Broken-down Bricks

The crazy, cold winter we had did quite a number on our front steps this year. They started to crack around the end of February, and by the time we got back from Texas in April it looked like there'd been a shark attack.

On Sunday, Tom grabbed a couple of the largest pavers they had at Home Depot in the hopes that they would fit. This was just a quick fix until we can decide what we want to do permanently with the front walkway. The cold weather had also heaved the bricks of the sidewalk so it's a bit of a rollercoaster right now and will all have to be redone.

The top bricks are glued to the bottom ones, so he had to chip the broken ones out piece by piece. The bricks just crumbled away, so it was probably time to replace them anyway.

Unfortunately the new bricks were too thick. They were also a bit too short, but that wouldn't have been that much of a problem, we just wanted to reduce the tripping hazard of the missing bits. But with them too high, the chance of tripping is now increased. Especially for me, the clumsiest person on earth (I have an award and everything).

So now we had a big gap in the steps and no way to fill it. Yesterday was a holiday here in Ontario, so all of the stores were closed. I crawled under the back deck looking for spare bricks, but Tom - in a burst of efficiency - had taken them all up to his father's empty lot. Instead we had to use a deck board left over from when we rebuilt the back deck, some plywood, and then a 1 inch thick board to make up the depth.

Classy, isn't it? He screwed it all together so that nothing would shift, and we now have the most redneck front entrance in the neighbourhood. If only we had an old washing machine to put out on the porch. J