Construction update #6

Here's the overview of the site on Wednesday night. Gene and Sam have been busy mixing cement and laying block, and as you can see, the first course is almost all the way done, while the second course is complete on the west wall. Conspicuously absent is the excavator. Its owner came and retrieved it today. We are very thankful for the full week of use we got out of the machine.

After a rain-shortened day on Thursday the 28th, we see that Gene and Sam still made good progress on the second course in the three short dry hours they had. The crenallated look on the east wall is not an intended design feature, we just wanted to keep the last batch of blocks out of the mud.

On Thursday, we only received one or two tenths of an inch of rain during the day, but overnight Thursday night we collected 1.8" in our rain gauge. It's a good thing the first course was complete before that heavier rain arrived, as some of the mud around the foundation was washed on to the footing. On Friday the guys were able to complete the blockwork and Gene found a couple of gravel trucks just itching to deliver some gravel yet that afternoon.

Here's a view inside the block on the edge of one of the vehicle doors. You can see a steel rod in the block that runs down into the footing. Once the block is filled with concrete, the rod will make the foundation stronger at that point.

Here's a view looking southeast showing the block work ready for a bit of grading in the middle, followed by a nice layer of gravel and then some styrofoam and the heating lines before the floor can be poured.

Finally, here's a shot of the north wall where the water line enters the building (foreground), and the electrical conduits in the background.