One slate at a time

We have had one mission this fall: to lay down all the terrace slates before the temperature drops below freezing point. The intention is not to fully finish the terrace but to allow the slates to settle and to be pressed as tight as possible to the ground over the winter. Seaming and application of a protective coat are on a to-do list for next spring. The aim is to be 100% ready for Sofi's birthday in June, as she has already started telling everyone this is where the party will take place.

Fortunately, the last few months have been quite dry and sunny. As the weeknights are a non-option due to darkness, work needs to be done over the weekends. So this is what we have been doing every single weekend during the past months. Actually, it is almost ironic that all those countless days are now condensed to the following five photos, but so be it. Let us at least make it fast on paper!

Terrace team

So one by one, Pekka has first chosen the slates and optimised the fit for each one. Sometimes he'd get away with minor modifications, but most of the times the slates needed something a bit more substantial. He also wanted to keep the seam as narrow as possible. Next, the slates were set on top of wet stone dust and hammered in place at the same time ensuring correct levelling. To make it easier to ensure the incline was correct, Pekka used smaller slates to mark the reference blocks he had installed before.

Reference blocks marked by slates

The farther he got the more difficult it become to find nicely fitting slates. Some of the stone pieces broke when hammered, and some of them were just too thin or funny shaped. It was also difficult to estimate if we had enough of them or not. Fortunately the company was helpful and interested in making big sand castles.

Assistant mixing stone dust

Even if it was a painfully slow puzzle, it was also very rewarding. The progress was evident - each slate took us one step closer to the goal, every day there was a bit more surface covered. And as the leaves started turning yellow, we were getting close.

Another Sunday afternoon

When all slates had finally found their place, a lot of water was ran on top of them in order to get the slates to settle as tightly as possible to the stone dust. Now we hand it over to winter - let's see the possible effect of ground frost and fix any damages before seaming the slates next spring.

Can you spot the missing pieces?

So the terrace is dirty, not seamed and missing a protective coating, but after all this effort we are unbelievably happy to see it will eventually look great. Sticking only with the facts, however, Sofi's first comment was not perhaps the most constructive one: "Dad, but it is not ready, there are a few pieces of slate missing!" Honesty of a three year old can sometimes be brutal.