The Steps - DIY Failure and Redemption

The mortar on our front steps needed some patching and I decided to try to fix it myself

I read some stuff online and watched some videos and thought I was ready

Helen and Adam came out to assist

Surveying the terrible results

I spread the mortar on pretty thick thinking I would be able to sponge off the excess. That didn't work out so well. The mortar set up way too quickly and the excess didn't sponge off easily. It looked really sloppy when it dried. I also wasn't happy with the color.

Trying to chip away some of the excess

I didn't wear any gloves to spread the mortar and in the frenzy didn't realize the damage I was doing to my fingertips

It was like the nerve endings on every finger were exposed. I remember reading about the guys free climbing El Capitan and how they slathered their open cuts with Neosporin.

Having deep open sores on your fingertips is a real pain

It's been a couple weeks now and the deepest one has just about healed.

Trying to undo the DIY fail

I decided the best thing to do was to try and remove the new mortar. Thankfully I only did the bottom step. I tried all kinds of solvents to dissolve the mortar and nothing was really working. I spent some time researching masonry and learned some things. It seems like muriatic acid is the go to solvent, although  a lot people prefer newer less dangerous solvents.

Having never worked with muriatic acid, and not being the most careful person, I was reluctant. Then I learned that muriatic acid and hydrochloric acid are similar and that Lysol toilet cleaner contains some hydrochloric acid.

We had some Lysol toilet cleaner so I gave it a try. It worked pretty well! It wasn't like the mortar melted away, but it loosened up enough for me to get it off using some elbow grease. I also learned the trick of using stone to clean stone. I used an old paver to sand the mortar away. It took a few rounds of Lysol and scrubbing, but I finally got the mortar off.

The neighbors were a little curious to see me out every morning for a week at the crack of dawn scrubbing away at the steps. One lady was walking by and called out "they're clean - you can stop". I laughed and told her how I was having to undo a DIY fail.
 

The whole process felt somewhat rewarding despite the fact that I ended up right back where I started. I wish I could have avoided all the hassle, but I did some honest hard work and I learned some things along the way.