The concrete was scheduled to arrive at 2pm Gordon and I got to work at 7am – and scrambled most of the morning to finish up the ‘details’ before the pour. Like making cleats that would tie the forms together at the top so they don’t spread out. And installing bracing – also designed to insure that the formwork stays put against the massive pressure of the concrete being dumped into them. Austin hauled material into the pit for us to cut up. He pounded stakes for the braces. He gathered the hose and made sure we had a source of water nearby. Around 12:30, we felt we were pretty well ready, so we sat down for lunch. Francis showed up. After eating, I started gathering the anchor bolts – and distributing them around the site for ease of placement after the concrete was poured and finished on the top. And that’s when I discovered there weren’t enough bolts. This could be a serious problem. The window of opportunity for wet-setting bolts is slim – and because this was a hot day – the concrete would surely set up and be too hard to push the j-bolts into the mud within 45 minutes of being poured. Amazing Austin to the rescue! He went to the lumberyard while Francis and Gordon and then David K and Troy helped build a form for the center pier, and install steel and brace it. Ilgvar arrived and pitched in where he could. We were still buttoning up this center form when the pump arrived. Fortunately for us, Bryan is a mellow and experienced operator – and set the rig without any input from us. And then the first concrete truck arrived. Troy was on the hose again, Francis was handling the vibrator motor, Austin was the cord wrangler, and David K took over dipping the stinger. Ilgvar took pictures, Gordon was ground control and I tried to stay out of the way – and look important at the same time. The forms creaked and strained – and thankfully Troy suggested that we pour the walls in several lifts, rather than fill them up to the top at once. This reduces the strain on the bracing and cleats and minimizes the possibility of the forms giving way. So, it came as a surprise to Gordon and I when David called BLOWOUT! We raced over to the area – and sure enough, the outside form was leaning a good 2 inches away from the interior of the building. NOT GOOD. The concrete walls need to be pretty much dead-on for the floor and wall panels to fit precisely over them. But wait! The boards that lined the form structure were still pretty much intact because the cleats at the top held them to the interior formwork. With some creative carpentry and a little bit of persuasion, we ‘addressed’ the problem, and stabilized the form from moving any further out of line. And while Gordon and Austin were dealing with this issue, the pour continued – without a hitch. Oh , except when the center pier was being filled. It took over a yard of concrete, and it was a great place to empty out the hose….but the pressure to push that last bit of concrete out of the hose is about 4000 psi (pounds per inch) – and those blasts are what did our makeshift center form in…one side blew out, the concrete poured out and around one wall (like lava swallowing up a house) – fortunately it was against the bank… and Bryan came down into the pit and helped pull the formwork out of the mud, and smooth it out …. Ilgvar and David K and Austin and Francis were already starting to screed the top of the forms when I came behind them installing foundation bolts ( AKA anchor bolts, J-bolts). There were about 80 bolts to push into the mud, wiggle around and straighten up – so it was good that Gordon grabbed a handful and worked from another part of the foundation. The mud was beginning to get stiff by the time Gordon and I placed our last bolts. Troy came after us and tapped and straightened every bolt as the mud got stiffer and stiffer. All in all – it was a good day – thanks to the work of many hands and lots of joie de vivre and the camaraderie of a band of friends. We celebrated afterwards with cool drinks and chips laid out on the tailgate of Gordon’s truck, and watched in wonder as he fashioned a stabilizing contraption for his oxygen tank right there in the truck bed. (more pics here)

Phew – we were fried by the time we packed it in yesterday – and in spite of the heat – we made great progress. Installing the inside forms was not as difficult as I thought and in a few short hours we got more than 3/4 of them up! Therese popped in and out throughout the day – hauling piles of chopsaw cut-offs and organizing the recycling / garbage area. As well as providing watermelon and keeping the water jug filled and bringing me lunch! All this besides the general work of keeping the Groves running smoothly… Francis stopped by long enough to help get Gordon’s refilled oxygen tank down into the pit and inspect the progress. The crew for Friday’s pour is coalescing – I think we’ll have plenty of hands – let’s hope we have enough ice-cubes for the post-pour-margaritas. We’re starting at 8am today – hoping to beat some of the heat – the temps are slated to be even warmer today! Oh – and Oregon Yurtworks plans to deliver the packages ( 3 truckloads of house-panels) July 9 – 11, and their foreman will arrive July 16 for the BIG HOUSE raising party! We’re still assembling the crew for this two week adventure….

Yes – we invited the building inspector to take a look – and were given the go-ahead to take the next step in the building process. We can now pour concrete with the sanction of the powers that be. Of course, we’ll have to finish building the formwork – and that’s our goal this coming week. Concrete has been ordered, the pump company has been notified – all we have to do is provide the formwork, the crew and a couple of checks. Calling the Crew I called Francis on Friday, to see if he would be available to help us with this pour – and when I ran into him at the farmer’s market on Saturday – he said YES – he’d be there! I was very pleased. I’ll call David K when he returns from vacation in a couple of days and see if he and his compadres are available to provide the muscle and expertise…

A beautiful day for a pour! I woke up feeling excited and a little nervous. Would our flimsy plywood forms hold the massive weight and pressure of the concrete? Did we order enough or would we have too much concrete? Did we get the steel in the right place? Did we get the layout of this complicated 28-sided building right? Gordon arrived early and started in right away pounding the ‘extra’ 80 stakes into the hardpan ( there’s a reason it’s called ‘hardpan’ – the ground beneath all the organic matter that we walk upon is damned hard) with our trusty ‘smaul’ ( a small maul /sledge hammer). I’m still not sure how I whiled away the 3 hours before the scheduled arrival of the boom truck. Because of the terrain, the concentric ring shape of the footings, and because we’re all older now – we decided to use a boom pump to deliver the concrete, rather than the typical line-pump. I know that I’m not up to dragging a 4” hose full of concrete even 4’, much less the 268 lineal feet of footings we were intent on filling – and I’m not interested in having my friends drag one around either. It’s still hard exhausting work to wrassle that hose dangling from the end of the boom and keep it’s open end aimed into the footings, rather than having the mud sploodge out all over the place. Troy did an amazing job of concrete control and containment. I ran around behind him with the vibrator ( not the bedroom kind, this is an industrial model – tho probably adequate for the Jolly Green Giant’s missus). Evan alternately worked with me holding the motor while I dipped the business end of the vibrator ( aka ‘stinger’ ,‘donkey dick’, etc you get the picture) into the just plopped mud and fell back with David and Therese and Gordon screeding, trowelling and generally getting the concrete smooth and flat after it had filled the forms. Gordon got to do a little fire-pole work – some of the forms did bulge and buckle a bit – and this is where Gordon got to shine. He grabbed stakes, the real sledge as well as ‘smaul’ and ran around pounding stakes against sagging straining plywood forms – and generally managed to hold off that ‘disaster’ that creates so much excitement in any concrete pour: a blowout. When the formwork loses it’s integrity and allows the mud to move in an undesirable direction – you have two options. Keep on pouring and plan on renting a jack hammer the next day. Or stop the pump, all hands on deck as you shovel sticky heavy globs of mud away from the gaping wound and figure out some way to staunch the flow and repair the breach. In any event, you have an ugly job. Gordon saved the day several times! David and Therese filled in admirably – screeding and trowelling and generally managing to stay ahead of the concrete setting up and becoming so stiff that no amount of muscle is able to get it to relax into a nice smooth surface. Thank goodness for friends showing up at just the right time! And that’s been the story of this project from the beginning. Everything has unfolded at just the right time! We’ll keep you posted… although this kind of excitement doesn’t happen everyday – at least not around here.

Labels: foundation

In early 2006, we were catalyzed to build a new home here at Sacred Groves, a home for Tere and Therese to share with a few others, to expand our residential facilities and community living on this beautiful land. Therese has always had a dream of a round house and Oregon Yurtworks is helping us make this a reality with their beautiful designs. This photo is similar to what our new community house will look like. This new structure will be the heart and hearth of the Sacred Groves community, home for 4-6 residents. We will share the space in a communal manner similar to how the 4 of us currently living in the Groves now share the log cabin. Residents will have private space in one of the house bedrooms or in cabins detached from the house. Our intention is for those sharing this communal house to have a good blend of privacy and shared-life. We want to model a “small is beautiful” lifestyle with each person ‘downsizing’ to private spaces generally less than 300sq. feet. We intend to share cars, kitchen, bathroom and laundry with a commitment to the spiritual and personal growth required for community living. In May 2007, our dream is becoming a reality. We have ‘broken ground’ for the new house and the foundation is being built with carpenter Tere Carranza at the helm. Watch this blog for progress as the house grows.