2 Days Compressed Into 1!

The guys (all guys, sadly) really came through for me today.... it was magic.  The waterproofers (predicatably missing yesterday after getting slighted on Wednesday), showed up around 9am to start and complete the installation of bitumen, membrane, and weeping tile....

... then Mohammed, the City Inspector, showed up and passed the waterproofing, pending some photos of gravel to be shot later in the day to protect the weeping tile.  10 minutes later, George and the gang arrived to start backfilling, though we were still waiting for the stone.  However, the outside wall of the garage was a place to start while we waited...

.... then the stone slinger guy from Rock Concrete showed up and expertly shot 12" or so of gravel around the house to protect the weepers.

...Finally, George was back at it working on the backfill.  Don't try this at home - this was a busy, complicated day, but it has worked out really well!

Stripping the forms

Fred's crew from Rock Concrete was in today to remove all of the forms.  Unfortunately the crane broke down so we couldn't get them removed...which should make tomorrow interesting - more on that....tomorrow!

Here we go

As promised, Rock Concrete was here early this morning to start the foundation wall pour.  If the weather is decent, we'll be able to strip the forms tomorrow, waterproof Wednesday and start to back fill as early as Thursday.  Sweet!

Ready for concrete

We are ready for concrete, and even though the weather is good today, we've been reshuffled and will not be pouring until Monday.  However, the weather looks good, and with the way I've got things scheduled, we should be good to get things closed up soon.

Forming the walls

The weather has been funny lately... rather then those cool, crisp late fall/early winter days, we are getting mildish wet weather that has caused a few delays with the walls.

However, Kevin, the lead hand from one of the Rock Concrete crews, was in today during a blowing mist, to get things started on the walls.  Hopefully we'll be able to pour on Friday, but it will depend on this unpredictable weather.

Survey for repinning

Tom Senkus was in today to repin the wall locations on the footings.  This step is sometimes not done by some builders, which can lead to big problems - once the walls are poured and if they are found to be in the wrong location it can have very serious implications.  With the footings accurately nailed with the wall locations, we eliminate a lot of potential problems.

Stripping the footings

Before the next step, forming the walls, the strippings need to be stripped of any "organic" material.  We got in there and cleaned things up this morning.  We now wait for the surveyor to come repin the wall locations on to the footings, which should be done by Thursday.

Footings poured

Rock concrete was in today to clean and pour the footings.  The soil conditions are unbelievably good for the winter - no signs of water and lots of clean sand.