Concrete arrived this morning

We drove down to watch 42 cubic yards of concrete pour into the forms at the house site. A total of ten people were involved in filling the holes and trenches and the above-ground forms to make our foundation. It looks super strong, and should keep the house from either sinking into the ground or flying off in a strong wind.

Five trucks brought in the load, spaced 30 minutes apart. Each in turn backed up to the concrete pump and dumped nice wet slurry which traveled down the hose to a man whose job was to distribute it among the forms. He wore a wireless control box which allowed him to turn the pump on and off remotely as he dragged the hose from one spot to another.

The last part to be poured was the little twelve-by-twelve-foot parking pad where we can drive up with groceries and take them through the mud room to the pantry. We plan to put a fridge and a freezer in the mud room to supplement the refrigerator in the kitchen. When you live in the boondocks, you need additional food storage so you don’t have to trot off to the grocery store every few days.

After the forms are removed, the next thing is to put up the “pony walls,” the wooden walls on which the floor joists will be secured, then the sub floor.