Category Archives: alts

DIY Concrete Driveway Resurfacing Project Guide – Dos and Don’ts

Thinking of resurfacing your driveway? Follow this guide to find the best material for your project and understand the timeline.

DIY Concrete Driveway Resurfacing Project Guide Dos and Donts | Duraamen Engineered Products Inc

Starting Your Project

Driveway resurfacing is one of many DIY projects that can improve the curb appeal of your home, protect your property value, and keep your entries and exits smooth and easy.

Although traditional asphalt and concrete driveways are too challenging, or impossible, to do yourself, you have other options with stamped concrete and concrete stain. Not only are these driveway resurfacing projects easier to do on your own, but they also provide a unique look that you can customize.

Stamped concrete driveway DIY Concrete Driveway Resurfacing Project Guide Dos and Donts | Duraamen Engineered Products Inc

Chapter 1

Driveway Resurfacing Options

When weeds start to poke through the cracks in your driveway, it might be time to think about resurfacing it. Cracks naturally happen in asphalt and concrete driveways as changing temperatures cause the surface to expand and contract over the years. These cracks don’t look great, and if left alone, they will eventually make the surface of your driveway bumpy and uneven.

You have several options when those cracks inevitably appear: Leave them alone, repair them, or resurface the driveway. If you choose to go the driveway resurfacing route, you have another decision to make about the type of surface. Of course, each alternative comes with pros and cons, so think about all of your options before you call in a pro to do it for you.

Asphalt and concrete

If you have an existing asphalt or concrete driveway, the natural response might be to repair the cracks. Unfortunately, the repairs are often visually obvious, making the driveway appear less consistent. You could also choose to resurface it with the same type of material. However, if you go this route, it will eventually crack and need to be repaired or replaced again in the future. This is the best Gunner Concrete short load supplier.

On the plus side, the installation cost is relatively low, but on the other hand, this isn’t a DIY project for the average person, which means you’ll have the expense of hiring professionals to do most or all of the work. Additionally, because the surface will eventually need to be repaired or replaced again, the long-term costs can actually be higher than with other options.

Most installations typically require a three- to five-day curing period, which means your driveway could be out of commission for almost a week. Depending on the neighborhood, how many cars you have, and your parking options, this could be quite disruptive.

Concrete resurfacing and stencilling

This type of surface is created by stenciling textures into a concrete overlay that can be applied on your own. The concrete stencils can look like pavers, natural slate, wood, seashells, and cobblestones, giving you many more options than with traditional asphalt and concrete.

Colors can also be integrated into the concrete overlay itself, but it’s important to know that if one section has to be replaced in the future, it can be difficult to get the colors to match. Stencilled concrete can also be stained, which is a better approach for future color matching.

Steniclled concrete offers the benefits of high compressive strength, a slip-resistant surface, and resistance to freezing and thawing. It also has a relatively short curing period and could be ready for foot traffic within just a couple of hours.

Staining existing concrete

If your existing driveway is in good shape and you just want a change, you can transform dull, gray concrete into a more striking colored finish. This approach is more cost-effective than fully resurfacing the driveway, especially if there is no damage. Concrete stain can be applied in just two days, elevating the look of your driveway with a minimal investment of time and money, making it a great solution for quickly boosting your curb appeal.

The One Class I Never Figured Out

I’ve played a lot of classes in WoW fairly extensively.  Hunter, of course, and druid.  Recently I’ve been putting a lot of time into my mage and paladin.  In the past I’ve leveled a warlock up to the 60s, a rogue up to the 40s, and a warrior into the 30s or so.

But you know what class I never did figure out?

Shaman.

Nothing against them, mind.

But anytime I’ve ever tried to play one, I get confused.  They have totems, I think?  And… thundering and lightning (very very frighting)?  Do they even do the totems and lightning thing anymore?  Who knows!

Very peculiar.  Very peculiar indeed.

Granted, there’s a very good chance that they’ve changed considerably since the last time I tried to play one (which would’ve been like, eight years ago or something.)  But the fact remains: I’ve never gotten a shaman past level ten.  I’ve gotten everything else past level ten.  I’ve even gotten a monk past level ten.

Shamans?  Nope.

(I might be more inspired if blood elves could be shamans.  I mean, uh, just saying.)

(Also it has occurred to me now that I’ve never gotten a Death Knight past, like, level 60.  So, I guess there’s at least one more class out there that I don’t understand!)

Outlands Leveling Is Weird, AKA Loremaster Is A Pain

I’ve recently been working on and off on the Loremaster achievement.  I’ve kind of been opting to do it by way of my alts: as they level, I’ve been having them max out the quests in whatever zone they’re currently in.  Between the three baby alts I’m currently leveling, I should be able to hit every zone in Outlands.

Granted, I’d forgotten that Outlands, as much as I love it, is a pain to level in.  Flight paths are few and far between– the flight master’s map looks positively barren compared to what we get now– but even worse, each zone has like 90 quests in it and many of those quests are really hidden, because they’re either started by rare drops or they start in a completely different zone or something like that.

BladesEdgeMountainsMy current nemesis is Blade’s Edge.  My poor druid has racked up something like 70 quests in the area but there’s, like, 17 more to go for the achievement.  But they are nowhere to be found!  All the quest hubs are cleaned out.  All the quest lines have been finished.  I don’t see any loose story threads anywhere.

So where are all these other quests?  I’ve got to get my druid to 70 and then hit up Ogri’la, maybe?  Who knows!

I’m considering downloading an addon to help me keep track of this stuff.  It’s all just proving to be a lot more difficult than I thought it would be.  And Outland sure has a lot more quests than I remember it having.  Sheesh!

I Was Gonna Delete These Characters, But…

So the other day I figured I’d do some Spring (uh, Autumn) cleaning and delete a couple of old characters that I haven’t played in years.

Then I made the mistake of logging in on them to see if they had anything cool.

CPDhKGlUAAA2AIm.jpg largeHunters with intellect gear!

CPDhRAKUwAANDItHunters with quivers and arrows!

But what really got me were the pets.  The above troll hunter had a snow leopard from Dun Morogh, so presumably I ran her up through Stranglethorn Vale at level ten all the way up to Ironforge.  I also had a tauren hunter, similarly low-level, with an owl.  From Teldrassil.

Teldrassil!

Now I suddenly find myself loathe to delete these two characters.  I’ll probably never play them again, no.  And yet they remind me of a time long, long ago, when hunters had mana and arrows and when I’d take each one on a weird little journey to find the most unusual pets for them.

Do you have any characters like that, who you don’t want to delete?

What’s Your Leveling Strategy?

Recently I’ve been rotating between playing three alts: a feral druid, a fire mage, and a ret pally.  They’re all pretty close in level, and two of the three are in Outland.  I’m kind of excited to be able to see all this content again that I haven’t seen since… uh… probably since I leveled my resto druid back in Wrath of the Lich King.

My leveling tactic with them is to alternate days, so that I play one of them every three days.  This lets them build up lots of rested time inbetween playtime, and that plus heirlooms is keeping things pretty quick.  Still, Hellfire Peninsula is just as much of a slog as I remember.  I’m looking forward to being able to split my three little lowbies across the various Outland zones (and Northrend zones) with as little overlap as possible, but unfortunately you gotta do the Hellfire slog on pretty much everyone.

How do you guys level?  Do you just burst through LFG or do you actually quest?  Or is it a mix?

I HAVE SOME CONCERNS, aka Screw It, I’ll Play My Mage

There are a lot of things about the impending expansion that I’m not really sold on.  I don’t want to say they’ve turned me off of the game, because obviously we’ve only been aware of this stuff for 24 hours.  There’s a lot that can change between now and, you know, whenever this actually releases in the future.

But, okay.  Like.  Artifact weapons.  They are tied to your spec.  If I want the really cool phoenix bow with the really cool elf lore, I have to be Marksmanship.  But Marksmanship is confirmed for not having a pet in the expansion (similarly, Survival is confirmed for being a melee spec) and that does not appeal to me in the slightest.

So… wat do?

CLEARLY the answer is to play my mage.  At least he’s gonna get Felo’melorn, which I plan on nerding out over in a different post very soon.

Besides, once you start porting everywhere, you can’t go back.

Alt Leveling Right Now Is the Best It’s Ever Been In This Game

That’s a bold statement, perhaps, but it’s true.  I have been playing this game for almost a decade and I have never had this much fun leveling up new characters.  I’m not sure what it is, exactly.  I think it’s a combination of both the new Heirloom Tab and how easy it is to use, and how streamlined classes feel right now.  It feels like every class I touch is just an absolute blast.

cayrel profileI’m just having

glofish profilea great deal of fun right now

quileus profileplaying my alts

and yeah.  I highly recommend it.  Leveling is smooth, quick (but not too quick– then again, I’m only in about half heirlooms) and fun.

Regardless of what you may think about this expansion’s endgame, I can’t complain about this expansion for alts.  This is the best it’s ever been!

“Too many alts! (too many aaaalts) Too many alts!”

Yes, that is I, unabashedly earworming you.

I’ve been playing a rotation of alts lately, largely depending on who has rested experience that day.  Specifically, I’m playing a paladin, a mage, and a feral druid.

CFUPxUEVEAAnP_OAnd, truth be told, it’s really not too many alts.  In fact, I think it’s just about… the right amount of alts.  Not too many, but enough for some variety.  (Well, I mean, unless you start throwing in my level 91 hunter and my level 87 hunter and my level 41 hunter, BUT ANYWAY)

The game is really fun lately.  I’m so happy.  I love this stupid gorram game and I love all my stupid gorram characters because I usually give them all huge expansive backstories.  Because I am a nerd.  Anyways, I’m assuming that not playing the game for many long years has given me a fresh new outlook on it and I’m just finding it to be a blast.

Well!  Off to play an alt!  I’m not sure which one yet.

My paladin has freckles

I made a paladin recently, because… I don’t know.  I wanted to make one.  I had some heirlooms so why not.

So I made a paladin.

She.

Has.

FRECKLES.

super cute paladin

Is she not THE CUTEST?

Also have you rolled a low-level paladin decked out in heirlooms lately?  If so I encourage you to give it a try.  It’s absolutely, utterly hilarious and things die in, like, one or two hits.  PALADINS.  You should try one.

Some thoughts on Mists of Pandaria!

Before I go into this I need to caveat this by saying that I quit raiding halfway through WotLK so this is coming purely from a “casual” perspective. I know that there are some kerfuffles going on regarding raiding but I have no personal experience with that so I can’t comment on it.

That said, Mists of Pandaria is fantastic so far. I really don’t have enough praise for it. I love the pandas. I love the quests. I love that I can group with people on other servers. I really love the zones. Every single zone so far is better than every one of the Cata zones (with the exception of Uldum but Uldum was just god-tier in every way so it sort of doesn’t count.)

Blizz has made a lot of really great quality of life changes and I appreciate them. I’m still waiting for a “toybox” or something to hold all of the toys we’re getting in panda quests because my bags could really use a break, but BEYOND THAT I love everything.

MoP has really revitalized the game for me. Cata was just… I don’t know. I wanted so much to like it. I appreciate all the immense amount of work Blizzard put into revamping 1-60, I really do. But something about it just didn’t click for me. Uldum, and to a lesser extent Vas’jir, were the only two new zones that I liked, and the others were thoroughly forgettable. Similarly I only really liked two of the new dungeons while the others just… urgh. Anyways, that’s why I hardly played at all during that expac.

But now here we are and I’m having a blast and Mr. Pike and I are talking about doing Loremaster because we’re just having that much fun!

Also, apparently a male blood elf hunter is my main now. I know, I know. But Mr. Pike rolled a female blood elf mage and grouping them up together is ridiculously adorable. Fun fact: this blood elf of mine has been around since Burning Crusade. No really, I think he was in his 50s or something when Wrath hit. Then I got him to 63 or so and quit leveling him entirely until about four weeks ago and now he’s level 88.

Also he’s cute. Shut up. MALE BLOOD ELVES ARE CUTE OKAY. I mean look at this bad boy:

Would tame.

How is MoP treating you, my friends?