Here is a panorama of he completed slab about 30 minutes before the concrete workers departed. The form boards are still in place and we were going to wait a day before pulling the forms off.
The monolithic slab is completed!
The first truck… working on footers After several weeks’ worth of preparation (I had no idea there was so much involved before we did this ourselves), the foundation pour happened! Two nights before the pour (Sunday evening), we got a wonderful heavy rainfall. We were concerned at first that it might do damage to the trenches, but all was well. Our concerns over the muddy road were also unfounded. Footer between garage and house Then Monday evening, we got another heavy rainfall (have I mentioned that we have not had any rain since May prior to […] 
In order to protect the plumbing from the concrete during the pour, after the pipes for Showers, Toilets and Bathtubs are cut to 1/2″ below the finished surface, sealed with duct tape and then protected with cardboard. For the toilet drains, three layers of cardboard is fitting around the PVC and one layer of cardboard is cut to size for the top. For shower and tub drains, a cardboard box is cut to the correct height, filled with filldirt and sealed shut. A small amount of fill dirt is placed on the box flaps to hold its position. This allows […] 
Since we are doing all the prep work ourselves for the slab foundation, we also did the installation of the rebar for the foundation. We did get some help from a couple of local construction workers who worked with us for an hourly wage. That helped a great deal and made the work go much more quickly. The entire family did learn how to wire rebar and how to insert support rebar for the footers. Here are a few photos of the process: Nearly all rebar in place… Corners bent without Cheater pipes. 18" […] 
I’m a bit slow in posting updates (we’ve been really busy!), but here is a panorama shot of the house with form boards in place. Form Boards in place I immortalized the final bit of footer cleanout with this video: 
Overhead view of footers Just a quick post to let you see how the footers looked just after digging with the Ditch Witch. Since then, they’ve been completely cleaned out and form boards are cut… another update picture to come. 
We decided to tackle our own foundation. The estimates we are receiving for much of the work on the house are in most cases double the cost of doing doing it myself. The cost for labor is very high, and sub contractors are adding a percentage on top of the cost of materials. As a result I have decided to manage my own monolithic foundation pour. I will do everything except the actual pouring of concrete. I have a sub who will inspect the pre-work, make recommendations for improvements, if any, and bring a crew to mash the mud into […] |