Day 2 - Forming and Pouring the Footings

Since there was rain in the forecast for last night and the possibility of a lot of it, Jay went to the site late last night and covered almost the entire driveway (300') with plastic to keep the driveway dry in case of rain.  He also secured the use of a pump to pump out any accumulated rainfall in the excavation hole.  Though it was certainly windy and the lightning was flashing, no rain fell.  The driveway and the excavation hole were both dry this morning!  Thank you, Lord!

The guys took up where they left off last night, framing out the footings with large 2x10s.  When I arrived just after lunch, they were putting the small pipes that are part of the drainage system for the underside of the house into the forms.  It is not the most conventional way of draining a house's foundation - often black corrugated and perforated pipes are used - but neither is this a new way.  This has been used many times with great success so we decided this was the route we would take. 

Once those pipes were in place, final bracing pieces on the tops of the footings were attached so I jumped in and helped. 

Then after a bit of a wait the concrete pumping truck arrived.  While it got settled into place we made sure all the last minute details for pouring the concrete were secured. 

A little while later the first of 2 concrete trucks arrived. 

That meant it was show time so I moved the kids to a higher and safer viewing area where they could watch all the action but not get in the way.

While the concrete was being pumped, Mr.W manned the pump hose,

Jay screed the concrete,

Mr.B (another guy we hired) moved concrete from the high spots to the low spots, and I "vibrated" the forms by smacking them on both sides with a hammer. 

If you want a good arm workout, that is one way to do it.  I now have a blister and calluses forming on that hand!  However, I got it easy.  Jay worked the hardest of all of us and I am sure his back will feel it tomorrow!

Pouring concrete is one of the more intense parts of the job since you have only a short amount of time to work with the concrete before it starts to set up on you plus you have only a certain amount of concrete to work with - you want to ensure you have enough without too much waste.  We had the PERFECT amount today!

After the second concrete truck came and went, we finished screeing all the concrete, leveled out the forms and smoothed them off. 

Once those were done we waited a little while before removing the extra bracing on the tops of the forms. 

After that, the guys inserted the rebar into the setting concrete as that will tie the walls into the footing.

As that was finishing up, the truck with the Fox Blocks arrived and delivered the Styrofoam forms we will be using for the walls.  After they arrived, we cleaned up the site for the day and called it quits (after all, we had supper and baseball to get to!).

So, at the beginning of today, this is what it looked like:

and at the end of today we have this:

All in all, it was another great day with great weather. I really enjoy working with Mr.W and Mr.B, and, of course, my hubby! We are all having fun working together in a relaxed environment and the progress is smooth and steady. Of course, it is only day 2 but we are so thankful for the great start!

PS:  If you are wondering who is taking all the photos when I am working, it is my oldest.  I hand him the camera when I start working and he snaps away, taking some really great pictures!

Partying over here: