Monday, June 13, 2011

Pouring the Basement Floor

On June 13, Vince and his crew had finished preparing the wire mesh and rebar for the basement floor. We again had the pumper truck. It was really intriguing to watch them pour and smooth the basement floor. Eight guys, each with various jobs to do, and all working hard. I was amazed at how fast they finished it. 

 

Then later after the top had set up a bit, Vince and David used large machines to finish the surface. 

And, no, I didn't write my name in the floor!

Monday, June 6, 2011

Our brick and roofing colors

We spent a lot of time making the decision on the brick and the shingles, but we finally made up our minds. These photos are of houses in our area with the brick AND shingles we are going to use.




The brick is from Interpace, and its name is "Mount Woodson". The shingles are from Tamko and the name is "Black Walnut". Appropriate, since this house is named "Walnut Springs".

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Pouring the Basement Walls

Well, we had a tornado on May 22, 2011, which was an EF-5 and pretty much leveled a large swath through the middle of Joplin. So it took a bit longer than usual to get our forms up and ready to pour the basement walls. Our crew was great, though, and amazing to watch. Vince is the boss, and he is there working as hard as his guys. 

This is the day after the tornado--the forms are started but not yet completed. May 23. Luckily, we didn't have any damage from the storm.

They poured the walls on June 1, 2011. In the video below, Vince is standing on the top of the walls as he directs the concrete into the forms. Chris is keeping an eye on the flow and making sure the form fills without any air gaps. Another guy is monitoring the forms for leakage on the outside, and there's probably another guy doing the same on the inside. The pumper truck driver is running the pump with his remote control, and Sam and Jim are on the sidelines analyzing the job.



Here is another shot, up close and personal!