Murasaki99 ([info]murasaki99) wrote,
@ 2008-06-19 07:19:00
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Current mood: nervous
Entry tags:home improvement

They're Heeere
The concrete folks arrived at 6 am! I'm gonna bail to work in a few minutes and leave the place in their hands. I've got a huge tube suspended over the house so they can pump concrete over the old place and into the new footings and forms that will form the foundation of the addition. Yikes! I hope nothing leaks. The foreman said, "We've got good insurance, don't worry." 0__o :D

A nice young man with a cement mixer arrived yesterday at 7 am, looked around and went, "Where IS everybody?" Um... I dunno... 0__0 Turns out there was a slight miscommunication back at the shop -- they needed to do more foundation prep before they could pour, so here they are today to DO it. I am impressed with the work and the logistics. Yow!

More updates and piccies after work, I had to run out and take photos of the boom and tube over my house.


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[info]centaurg
2008-06-19 06:14 pm UTC (link)
Ho ho! I'll bet the concrete company wasn't at all happy with that load of cement slowly setting in the mixer; hopefully they had other sites that could use it.

And hopefully the contractor's putting in rebar to strengthen the footings and slab. I assume they'll put plastic sheet over the pour after it's leveled, otherwise your outdoor kitties may leave permanent signatures and grey pawprints meandering through the neighborhood. If the concrete surface looks a little "fuzzy" it's because fibers are often added to the mix to provide "rebar" on the micro scale, if my bother-in-law's garage addition was typical practice.

Then you'll wait another week or three while the concrete cures--that's really what the plastic wrapping is for.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concrete

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[info]murasaki99
2008-06-20 01:21 am UTC (link)
Nope, no plastic wrap -- evidently this stuff doesn't need it (I hope). I don't see any pawprints in it so far. They definitely put in rebar and "pins" that are now sticking up -- I assume the framing will be hooked to it somehow. Very cool to see.

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[info]centaurg
2008-06-20 01:35 am UTC (link)
Those are anchors, what holds your house down when the wind >really< blows! All sounds good so far.

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[info]murasaki99
2008-06-20 07:08 am UTC (link)
Got the photos posted. I'm just amazed at how quickly it happened. The anchors sound like a very good idea, given the winds out here. Whoever built these old homes did a good job -- my current house, built in '48 or so, has withstood gales and storms without creaking.

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[info]x_expat
2008-06-20 12:58 am UTC (link)
Yow, now there's a scary image: concrete tube suspended over the house.

Hope all went well!

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[info]murasaki99
2008-06-20 01:24 am UTC (link)
I took piccies! Quite amazing, really.

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[info]x_expat
2008-06-20 02:04 am UTC (link)
Ooo! Post 'em! :)

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[info]murasaki99
2008-06-20 07:08 am UTC (link)
Done! And the house was all OK when I got home, too. :D

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[info]kayshapero
2008-06-20 05:55 am UTC (link)
Reminds me of when I was a kid and we had a pool put in. On the day the hole in the ground was to be lined with a concretish substance called gunnite (iirc), the folks with the sand showed up on time, poured it into a heap out front, and departed. The folks who were supposed to mix the sand with the cement and spray it did not show, and it rained. By the time the sprayers DID show up, they had to have a new batch of sand trucked in because the old one had departed into the driveways of everybody on the street.

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[info]murasaki99
2008-06-20 06:08 am UTC (link)
Now that would be way too exciting! Your parents must have had a fit to see all the sand and stuff get washed away. At least this week our rainy cold spring finally turned into lovely early summer, with temperatures in the 80s and bright sunshine.

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[info]kayshapero
2008-06-21 08:43 am UTC (link)
I don't think the neighbors were too thrilled about it either... I vaguely recall that we didn't have to pay for the extra sand; and knowing Dad I suspect my recall is accurate.

The whole project was a bit like that - first they dug the hole, then it rained before the guys to put in the frame got there. Then they finally put in the frame, and it rained before the guys with the gunnite got there - and of course by the time they actually DID arrive (insert sand reminiscence here) we kids were flat convinced our pool was going to cover half of Los Angeles. It was a rainy year. We get those every once in awhile. Usually when it amuses Murphy, I think. :)

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