Slab poured!!

So, we're at Day 11 of real work now.  Today the slab was poured!

Two truck loads of concrete were used.  I think in the end we used about 18 cubic yards.  19 was ordered, so we had a bit more than we needed.  We were able to pour the utility room "porch", but the other two pads weren't ready (and the workers needed to be able to move through those areas anyway).  Better to have a bit too much than not enough!

The concrete crew was very efficient, they were impressive to watch.  Our house was sort of divided into quarters and they began pouring in the western most "quarter" first.

You can see the metal "pins" that the concrete crew installed here - they have supports on them to hold the metal "board" that they used to create a temporary form and then they used it to scree the concrete.

Here's the shower form and drain form readied for the slab pour.  Our contractor will later create the more finished pan for the shower that we'll then tile or plaster over.  Not sure yet.

Here's the crew waiting for the first pour for the first quarter of our slab.

To handle some of the extra, a form was built for the utility room "porch".

The first of the pour is being directed into the interior weight bearing wall, on top of the concrete poured when the footings were poured.

Here's a video showing the technique this crew uses to spread the cement.  Hard work!












The first one quarter is poured and screed.

Waiting on the chute to be adjusted for the second quarter.

Second quarter is being screed.

Half the slab is poured and screed now.

Third quarter being poured. This is still the first truck load.

Still working on the third quarter pour.

The foreman climbed up the chute to get the last bit out from the first truck, still on the third quarter pour.

Cleaning it up a bit while up there.

The second truck has been backed in and is being directed so it can finish the third quarter pour.

While the rest of the crew was working on the third quarter pour, one fellow began using this tool:  roller tamper.  It helps to push the aggregate down.  He rolled it in each direction (East-West and then North-South) on the half already poured and screed.   There were multiple handle sections he could put on or take off depending on how far he needed to reach.

A different angle and closer up.

Roller Tamper again.

Next up, this fellow used a bull float on the poured half.  He did it in both directions again.  It's a very heavy looking tool.  It left definite lines.

This shows the bull float in use from a distance, you can see how far out he is able to reach.

Here, you can see the lines this tool leaves behind.

While the one guy was working on the troweling and the rest of the crew continued with the pour and screeing, our contractor set these bolts in the south facing wall's slab. Our south facing wall will be our only exterior stick framed wall.  The house is passive solar, so there's a lot of glass and it didn't make sense to try and make this wall a bale wall.

Here the fellow is using a fresno trowel, similar looking to a hand held pool trowel (rounded ends).  He did this in both directions also.

They are screeing the third quarter and about ready for the fourth and final.











After waiting a bit, the surface is ready for two men to work a smaller fresno in sweeping motions on the first half of the slab.

Here you can see them both working.  They rested the handles on their shoulders and would sweep the fresnos back and forth.  They had to be very careful of the angle.  Hard work engaging the core muscles for sure and lots of upper body movements.

This is called a power trowel.  The foreman here had a bottle of water he squirted ahead of the machine in the direction he was going.  This machine buffs and smooths the surface.  It is generally how commercial concrete floors are done.  It also does some more compacting as it works, creating a really hard surface.

Here's the finished slab.

It's been getting into the upper 80s and lower 90s.  Our pour began at 7am to try and beat the heat and let the concrete have time to really harden before potential monsoon rains in the afternoon.  Our contractor covered the slab with plastic to hold the moisture in and slow the cure down, while also protecting the slab from a possible hard rain.

While the concrete crew worked the slab, our plumber visited again.  He ran our bathroom drain line and our water supply lines to the bathroom under where our porch slab will be.







Quite a lot done today!