Concrete Day

Let's talk about concrete and weather. Concrete dislikes when it is too hot or too cold. Concrete loves to be poured in weather between 50-60°F. Winter is approaching quickly. It's been hovering around 38-40°F occasionally dipping below freezing 🥶.

Concrete waits for no body.

Concrete Pouring Team

• Casey, the concrete pump guy AMJACK Pumping

• The concrete supplier Salomone RediMix

• Steve, the MPM of BN (Magnificent Project Manager of Bahay Namin)

• 4 laborers who understand concrete - George II, Jonathan, Xavier, and . . . I forget, but they love Chinese chicken and broccoli for lunch.

Concrete is flowing fast, it must be spread, agitated, and leveled quickly.

Concrete Calculation

According to Steve's careful calculations, he figured the amount of material we'll need is approximately 56 cubic yards of concrete for this phase of footings. He added another yard for the pump plus one more for good luck, 58 yards. Casey suggested adding an extra 2 yards just to be on the safe side, bringing the grand total to 60 cubic yards.

Controlling the unruly concrete pump hose is similar to wrangling an angry elephant.

56 + 2 = 58 +2 just in case = 60 cubic yards of 4500 PSI concrete

Delivery is scheduled for Friday - the only day forecasted this week the weather looks decent, meaning it's above freezing and no rain. Each concrete truck holds 10 yards, which means we need 6 truck loads.

To reach the furthest footing, the pump had to fully extend plus attach one 10' length of hose.

The Plan:

8:00   4 Laborers who understand concrete arrive.

10:00 Concrete Pump arrives - Setting up the outriggers and priming the pump will take Casey about an hour.

11:00 Concrete Trucks arrive - 6 trucks are scheduled to arrive spaced 15 minutes apart.

There's no lunch break on concrete day, because (say it with me now) concrete waits for no body.

Casey the concrete pump guy is a one man show. A seasoned professional and super-chill dude, he's been in the concrete business his entire life. Probably a second or third generation concrete guy. Steve said, "The concrete mason I used for twenty years turned out to be his uncle."

Inserting a key way along the center of the footing between the rebar hooks.

Casey planned to first pour the footings near the entrance of the site, closest to his truck; next pour the furthest footings; then work their way back to completion. He wants to ensure there is enough material within the pump to flow well.

Each concrete truck had to clean and dump out onsite before leaving. Instead of the usual 3500 - 4000 PSI, Steve chose to use a stronger mix of 4500 PSI, which is stickier stuff and more difficult to clean. Casey took like an hour and a half to super deep clean his pump truck, which makes complete sense, it being his livelihood and all.

We ended up dumping two yards. Steve gets an A+ for his mathing calc's.

Concrete day is a very long and labor intensive day.

The guys installed a key way. Steve thinks it was an unnecessary step because the rebar hooks are enough to stabilize the wall to the footing. No biggie.

Guess who stepped on the concrete?!!

The weather for the next 48 hours looks perfect for curing.

What's up next:

• Wait for the concrete to set completely.

• Remove all the forms.

• Build out footing forms for the next phase - deck and pool area.