November 29, 2016

11/29/16 Maddie:
Today, we covered our cinder blocks with a coat of red paint.  One of the biggest struggles of this project came on this day.  We were unsure if the color we chose was the right shade.  Also, we thought we didn buy enough paint.  Nevertheless, we finished the first coat, then set it out in the sun to dry.  During the night while our cinder blocks were drying, it rained. Our paint held up pretty well since we used a waterproof outdoor paint.  There were still a few spots that were washed away, but those were quick fixes.

November 27, 2016

11/27/16 Whitley:
Today, all members of the group came to my house to plan the build and figure out our budget. We decided that the most cost effective way to make a strong bench would be to build one using cinder blocks and wooden beams..  We bought 3 8 foot pieces of 4´ by 4´ redwood. Then we picked out 10 cinder blocks that had no chipped corners. We bought primer and red paint for the cinder blocks and primer and white paint for the wood. We choose not to buy something to bond everything together because we wanted to do more research.    We were struggling to find a way to connect the wooden planks to the cement blocks. Then we went back to my house where we figured out how to place the cinder blocks.  Then we all painted the cinder blocks with thick coats of primer.  We chose to not prime the wood that day since we were already working late at night.