Schlatter Family Site

Ramp work day three

This is what we did, Thursday, 21 May.

Dug out the sod, pounded in grade stakes to hold the form.  Used 4-inch strips of luan for the form -- see them lying on the sidewalk.  Laid my level on the sidewalk and brought it out to each stake where I marked a line on each stake level with the top of the sidewalk then I screwed the luan to the stakes with the top level with the line on each stake.  As I attached the luan to each stake I checked for level with the sidewalk.

Form set; 2-3 inches of gravel; rebar tied to cradles.

Finished.  Ugly brown -- should be medium grey in 3-4 days, will be white in 6 months.  Used 27 40-lb sacks of Sakrete; mixed 3-4 bags at a time in the wheelbarrow; poured into the form.  Mom had the rake and tamped each load in place then we pulled a screed board and I floated.  After it started to set, I ran the edge trowel to form the edge.  Broomed it after about 2 hours.

Here's a close-up of the finished product.

Plans for Next Day

Set two 4X4 posts about 6 inches away from the new pad,  in line with the corner posts of the lawn landing.  These will be for the joists to hang on.  We can extend the joists to the pad and cut the end of the joists on a 1:12 angle (more or less) so the joist ends lie flat on the pad.

Half-bury two 2X4 between the lawn landing and this new pad, set in 6 inches from what will be the outer edge of the walkway.  I am NOT digging out any more sod -- nearly kills me.  I'll use the old lawn mower to scalp the grass that will be under this walkway then douse it with Round-Up.  Put on another Round-Up treatment before we leave next week.  When we get back, I'll rake out the dead grass and put down landscape cloth and gravel.  The 2X4's will form a border between the lawn and the gravel under the walkway.

I won't knock down the form until next Monday.  We covered the new pad with a tarp.