Adult lego, just as fun in the interlocking patio block size.

When someone mentions a project involving a gas powered Stihl,  with a Diamond Segmented Blade.  I'M ALL IN!

Somehow,  thankfully all those hours playing with lego did pay off!  A good friend of mine wanted some repair on his sidewalk.  A great 2 days working on concrete,  is just as rewarding as working with lumber. 

Before

                                                   After

These side steps had a rotten footing

 So the footing got carved out and cleaned up.  Made it square using the angle grinder and diamond segmented blade.

 This is a scrap block that I made a wedge out of to put on the decayed block.

 Then cut the decayed block and inserted the wedge.

 Now the decayed block underneath can actually support the step on top.

 And its a little high so I will have to grind down the bottom block a little bit more by about 1/8 of an inch to get the step level.

The step right below it is actually in worse shape so I ground that one down too.

 Here I am testing the fit of an old block for a wedge.

 Grind it down with the angle grinder and diamond segmented blade

 Put an interlocking notch holder for the actual step block to sit in

 

 Grind down the old block some more

 Retest the fit again

 Lay the new stone on top and I think we have a winner.

   Both steps repaired and level.

These corner steps are a little trickier to replace,  as the stones were removed they started to fragment.  So replacing the exact corner one was a little tricky

Replacing the corner piece was tricky to fit because the wall behind it had a curvature that needed to be matched.  The diamond segmented blade used on a 45 with longer sideways strokes can shave the back corner off the stone.  Custom Shaving concrete is dusty but effective.

Now I could fit that back left corner in place but it still needed a little more

 so back to the grinding stone.

 And now it fits tight

 With that one in place I can now cut the oddly shaped one beside.

 Pull out the old block and put it on top of a new replacement one

 Scribe the line with the angle grinder

 Cut it with the Stihl Saw

 

 And clean it up with the angle grinder.

 Now that's a nice fit.

 We also replaced about 25 other steps that had crumbled by successively taking them out with a pry bar,  cleaning up the rotten base blocks underneath, and replacing them with aged blocks on top. 
PL Premium is a great adhesive for this type of work.

http://www.homedepot.ca/product/lepage-pl-premium-825ml/972905

 This is what they looked like before hand on the face of them. All Crumbled off on the front,  not easy to walk on, not a very strudy walkway











This is a picture of the new stones being set in place,  dry set,  testing for level before we put PL premium on the back of them.

  Using aged stones from a hidden garden border wall makes these stones look like they were there all along.  These are the new stones put in place

 Bricks 2,3,4, 7
,9, 10, 11, 12, 14
17, 18, 19, 20, 21 Are all replaced in this picture. 
 

Now that they are glued down to the base layer with Pl Premium and coated with Thomson Water Seal,  they should last a few more years.

Now off to get the dust out of my clothes and Hair!