Foundation Preparation, Concrete Slab Pouring

Foundation Preparation, Concrete Slab Pouring 

Inspectors from the City of Gulf Shores came and met with my builder, Dan Zehentner today to inspect the central footing and slab area before it is poured. 

They did a very close inspection. 

The slab was poured very early July 28th. The webmaster had not gotten over to the job early enuf to take photos of the cement mixer :o) When I got there, the finishing procedures had begun. Scott Coutts was there with his men. One of them was scooping out concrete mix in the place where a plastic bucket was later inserted to allow for a depression where a sump pump could be placed if water should ever enter the basement area. 

Scott is using the rotating machine that floats across the finished surface of the basement floor. The rebar that is sticking up will go up through the center of the DAC-ART blocks as they are lowered over them to form the exterior walls of the house. It is important to know the exact placement of these rods so they go thru the opening in a block and not end up sticking up where two blocks meet. 

Footing Trench-- July 31, 2007

Scott used a cute little mini-back-ho to do the rough digging for the garage footing to the north and the porch footing to the south of the center part of the building which has already had the slab poured. The men hand dug the exact opening. 

Today, we had a meeting. Dan and me and Mike and Ryan of New Stone Age Builders. We discussed various options for a piece of equipment to stack the blocks. Renting vs. purchasing is one main consideration. I had spent some time researching on the web and especially eBay for flatbed boom trucks, telehandlers, truck-mounted cranes, etc.. Mike and crew wills tack our blocks, but we have to come up with the equipment to do it.

The inspector (yellow shirt) showed up to see the garage and porch footing. He OK'd the porch footing to be poured but not the garage. There was water present and it is true that we have had a lot of rain lately, but he wanted to be sure that we had not dug into a water aquifer. We will observe the north trench for a day or two. Unfortunately, it is raining again right this minute, and since it is blocked from run-off by the slab that is already poured, so it may take a few days to see if it dries out. 

Posted in: Concrete,design,slabs