A Strong Foundation

Pouring the foundation

 At 7 o'clock this morning we were woken by the sweet sounds of activity as the crew was preparing the forms for the concrete pour. First they painted the inside of the forms with Thompsons Water Seal so that when the concrete dries the forms will come away more easily. [Apparently, back in the day they would spray motor oil on the forms instead, but they don't do that any more - thank goodness!]
Tim likened it to oiling a pan before you start cooking. OK, makes sense to me now.

Cement goes into
the frame

Rebar in place

At around 8:30, the cement truck pulled up and they arranged the pipeline. Once the cement started through the pipe they had to work so quickly to pour it into the frame. It was interesting how liquidy the cement was and yet how quickly it dried. One person manned the front of the pipe, while two others carried it across the dirt. It was almost like watching a well-choreographed ballet. The three of them didn't talk much, but worked in unison to do the job efficiently.

Once they had poured throughout the frame, they went back and did another quick pour to top it up. Then they scraped across the top edge of the frame to make sure that the concrete was perfectly aligned and the right height to match the existing foundation of the house. I'm not sure how, but somehow there was the exact amount of concrete in place to fit perfectly. There's a definite art to pouring concrete; we were standing and watching, taking pictures, and it felt like we were watching a show being put on especially for us. One of the men had a remote control on his toolbelt, which communicated with the cement truck, so that the pour would stop and start when he needed it to. Gotta love modern technology.



The tape measure shows that
the foundation will be
40 1/2 inches deep

By 5 o'clock this afternoon, the concrete had already dried somewhat and was pulling away from the wood frame. The whole thing should be dry enough in just a couple of days. I told Darryl that I want to see photos and video on Tuesday when they take the frame off. Is it going to be like pulling off a band aid or more like peeling the back of a piece of laminate? Either way, I can't wait to see.