Where's the concrete?

I have had a few people today ask “what happened to the concrete?”  as today was my scheduled pour day.

Well – what else – there was a delay 🙂

Last Sunday I knew I was not going to be ready for today and postponed till this coming Monday and now I am happy on two fronts that I did so. First, I will need tomorrow and all weekend to finish preparing for the pour.

I finished the 10M continuous bar through the upper curb last Saturday and then started working on the insulation inserts that are being placed inside the form work.  The inserts were complete Tuesday.  I am using the insulation as ‘form work’ to save money, time, and materials.  It did not make a lot of sense to cut sheets of plywood up into small strips to create the block outs needed for the insulation that will eventually be installed anyway.  Why not just use the insulation to create the voids needed for the concrete.  At 745 psf compression strength, it should be able to handle the 3ft of concrete that will be stacked next to it (600 psf is enough to support 4ft lifts of concrete). I wrapped the insulation in poly to allow me to peel off the insulation once the foundation is poured to allow me to re-use the insulation and to allow for the waterproofing of the foundation.

Yesterday, Eric and Bert came by and helped check off numerous items on my action list including marking location of all anchor bolts and then hanging a bolt from fishing line at each location so easily placed during pour.  They also wrapped the threads with tape to prevent fouling by the concrete. Bert also did a major cleanup of the site, moving a lot of material I had stored along the property line, down into the pit near the eventual basement walkout.  This way it is out of site of the neighbours.

While they were occupied, I was working on the vertical supports for the top curb and continued this task today.  I hope to finish the form supports tomorrow and then work on the multiple foundation penetrations for the plumbing, HVAC, and electrical over the weekend.

The second reason it turned into a good decision to delay relates to the fact that I have yet to have my District inspection.  On Monday, my inspector emailed stating he was sick and would not be able to do my inspection.  The file was given to another inspector but they called and advised they could not do the inspection because of ‘issues’ with the file.  I advised “no problem, as long as Richard can do by today, I will be fine”.  As of this morning there was no follow up and when I phoned, I was informed Richard was still off sick and that I had to speak with the Building Manager.  I went down in the afternoon and it turns out that the Manager was not aware that I had received sign-off, by a building envelope engineer, for the foundation waterproofing.  It was clear the Manager had a strong prejudice against the Durisol ICF.  I presented all of the various schedules that had been requested of me, and this seemed to do the trick.  I have booked another inspector for tomorrow – so here’s crossing my fingers (and toes).

Monday will either be a great day or a disaster – I am on pins and needles to find out which!

Thanks for visiting.