Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Plumbing...

Rough-in under-slab plumbing for the drainage of the household fittings is in...

Apparently ..it flows downhill. E with our "upstairs" - up the hill - neighbor.And a little fun at work.In keeping with the idea that this is a surfing blog too; there was nice surf at the weekend and through last week - my friend Randy leaving some isolated PNW goodness

Friday, April 17, 2009

VOILA !!!

Getting a bit less crowded inside as the formwork starts to come down.Before unveiling the column in the garage basement - remember the construction phase and you can see how empty it looks now with the scaffolding mostly down.
So the tab that was connected to the vertical 4x2s is where the tube is glued and it "just" rips apart for removal.






Voila - a concrete column
A bit different from this...I thought the trench digging was over - apparently not !

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

It's not raining and we're pouring

Pouring day opens bright and sunny - spring in the valley but still winter atop Mary's PeakThe boss in action - before the action - well not really there was still a LOT to do before the concrete trucks arrived.
Teh first concrete goes into the fabric from for the column - notice that Andrew doesn't do any work - just takes photos.
First concrete going into the walls
Bracing on the back wall to cover the holes caused when the soil fell in in December and damaged the styrofoam blocks
Whacking the block to make sure the concrete goes all the way to the bottom.
The 30 metric ton concrete pump.
Bit of a change since last time it was here.
Concrete that's come from the top flowing into the space below a window - this was topped off through this gap.
Using the mechanical vibrator to take the strain off of her elbow.
Concrete and steel
It made a frightening noise going down through all the rebar and wire ties - but they don't rattle anymore when we walk the scaffolding.
Getting concrete into the space below where the laundry chute goes bewteen rooms through the wall - tight fit.
What happens when concrete goes somewhere you don't want - punch holes in the foam - these will need to be fixed before we pour the basement ceiling/garage floor slab

So we are up to the red line. The garage walls will be a conventional stud construction, the house will be more styrofoam and concrete

Welcome back Welcome back Welcome back

Some pretty good weekend surf somewhere in Oregon - not me in the photos - but I didn't hang around taking pictures too long.
Then back to work in GOOD wetsuit drying weather
Last details before pouring
Worked into the glowing sunset