Stripping Footing Forms

After the fun we had pouring the footings we took a few days off. We covered everything up the day we poured so we figured we would uncover and strip forms. Once again, My father and father-in-law were a big help.

Pouring Footings--Day from Hell Starts

There are a few days in a guys life that you fondly refer to as "the day from hell". This was one of them. We knew ahead of time that it was going to be interesting but when we looked at the thermometer and saw 10 degrees it just confirmed our suspicions. Thankfully I had enough people there to get things going. We called Fisher Sand and Gravel and had them add some extra Hi-Early to the mix to help with the cold and got rolling. When the pump showed up we got to work. As with most inexperienced crews, the first 60' of footings were a LOT OF WORK. Holy cow it was hard on us moving the mud twice. We got the hang of it pretty quickly though. I had to run the pump for about 50', then stop and go screed the footings while Kelly, Butch, Lonnie, and Lonnie's friend would shovel the excess flat, pick up the rebar, and mag the corners. Then we would start all over and do it again. 18 yards later we were done pouring. Then we had to set the vertical rebar. Kelly tool the last picture and as you might notice, it was getting dark. And we still had to cover everything back up!!

Finishing Footing Forms

We got the footing forms finished up and staked into place. Butch was a real slave driver but thankfully he let us take lunch. Then the real fun started. My father and Butch got involved when I broke out the laser level. Both ex-surveyor/engineer/supervisor types the exchanges became heated. Set grade up 2, down 1, where's the high spot....What ARE YOU THINKING???? It was funny in the end but the pictures caught the moment pretty well. The sunset was a very nice end to the day.

Footing forms and finish of excavation

Once again the Kelly boys made the dirt fly. While I was getting ready to set footing forms, Bernie dug in both the cistern (fresh water) and the septic piping and set them to grade. I was able to get the upper part of the footing forms mostly built as Bernie switched to digging the trench for the lower footings. The footings in the front had to be set into a trench to keep them below the frost line.

December 8th--Ground Breaking 2

December 8th--Ground Breaking

It was a good day. Progress at site, Finally. I showed up with my Father-In-Law (Butch) in tow along with a load of insulated concrete forms (www.ecoblock.com, 2x6 footing forms, rebar, and $1300 worth of frost blankets. Mark and Bernie Kelly were already there. They are a bit of a success story too. Both of them worked underground at Stillwater Mine. I had the good fortune of starting my underground carreer with both of them and I feel that I owe a lot to them for keeping me alive for that critical first year. Now to get the chance to work with them in the sunlight is a real treat. They are a real class act.