GARAGE STEP 2 - CONCRETE

At 6 am, the concrete crew arrived at the house, well before the days first light.  In fact, they were using the headlights of a couple of their trucks to start getting ready for the first concrete truck, which was due to arrive at 6:30 am.  The sequence of photos shows the progress in pouring 52 yards of concrete, that came in 5 trucks.  Each truck was capable of carrying 11 yards maximum.  At a little over $100 a yard, the concrete alone was well over $5,000.

Before the first truck arrived (pictured above), the forms were broken at the front of the garage, allowing the trucks to go all the way to the back for the pour.  The alternative was wheelbarrows, which would have taken forever.  When the concrete on the ground got nearer to the front, the forms were replaced, and the pour continued, eventually, all the way around the front of the house.

 

 At the back, the footings were almost 3 feet deep, and the first truck didn't have enough concrete to complete the foundation around the perimeter.

In order for the trucks to back up through the front foundation trench, a lot of lumber was placed in the hole, making a temporary bridge.  The first 3 trucks arrived one right after the other, then the pace slowed a little bit for the last 2 trucks.  By 9:30 am, all of the concrete was on the ground.

The many phases of finishing concrete takes awhile, and one of the keys is to have enough people to do the job.  When this much mud is going on the ground, there's only a limited amount of time before the material is unworkable.   There were 7 guys on this crew, and the pace was pretty much non stop until about noon.

When the front apron/ramp was finished, first the sidewalk, then the patio in front of the house was the next area for concrete.  This section went quite a bit faster, as there was no deep footings to pour.
By 2 pm, the garage slab, the walkway, and the patio was finished.  The forms had been removed, and the job was done.

 When the first batch of concrete was going into the rear foundation, the forms started to blow out, causing some emergency bracing, and re-alignment of the top form.

The finished project is a 32' x 47' slab for the garage, and a 32' x 17' ramp, or apron in front of the garage.  In front of the house, the patio area is approx. 12' x 40', and the sidewalk is about 30' feet long, tying into the ramp in front of the garage.

 
This second phase of construction, on the way to a garage/shop is now done, and the crew did an excellent job.  I gave the leader some extra money, and bought some beer for the guys when the job was finished.  I've done my share of concrete jobs over the years, and it's not easy work. 

Next step is delivery of the lumber on Monday, when framing is supposed to start.  The trusses will be here Tuesday, and we should have an enclosure by Wednesday.  Things are finally moving a a pretty good pace.