Porch and Patio Renovations and Creations in Bethel Park

During the past few weeks of beautiful weather we were able to do a porch and patio renovation.

Renovations consisted of removing the old porch railings, the scalloped header and shutters on the porch window.  Then patching sanding and painting. Creation consisted of removing some vegetation adding a free-form stone patio off the porch and a stone walkway on the side of the house. Here's the start with the railings and half of the scalloped header already removed.

Once the scallop was off the homeowner liked the amount of extra light and decided not to replace the header. This left the ends of the beams exposed. We decided on some nice short trim and created two decorative caps for the beams.

Here's the porch  with no shutters, finished trim, painted...

and being enjoyed!

Now onto creating a patio and walkway. The Patio will require removing one of the holly bush and some foliage just off the side of the porch. .

The curve will follow the pachysandra bed seen on the left. We decided on tumbled blue stone from Federouch Supply. It's a good hard stone and has a lot of shapes. This will allow the asymmetrical look the owner likes.

Here's the view of the completed patio from the porch. A great deal of pain went into avoiding to many straight lines when laying the stones.

Here it is from the yard. The remaining holly bush was reshaped to go with the new surroundings and a few decorative stones were also added in the ivy patch.

Now the walkway on the left side of the house starts just off the front walk, where the flower pots are sitting, and wraps around and down through a set of field-stone steps.

 And goes through the jungle.

This is what the path entry looks like now. The stone are a very nice shade of blue with veins of browns running through some pieces. The color is much more apparent when wet.

And now you can see the steps and new path! It was supposed to be an informal pathway like when you go on a hike through the woods. It goes a long way to connecting the front porch and walk to the rear deck and gardens. Everybody involved was happy with the final project!

Enjoy, we did!

El Toro!! Vintage Motorbike or not?

Well here's a question for you, is El Toro an awesome vintage bike? OK how about is it really vintage or is it just old? There are a few clues on the bike itself..

Like the 1972 Peso...

Or the 1983 Lone Star Rally Champion detail.

But if you are familiar with Hollywood's work, you know his unique ability to distress a vehicles paint work to appear like its been there for years.

Yes, this is a NEW paint job.

Hollywood goes to the extreme in his work

Always stretching the boundaries of what can be done in distressed paint techniques. We think El Toro is the best yet

It's easy to admire the simplicity of carrying a line throughout the bike...

It's another to make it look like it's been there for years! Yes, this is still part of a new paint job.

The crackling and rusted areas easily fool most of the die hard cyclists and hot rodders alike.

Here's more details on the head light, including part of a shell casing.

One more detail shot of the tank...

Enjoy!