Sun
Apr
20
2008
Pour it Baby!
The point of no return. 9 hours on the business end of a jackhammer and this is all we have to show for it?
We figured 16 truckloads of urban rubble to the landfill and two days of solid labor OR an hour and 45 minutes with a bobcat and a dump truck. It was a tossup :-) Jay and Rena kindly paid for the professional help on both ends of the project.
Here’s a shot of the compaction under the previous pad. Not much in the way of road mix (as in nothing…). It was no wonder it cracked.
Pulling out some fresh lumber from Franklin Building Supply to setup some nice clean forms. The boys loved helping when they could.
Jay the perfectionist! It was so nice to have his quality eye and expertise to give it that professional touch.
This form was as much work as anything else on the project. Not only did we have to solve the 20 inch grade problem, but we had to solve the 1/2 stake through the neighborhood cable line problem. heh heh heh….
Here we are forming up the landing as we get ready for the pour. You can see the road mix spread out and compacted. All told we shoveled 16 yards of 3/4 mix by hand. My dad lent a hand that day trying his hand out on the rotary hammer and teaching me the finer points of operating the human backhoe.
The pour was broken up into two separate days. Thursday we poured 8.5 yards of concrete: the landing, the steps and the west side of the house.
The boys were watching from the living room window. Here’s their view. If that’s not a concrete guy, I don’t know who is!
This guy had some fun in the concrete. He flew the coup and left some cute little chicken tracks through the middle of the wet cement. We also had a stray dog, a bike and a school boy all try to leave their marks. Wet cement is like a homing beacon for neighborhood mammals.
The gang staying in doors sick and not feeling well. Nana helped out a ton just keeping everyone fed, clean and entertained. Lisa and Rena had a full time job just keeping all the workers fed!
The final product drying out… 19.5 yards of concrete! The last cement truck said their wasn’t even half a wheelbarrow left in his truck. Those are some impressive calculations Jay!
