Odessa Farmhouse Building Progress
Pouring concrete footers is a fairly straightforward operation in the construction process.
First – inspect all of your footers to make sure that none of your side walls have caved in and all of your rebar is still elevated above the bottom of the footers.
Second – get your pump truck in place so that it can access the entire slab and can receive the cement trucks.
Third – start pouring your footers using your pump.
With the following very basic system you will get a footer that is the correct depth and is a flat and level surface for the block Mason to install his block.
On a slab of this size you need about six guys including the cement truck driver.
Guy #1 (they all tend to be guys) holds the hose and distributes the cement. Technically it is chat-mix cement.
Guy #2 moves the bulk of the hoses around so that the guy distributing the cement can move around freely.
Guy #3 uses a level to confirm that the cement is being poured into the slab to the correct height.
Guy #4 uses a rake to distribute the concrete to the correct height based on instructions he is receiving from the guy with the level.
Guy #5 uses a shovel to smooth out the top of the footer so it creates a nice flat surface.
Guy #6 is the cement truck driver and operating the distribution of the concrete to the pump.
Two methods are used to confirm the correct height.
First, we install metal rebar grade stakes that are set to the correct height off of the footer. This is the level that the pump guy uses to know he is at about the correct height.
The guy with the level then confirms that the top of the footer is correct by placing his level to the top of the concrete and then leveling that to the correct height as per the string lines.
After the concrete has set in the footer for about 10 minutes the guys then go back and place the rebar uprights into their vertical position. This is done so that the cinder block can be installed over this rebar which allows the entire structure to be then strapped down to the rebar in the footer.
This strapping process is repeated as framing elements and roofing are added in to the house so that the entire house from the roof all the way down is strapped to the ground.
Follow this equestrian home as it develops here on our blog. If you would like more information on Charter Bay Home Builders contact us.
