I've Created a Disaster

So, at least I can say I have tried. I still haven't quit, but the bar top is not going very smoothly. I tried putting a top coat of concrete to make it look nice and it ended up cracking all over the place. I have since removed it and put it on hold until after the carpet is installed. I figured I will wait until the base layer has fully cured, then I will try again. I have a couple more ideas and if all else fails, I will tile it. We get our carpet this Friday (Feb 29th). I can't wait to have something down there that I actually feel comfortable laying on. It will be nice. I will then just have to cover the carpet with a good layer of plastic when I try to re-coat the concrete. I have a good feeling that it will work this time. We will see.

Concrete...

So, it has been a lot harder than I thought. Of course in Peter's world, everything is easy and everything fits together perfectly. Well, the concrete didn't turn out bad, but at the same time I can't say it was what I imagined. The top came out good; it was the sides that did not turn out. You can see in the pictures below that it turned out "honeycombed." I then went back to Lowe's and got a "top finishing" concrete to fill in all the gaps. I think it will be nice in the end. In true Peter fashion I just jump in head first and hope there is water in the pool. If there isn't then I will just repair the damages later (I married a nurse on purpose, a beautiful nurse at that). I had some good help for the initial laying of the crete, although he sat around most of the time complaining about an ingrown hair on his arm, WIMP! The pictures below so the progress of our work.

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Paint Done. Concrete Form Done.

So all the carpet is out of the basement and the walls are painted. If you have never used a airless paint sprayer, really ask people how to do it before you do. First off, the first one I rented broke down. I had to take it back and get their other one. Then as I was painting, all I could see was white. I had no idea how thick the paint was going on so I just continued to spray. Well most of the paint was alright, but some of the paint ran because I was spraying it so thick. It really turned out nice and since it is only the basement, I wasn't so picky. What I am more excited about is the concrete bar top that I am doing. I have it all framed out and this next weekend I will be pouring the concrete. Below is a picture of me after I was done painting and a picture of my concrete forms. The family is doing really good. Colton is doing well in school. He told us the other day that he got to put his name on the board because he was reading so well! Heather and I are so proud of him. He loves taking pictures so below is some of his photography. Spiderman is blurry because he is "so fast." Colton is also in Karate. He has been enjoying it, but right now we are trying to get over that hump of "it's getting hard so I want to quit." I think it will be so good for him in the long run. We are also trying to get him into some piano lessons, but so far I have been unsuccessful to find the right teacher for him. Emotions and craziness is high around the house right now, so once things calm down a little bit, he will begin piano lessons.

(You can Click on the Photos to make them bigger)

(Trust me I am not that dumb. This is a Joke)