Our foundation was poured today after originally being scheduled for Monday 11/12. I was talking with our architect, Rocky throughout the process and I learned a lot of things... I will be adding some of these to the terms, tips and definitions list on the site, and we will have pictures and video to add as well.
I arrived before anyone else on the home site this morning - around 6:30 am. The fog this morning was very heavy. At some points during the 10-minute drive to the home site I couldn't see more than 50 feet in front of my car! With the fog was a temperature of around 60 degrees, so it was great football weather! It turns out that it was a great day to pour a foundation as well.
The first truck rumbled in the distance promptly at 7:00 am. The foundation workers showed up about 10 minutes earlier and walked the site as I was getting the last of the pre-foundation pictures taken. The first truck showed up at in front of the site at around 7:00 and the second truck showed up about 5 minutes later.
A couple of notes here:
First, when I walked the grounds I noticed new additions from my last visit including:
- Sidewalks were framed and rebar in place
- Driveway was framed also with rebar in place
- A wide pipe in the front of the house was broken
Second: when the cement mixer truck starts to spin up the large drum containing the concrete to high revolution, this is because water is being added to the concrete to get it to the correct viscosity/workability/consistency. I also found out that the concrete in the drum would harden in about 3 to 4 hours so that timing is of extreme importance when getting "ready mix" to a job site.
The first truck rolled up onto the home site at 7:13 am. He dumped a small amount of concrete into the foundation and the driver of the truck and the foundation team supervisor checked the consistency of the load. They seemed to be pleased because pouring started within 5 minutes... this process of checking the consistency was done for each of the 10 trucks that brought loads to the site over the next few hours. The second truck started pouring at 7:27 as the first truck finished dropping his ten yards of concrete into the foundation around that same time. The sun finally started to show up from behind the fog and clouds at around 8:20.
The operational precision of the foundation building process was impressive to say the least. As soon as the first truck started onto the site, the foundation workers moved into position. Each worker had a specific role:
- The lead was the one directing the driver with respect to flow of concrete. He did this via hand signals to the driver. The lead was also responsible for directing the chute to the place where the concrete was poured.
- Two workers were responsible for pushing the liquefied concrete to the exact place where it was to end up. These guys also broke down any big chunks and worked them when they rolled off of the shoot.
- When these two workers pushed concrete to the edge of the frame, another worker outside the frame was responsible for shoveling earth right up to the frame. The thickness of the concrete would allow it to seep through if this function weren't performed.
- The last two team members were responsible for smoothing the concrete that had been worked into place by the other team members. They did this with a magnesium 2x4 that was about 15 feet in length. Magnesium tools are used for concrete work since the concrete won't corrode them...
- The worker who shoveled the earth to the edge of the frame also worked with a concrete vibrator along the edges of the frame.
Eight trucks dropped full loads onto the home’s foundation. The ninth truck put a partial load into the foundation and the rest of his load went to the driveway. The tenth and final truck dumped his load into the driveway as well – total of 100 yards of concrete went in today! Our architect Rocky told me that in a normal build, the sidewalks would have been poured today as well; the reason that this wasn’t done is because of the broken pipe I saw during my initial walk of the site. It turns out that this pipe is the sewage pipe and must be repaired before the sidewalks can be poured.
With all of the concrete poured, the next group of tasks included more smoothing and detailing. There were several tools used here:
- Walking Edger – this tool is used to round the edges of the foundation
- Magnesium trowel – this tool, at the end of a 20 foot handle, is used to refine the smoothing of the slab surface.
- Walking trowel – a machine with 5 magnesium blades that is used to further refine the smoothness of the slab
- Plastic buckets – in the finished slab, you can see black plastic buckets around a couple of the PVC piped areas. The buckets are used to keep the concrete from making these pipes unmovable. The buckets are filled with sand and will be removed when the foundation cures. The reason that these pipes need to be moved and others do not: these are the pipes for drainage of the master bath and shower and need to be moved to pair with these units in exact fashion later in the build.
Once the final touches were being done on the foundation, there were a couple of things left to do to personalize the process. First, each family member put a handprint in the back patio. Second, we etched our family name and the date on the driveway. We also etched in 2 Samuel 7:29. This passage is a prayer from David to God after the prophet Nathan revealed God’s promises concerning David, his earthly kingdom and his future. The entire verse is here:
Now be pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever in your sight; for you, O Sovereign LORD, have spoken, and with your blessing the house of your servant will be blessed forever."
The last thing I did on the site was offer a prayer to God of my own. I kneeled next to the driveway, in plain sight of all who were present and asked the God to bless and protect all those who have worked on this home, all those who are yet to work on the home, and to those who will enter the home after it is completed. I thanked him for his love and mercy; it is only through his loving grace that we have been able to get this far. And I prayed these things in the name of Jesus, my personal savior.
See you next time!