April 17th, 2014 was the big day! They poured the foundation for our new home.
The pump truck arrived just before 7:00 am to get setup prior to the caravan of 20 trucks, each carrying 9.5 cubic yards of cement, to be poured over a period of 5 hours, weighing in at approximately 617,500 pounds or 308 tons!
It was a cool overcast day which is very nice for pouring concrete, no wind to dry the top and the rain held off until they were near the end of the finish work and then it was just a drizzle.
7:00 am all set to goA little bit cloudy in the am – good news as long as there is no lighteningOne of the crew was getting some exercise walking up the sand piles8:08 am and the first truck arrivesMike, the boss, oversees the start of the pour – those boots won’t stay white for very longThe real boss is checking it out!Filling up the first grade beam, this first 5 trucks were loaded with a high/early mix to speed up the hardening process so the forms can be removed for the quilt studio and garage poursGrade Beams get filled up and then a “stinger” is used to vibrate the concrete to insure there are no air pockets.This is how Mr. Green finished his small poursWhile we were at lunch the crew made it pretty!These guys work hard – the nice thing about a cool day is they don’t get as over heated – there is a chemical process involved with the curing of concrete and it really heats up as it cures….Who said I can’t play video games when I grow up? This guy is in charge of the pumper rig and the boomWere these boots made for walking?Notice the boots now….The first form is removed so the garage and quilt studio can be poured!See those purple casings? Inside those are the cables that will be tightened next week for the “Post Tension” Foundation – this is the studio!The stairs from the main house, down to the garage and quilt roomIt’s organic!Looking good!Getting it’s smooth onKnee sliders ….Whirly machine that puts the really smooth finish onWhile the concrete was being poured I was busy cleaning up the trees, trimming the lower branches and suckers at the base of the trees.We have 2 very large organic debris piles, today we worked on the oldest one, separating kindling and firewood. It’s a big pile but we did make some progressThe pump truck is washing out and the last truck is filling up the garage….
