Balcony: Dream to Reality

My dear hubby (DH) has started a very bad thing.  When I am gone for 7-10 days the last of every July, he does some awesome project for me as a surprise!  Last year, it was an above ground pool that has served us well for two summers now.  This year, he was much more ambitious!

Five years ago, it was this:

Then the above balcony flooring went kaput and it was "off-limits" for a few years while we worked on our shop.  We added a garage door to the room on the left, closed off the other door with a window, stucco, stone and did a nice re-haul externally, not to mention pouring concrete in the bays and adding doors to the bays.

 We also put on a gorgeous copper penny standing seam roof!

 

It looks so nice!

 



 The economy crashed and we held on by our boot straps for three years and are finally able to start looking ahead again!  Praise the Lord!

I digress.  Let me show you in pictures:

knocking out old blocks:

 close-up of old blocks (most were missing sections of the star.)

 ready for stucco and rocks!

 lots of prep work while I was away:

 membrane down:

 floor ready for paving system!

Cinder Blocks to Stucco!

Wooden railing and stone columns!



 After membrane was applied to flooring so it wouldn't leak through to bottom patio,
"we" applied these awesome pavers!  A recycled rubber paver system, each one keeps 4 tires out of our landfills. Looks great, comfortable to walk on and maintenance free!

 Here's where you can SEE the difference! 
There weren't any stairs before so that is VERY nice.

"We" did the balcony and patio below in stucco and stone.

 SE corner looking to the NW:

 E looking NE:

 SE looking NE:

 NE looking SE:

 E looking SW:

 NW looking SE:

 N looking S:

 The Lounge Area:

 The Landing (didn't exist before):

 Stairs (didn't exist before):

 Dining Area:

 Looking out my door:

Besides the pavers being a recycled system, we re-used or made "new-to-us" everything you see except wood for railings and stairs, mesh for stucco system, new plant in corner.  We mixed up left over stucco color from different jobs to get the color we got and went for it!  It's awesome.  In fact, we have enough left to stucco the entire East side of the house!  Everything else already had a home and we are thrilled to give it a new home here on our balcony.  I can't wait to use the chiminea that we have had since 2004(ish).  It's been waiting for too many years (five).  You, too, can have exterior work done by us...

Next up - trim, electrical outlets and staining wood!  Until then, you can find me here: