A Firm Foundation

I've been working on the brick foundation for what seems like  f o r e v e r  but has actually been three or four days.  I purchased three sheets of Houseworks bricks on mesh, so a lot of it was cut and paste.  I built the gazebo steps from foam board because I couldn't find a pre-made set with the right height and I wanted it to tie in with the sides.  Then I laid each brick individually.  Several cut bricks and a sore neck later I'm almost to the finish line.  I still have the back to do, but I ran out of bricks so I've ordered another sheet.  That and I have to figure out how to hide/cover the junction splices.

Next step will be to age the bricks, add grout, and perhaps add some moss here and there.

I finally got around to painting the front porch railings and added the section at the end of the porch.  I laid brick under the gazebo and was wondering what to do to connect the two different surfaces and then it hit me!  Add a railing!  It disguises the differences in height and I don't have to go through the headache of trying to brick the front porch!  Yay!

The custom built gazebo steps.  I plan on using mortar in the middle on the top section to look like cement.  I hope it works!

This window bump out was a bit of a headache.  When I tried to lay the bricks they fit at one end and didn't at the other.  Thinking it must be crooked somehow, I tried to figure out how to correct it.  I decided to add a skirt board, replacing one of the siding boards.  It couldn't have been that easy . . . could it? Yes, indeed, it was!  Go figure.  It was meant to be because I really like the look of the skirt board.  It's a nice divide between the siding and the bricks.

And lastly, I decided to paint the middle portion of the newel posts with one of the accent colors because they looked odd to me.

Before

I'm liking this much better.

After

Tomorrow I hope to age the brick and add mortar.  This is going to be interesting because as much as I like the look of "aged" things (some people do it SO WELL) I'm not much good at it.  My perfectionist tendencies tend to go to far the other way . . .