Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Week 7: November 2 - 8


Week 7, we are finally ready for our concrete placement. The morning started off with us meeting the owner of the concrete company. We waited a little bit for the truck, but when it arrived, everything started moving forward immediately. The driver backed the truck up as close as he could get to the shed, with the arm extended.


The concrete is starting to slide down the chute. Some people were helping to move it along. In the picture above, you can see the vapor barrier that was laid out and the mesh that was laid on top of it. The mesh will help reinforce the concrete, giving it more tensile strength since that is where concrete is most vulnerable.


Starting to get enough concrete in the bay to pull and shovel it around. Started pulling it towards the back of the bay, since the driver will be able to move forward and unload more concrete towards the front.


You can see in the picture above, Alex pulling the mesh up with his hoe. We like to aim to have the mesh in the 1/3 lower region, giving the concrete the best possible support.


Here we are screeding the concrete. The guys in front are pulling the concrete, trying to minimize pockets and mounds, while two on either side of the screed are pushing and pulling it back and forth (like a saw) to flatten the concrete out and get it one step closer to it's finished look.


The bull float is used last. It gives the wet concrete a high glossy finish, removing imperfections from the top layer. The handle is very long, giving a large range of mobility for the user. Keeps us from dipping our toes in the wet concrete!

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