Time to Pour - Concrete is coming.
Well, I am pleased to say that I actually exceeded my schedule and will be ready to pour my architectural concrete wall on Tuesday, a full week sooner than I planned. This either means I am getting faster or that I am just padding my schedule too much. Lets hope it is the former.
The foundation forms for the basement walk-up did present lots of challenges which I will talk about in the near future when I get some time to put all my photos together. But I pushed through and am hoping the end result will be a visually pleasing and true architectural concrete wall. Will only know when the forms start to come off at the end of next week.
I passed my structural inspection on the 16th. I tentatively passed my District inspection last Friday but do need to clear up some concerns the inspector had re my Geotech engineer tomorrow. I considered my Geotech finished with the project, but the District inspection wants this clarified and confirmed. The Geotech did not do any of the structural design on my project and only provided the bearing support for the excavation floor and then confirmed I had appropriate prep prior to pouring the footings for the main dwelling. As that prep (consolidated gravel fill) was done for the walkup foundation footing back in Feb 2015 at the same time as the main house, I did not involve the Geotech to re-inspect the gravel below the footing before we poured in December when we also did the suspended garage slab. Not sure why the inspector did not bring it up then if there was a concern, as now that the 10″ thick by 5′ wide x 28′ long footing is poured, that ship has sailed. So hopefully, the Geotech will also agree when we speak tomorrow and we can proceed Tuesday with the pour.
Tomorrow I will polish off the last few tasks to get the forms ready and then hopefully Tuesday at 8:30, the concrete will be flowing. I have again hired Hi Def Concrete and F&F Concrete Pumping to place my 35 MPa, Small Aggregate Concrete with extra Flow. This is well above the structural requirements but should result in a much nicer structural concrete (exposed concrete) wall.
The rest of the week will entail vendor visits, tending building science experiments on site, attending two seminars at the Buildex trade show, and hopefully some backfill if I can get some soil. I will start stripping forms on Friday. After that, I will hopefully complete the waterproofing, insulation, and backfill of the north wall foundations.
“The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.” —Vince Lombardi (1913-1970) Athletic Coach
“If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way. If you don’t, you’ll find an excuse.”
—Jim Rohn (1930-2009) Entrepreneur, Author, Motivational Speaker
“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” —Mark Twain (1835-1910) [Samuel Clemens] Humorist, Essayist, Novelist