Trials and Tribulations

My house is U-shape, and running along the inside curve is a patio where I spend a lot of time writing. The owners before me covered it with outdoor carpeting. Over the years with any bad storm or hurricane, water does seep into it plus my cats at times like to miss their potty box. In other words, the carpet had become ucky. So I put aside this weekend to rip up the carpet and hopefully just put on a coat of concrete stain. Ha! The carpet came up easy enough, but underneath the mastic [glue] had created a sea of dark brown stain. My neighbor has a pressure cleaner, but first stab barely chipped away at the layers. So first thing this a.m. I hit the home improvement stores in search of adhesive remover. Man, is that tricky stuff. I had to dab it on surface, cover it with 6 mil plastic drop cloth, roll over the top to spread the remover, wait 30 minutes and move onto the next section. Although I wore splash-protective goggles and chemical resistant gloves, I still managed to get the remover on me and had to run pellmell to the sink to wash it off. I have little red splotches everywhere.

Then the pull on the pressure washer broke so there was a delay to repair it. By that time, my back was starting to ache and the noise of the washer is killer, but I did get the chemical rinsed off. When the nozzle came loose, I decided enough was enough. But I still had to wet vac the acid residue up. Long day and I hurt everywhere. I keep switching the heating pad from my feet, to my shoulder, to my hands, to my back...

However, I hardly made a dent on the old glue and stain, which means I'll be doing this project next weekend. However, I'm going to get ear protectors and the back Thermal patch so I can power through better this time. Hopefully, the patio will look and smell much better when I'm done. :) Carol