Post date: Apr 22, 2015 2:07:06 AM
Nowadays concrete is not poured, it is pumped. Even in a little town like Taos there are two concrete pumps. Yesterday we set the reinforcing and got it inspected, so today we were able to pump ten (cubic) yards of concrete into the footings. I helped screed (level) the concrete and pound on the forms to release bubbles near the edge. Jake manned the hose from the concrete pump. Eli moved extra concrete to low spots. Since this was a BIG concrete pump, all the action was fast and furious. It took longer to set up and clean up the pump than to deliver concrete.
While Eli was smoothing the surface of the footings, we got our temporary electric power connected. We don’t seem to have an electric meter yet, but all is ready when it arrives. Interestingly, we now need two separate ground rods near the meter, and the steel in the foundation must be connected to the electric ground as well. A bit of extra over-redundancy. (When our Seattle house was built the only ground connection was the water pipe out to the water meter. But now the water pipe is plastic.)I paid my first construction bill today (gulp). They will come weekly from now on, so should not be such big bites. Since this is a time and materials (or cost plus) job, I have only a guess as to the final price. I have allocated $10,000 per week. We’ll see how far that goes!