Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Tar and Feather

Something about the repetitive process of actually applying the sealer to the driveway made this the best part of the whole process (and not just because it was the final step!). 

It was super easy, but not exactly as economical as we had thought. Each five gallon tub of tar claims to cover about 500 square feet, but we found we were lucky to get one tub to cover 200 square feet. At twenty two bucks a pop, this mean our little project went overboard real quick. We ended up using 14 tubs to cover our fancy little driveway.

Jorts! The workshort of all glamorous ladies.

You use a giant squeegee to spread the Latexite mix over the drive. The directions said two thin coats are better than one thick one, but we only did two coats in some high-traffic areas. Pretty sure this won't ruin our property value or cause the whole thing to explode - two key things we consider before taking shortcuts.

It took about three hours to finish up with the squeegees and then a day to dry. Even though no one will ever come over and say, "I love what you did to the driveway!" we really liked this project. It turned a huge eyesore into something that blends in and makes our whole front yard look tidier. I'm not sure a driveway should ever be the first thing people notice when they see your house, but you definitely don't want them noticing it for all the wrong reasons.

Have you done any hideous-to-liveable projects lately?

Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Cracking up

Once our driveway was clean and we were pretty sure the house had stopped getting all cranky on us, we started to fill the cracks on our asphalt driveway. But, it's always safety first around these parts, so I put up a little blockade at the end of the driveway so no one would use our freshly decracked drive to pull a u-ie, as they are apt to do.

Seeing as I was hot, tired and possibly adopting the house's snitty attitude, I made due with what I had. Two garden stakes and this:

Yes, ma'am, a red whiffle ball on some string. It really says, "Hey, don't park here. PS We're kinda trashy but also ingenious."

Anyway, I was in charge of tiny cracks and used Latex-ite crack filler. It comes in bottles that look like sriacha, except black and not tasty. There were millions of cracks, but soon, I had a pretty web of non-cracks.

Hubs filled the bigger problem areas with trowel patch. This stuff was way more economical and when we have to do this again in eight years, we'll use this for all cracks big and small.

It took us about an afternoon to get the driveway super smooth. Then, it was time to seal.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Dirty Work

Although my house decided to pitch a fit and take on a little water in the basement, I was determined to seal the driveway this month. I wanted to remind the house how much we loved her and how much blood, sweat and tears have gone into making her all gorgeous and that she shouldn't be such a diva. I mean, seriously. The house knew the basement didn't suit her, so she basically dumped red wine all over it (OK, it was water, but I like to picture my house with teased hair, wearing a white evening gown, screaming, "NO! These shoes will not do! I'm not wearing them and I hate them!" before dumping a bottle of merlot over her whole outfit. What a B).

So, seal the driveway we did. The first step was cleaning the driveway - all 1,100+ square feet of it!

I pulled weeds and pried the grass off the edges first.

Then, we power washed all the grime off.

My legs were kind enough to collect the grime, so that it wouldn't spread. Thanks, legs!

Once the driveway was clean and shiny, it was time to fix some cracks. Stay tuned, I know this is riveting!