Concrete Foundation, Beginning to End

When I arrived at 4:30 this afternoon, there were thirteen semi loads of cushion sand on the pad site, and they were dumping the fourteenth.  This picture was taken at dusk and I had to lighten it quite a bit, so it looks a bit odd.

Two more loads tomorrow and they will begin trenching and setting forms.

Published Jan. 25, 2017

Down Time

After the last two loads of sand were delivered today, they were going to start ditching and setting forms.  But their ditcher wouldn't cooperate and they spent most of the day standing around watching as the boss and a mechanic tried to get it going.

Hubby and I agreed that if his father had been the boss here (he was a builder), he would have told the crew to grab a shovel and start digging. lol

Published Jan. 25, 2017

The Next Week

The ditcher was fixed, ditching done, and forms have been set.  The plumber comes tomorrow.

Published Jan. 30, 2017

Plumbing Rough-In Done!

When we left last night, the pad site of select fill was nice and smooth, but it didn't last long.  This is after the plumber left today.  I guess they'll have to spend some time smoothing it out again before they put down the vapor barrier on the rest of the site.  The termite pretreatment was also sprayed on today.

Published Jan. 31, 2017

Final Prep Before Concrete

After they finished putting in the rebar and vapor barrier, Hubby added conduit for his antennas and set a box for a floor electric outlet.

Published Feb. 1, 2017

Concrete Today!

Yesterday was 80 degrees and breezy.  It was 38 degrees at 7a.m. this morning, and overcast.  The perfect day for pouring concrete, they said.  It was also pretty windy, so the wind chill was just over freezing, but it did warm up a little throughout the day.  Still, they probably would have preferred a cloudy day without wind.

There was a steady train of concrete trucks and the forms were filled by 11a.m.  They worked on the concrete all day and had all the forms off by 4p.m.  They were still smoothing when we left a little later. 

The concrete will cure for a week and they will start erecting the metal frame on the 13th.

In the below picture, the living space is on the left side.  The plumbing on the far right is the sewer connection and plumbing for a travel trailer.  The square forms in front of the slab are piers for the porch posts. 

Published Feb. 2, 2017 

Forms Off

Close up of the bathroom area with sunken area for shower.

They will come back next week to smooth some of the dirt around the foundation, and then give it a week to cure before starting the framing.

Published Feb. 3, 2017

First Problem

Of course we were hoping we wouldn't have any problems with this build, but that rarely happens.  Still, we were hoping.  We went out today to show Chelle the place, and noticed some cracks in the foundation.  On closer inspection, we saw that they were the result of the rebar being too close to the top.  Some of the rebar is even visible.

The fix is that they will cut out that area, drill into the sides of the slab for the new rebar, and then pour it again.  Luckily, this is in the garage area so it won't affect the look of the stained concrete floor in the living areas.

Published Feb. 5, 2017