she had prior to our efforts.

It really wouldn’t be one of my pictures if I didn’t have another doggone hose in the way now, would it?