Okay okay. Welcome back. The concrete truck came and went yesterday and in a matter of two hours, we took more pictures than we took in the entire week previous. Unfortunately, I already made this entire entry and then mistakenly unplugged the computer and lost it (did you know that an IMac has an actual plug in the back of it that you can pull out!? Unfortunately, I've learned today that it does!)
All that aside, the truck came full of concrete for us.
We poured our first tube and a little spilled over. But, we got better at it as we went along (and we used the spilled concrete later on for a fun project.)
After we filled all the tubes the truck could reach, we did a bucket brigade to fill the tubes underneath the building. I am sure it looked cool, but we were all running around with buckets of concrete, so no one took any pictures of it! A bucket of concrete is heavy, it's like it's full of rocks or something.
So, once we got the tubes all filled, we rammed them with stakes to get the air out. Dave is doing some ramming under the building.
After ramming, comes the smoothing. Though smoothing concrete is a difficult job for a perfectionist, Dave enjoyed himself. It is a lot like frosting a cake.
Once we had them all rammed and smoothed out, they were starting to set. It was time to put in all the J-bolts. These bolts attach the building to the posts, so they are am important link. I was in charge of lining them up and measuring them out earlier in the day. I hope I did a good job!
Dave and I did a little inscription on one.
Once we were all done with the tubes, it was time to make some boat anchors with the left-over slop. First we had to mix water in with the last of our concrete so it wouldn't set up too soon.
Then you fill up an old tire.
Squish the mix into the edges so the whole thing is filled up.
Then smooth it out on top.
Once it sets a little, you stick a metal loop in the top and inscribe it with something cute.
That was our day with concrete. We got to the other side of the lake just as a big storm blew in. The down-pour we got obliterated a lot of the writing we did in the anchor, but it was a fun event. Tomorrow we are going to tackle the posts and before you know it, we'll have the house settled down on it's legs and be ready to start in on the roof. We will keep you posted!
All that aside, the truck came full of concrete for us.
We poured our first tube and a little spilled over. But, we got better at it as we went along (and we used the spilled concrete later on for a fun project.)
After we filled all the tubes the truck could reach, we did a bucket brigade to fill the tubes underneath the building. I am sure it looked cool, but we were all running around with buckets of concrete, so no one took any pictures of it! A bucket of concrete is heavy, it's like it's full of rocks or something.
So, once we got the tubes all filled, we rammed them with stakes to get the air out. Dave is doing some ramming under the building.
After ramming, comes the smoothing. Though smoothing concrete is a difficult job for a perfectionist, Dave enjoyed himself. It is a lot like frosting a cake.
Once we had them all rammed and smoothed out, they were starting to set. It was time to put in all the J-bolts. These bolts attach the building to the posts, so they are am important link. I was in charge of lining them up and measuring them out earlier in the day. I hope I did a good job!
Dave and I did a little inscription on one.
Once we were all done with the tubes, it was time to make some boat anchors with the left-over slop. First we had to mix water in with the last of our concrete so it wouldn't set up too soon.
Then you fill up an old tire.
Squish the mix into the edges so the whole thing is filled up.
Then smooth it out on top.
Once it sets a little, you stick a metal loop in the top and inscribe it with something cute.
That was our day with concrete. We got to the other side of the lake just as a big storm blew in. The down-pour we got obliterated a lot of the writing we did in the anchor, but it was a fun event. Tomorrow we are going to tackle the posts and before you know it, we'll have the house settled down on it's legs and be ready to start in on the roof. We will keep you posted!
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