Back Yard Update

The backyard has finally dried out enough for Chris to work.  Since he's still waiting for permits to start the interior construction, he's doing everything he can outside while the weather is nice.

This is what the patio is looking like these days.

The lower area is nicely graded out.  See the transit?  That's to make sure the grade slopes away from the house enough.  Good drainage is the name of the game these days.  Look at that gorgeous rich dirt.  Thats what you get when you just let the leaves and debris decompose for 30 years or so.

Chris on the hillside.  I believe the retaining boards are finally gone for good.

The staircase from the deck down to the backyard are finally gone.  They were a little shaky.  I wasn't so crazy about walking up or down them with anything heavy.

Chris digging dirt.

Chris pushing dirt. 

Hey look!  He's dug up some of the firewood they used for traction to get the excavator out the last time it was in the backyard.  For a refresher, you can see that fateful day here.

The buried firewood.  It was like a time capsule.  Or the early stages of petrified wood.  Now it will just go to our house to be split and stacked in the wood shed.  Yes, we do have a wood shed.

Dan on the patio.  Hi Dan!

This would be the remains of the steps from the patio to the lower area.  You were good steps for all those years.  Time to go.

Poor Me

So this weekend was something else.  I hurt my back while digging in a ditch at the house.  When it happened, I thought I was dying.  Holy cow.  Luckily for me I have a nephew who is a Chiropractor who convinced me I was not actually dying, and gave me some direction as to pain relief.  He didn't even chastise me on my technique (lift with the legs, idiot).  If he were closer, I would have hobbled over to his office for assistance, but as he's 2500 miles away, I settled for emails.

Here is the trench in question.  I was standing in it, digging out that mucky clay you see to the left.  This picture was taken yesterday, after the pipe and drain rock went in,  as I was in no condition to take pics after the incident.



This is me, after Chris picked me up out of the trench.  Here I am walking and crying.  Not the most flattering angle for a photo, but hey, I was in no condition to model.



Sport and the big dog shoveling drain rock to fill the trench.  3 1/2 tons, to be exact.  Look how happy they are.  Maybe it's just the novelty of Chris behind the camera, rather than me.  I like to hope they aren't expressing their amusement at my walking and crying.  I don't get a lot of sympathy around here.

Concrete Pour

So as promised, here are the pictures of the concrete pour.  Chris took the first three, as I wasn't there when the mixer truck was unloading the concrete.

Here's the truck, on the left pouring concrete. 

Here are the finishers in the concrete.  I think they're in the process of pulling the rebar up into the concrete.  I told you it was messy.

A closeup of the chute off the back of the truck.  And the back of one of the finishers.  Hey, I didn't take the picture, just commenting.

After work I stopped by to snap some pics.  The finishers have the concrete all smoothed off, and have put in the grout lines.  Grout lines are to control the cracking of the concrete, so that when it cracks, it will do so in the lines instead of all over the slab.  That would be so unattractive.

A closeup of the finisher, finishing.

 Hey lady, why are you taking pictures of me?  The things guys on Chris's jobs must put up with.

Looking down the street.   Left to right:  sidewalk, driveway approach, gutter.  See, it does make more sense when you can see it poured.

One of the finishers working the last of the concrete.  See how it's still a little rough?  He'll just keep working it with his float to smooth it out.

Close up of floats.  These are the big ones (I think they're called "bull floats") that have long handles for the early work.  You can see one of the finishers with one in the first picture that Chris took.

Finishing the driveway approach.  This guy has decided to ignore me.  It's better that way.

Forms

Today the concrete contractor set up the forms for the concrete. The guys then tied the rebar within the forms.  The rebar used here are steel rods 3/4" in diameter.  They're tied together with wire into a grid to reinforce the concrete.  Concrete has a high compressive strength, but a much lower tensile strength.  Meaning it will hold up to driving heavy equipment on it (compression), but doesn't have the lateral strength - if the edge of the slab is suspended (like if some dirt under it washed away), it could be snapped off.  The rebar helps give the slab the needed tensile strength.  Gee, how do I know so much about concrete?  Well, that would be because I work for a redimix company.  I could talk concrete until you start to nod off.  Which you might already be doing.  Sorry.

 Most of the forms are in, the guys are just finishing up.

 Here is what will be the sidewalk.  You can see two lines of rebar and the start of the third in between them.

 Look at all that bending.  Concrete work is hard on the back, let me tell you.  Because I do so much finishing, you know.  Okay, okay, not finishing, but I have tied rebar before, and that is murder on the back.  Do you know who is the rebar tying champion?  Sport.  No joke.  That kid is a pro.

 Here we are looking up the length of the gutter.  You can see where the curb will be to the left of it.

 From the right:  the first form is for the gutter pan, then the 2 driveway approaches, then the sidewalk.  Wow, that was confusing.  Maybe it'll make more sense when you see the concrete in place.  Or maybe when I learn to write a coherent sentence.  Lets put our money on the concrete.

 Here's a closer look at the rebar.  When the concrete gets poured into the forms, the finishers pull the rebar up so it is suspended in the slab.  Concrete work, not only hard on the back, but messy.

And here we have one last look at the forms.  Tomorrow, I'll show you the pour!

Baserock

So here's another day of sidewalk prep.  I know, it takes a lot longer than you would think, doesn't it?  The next step, shown here, is the baserock.  They dump it into the area to receive concrete, smooth it out, then compact it.  I wasn't at the job during any of that, sorry.  Here are some pics of the compacted baserock.

I'm standing at the end of the old sidewalk.

 

Here I am a little farther up.  You can see the two driveway approaches (ours and the neighbors) and the gutter area ready to go.

This is our driveway approach.  See how nicely  Chris has that rolled down to the gutter?  He's not pouring the driveway or sidewalk up to the house until later.  We still have work to do in the backyard, and the last thing Chris wants is the excavator driving on his nice new driveway.  Normally, he wouldn't have done any of the concrete work until the end of the job, but this sidewalk was in such bad shape that it was a hazard.  We really didn't want someone tripping on it, suing us, and getting this house!  Sorry pal.  You want the house, you have to put in the time hauling trash and rats.

Here's a look at the end of the  old sidewalk.  It's been saw cut so there will be a nice clean line between the old concrete and the new.

 

And here we have one last look at the project standing in front of the neighbors house.  Next up, building concrete forms.

More Sidewalk Prep

Hi everyone, I haven't posted for a few days because I was at a 3 day baseball tournament with the big dog.  It was great fun, and even more fun, his team won the tournament!  Yay!

So this is what Chris was doing while Sport, the big dog and I were away.

Here you can see all of the sidewalk and gutter have been removed.  This is actually in front of the neighbors house.

In front of our house....sidewalk, gutter and driveway approach....all gone.

This is the remains of the front stoop.

Dan jackhammered that all out.

Almost ready for the concrete contractor to come in and set up forms.

Preparing for the New Sidewalk

Today we're back outside.  Chris is taking out the sidewalk and driveway aprons.  Our driveway came out a week or so ago, and the new ones should be poured at the beginning of next week.

Look at my big strong fella break that concrete slab with a sledge hammer.



 

 And walk back to his excavator to pick it up.

 Now that's a more manageable size.

 Into the dirt box.  Or in this case the concrete box.

 The sidewalk is all out, and Chris is starting on the driveway aprons.  I say aprons, plural, because the next door neighbor is redoing theirs as well.  Chris is taking that one out now...see him waaaay up the street?

 Hey, hey, hey, don't drive and talk on your cell phone.

More concrete into the box.

 That's a lot of sidewalk right there. 

 This is what it looks like from the seat of the excavator.  I kind of like it up here.

 My legs.  And pedals and controls.

 Some more controls.

Hey!  Mom was right!  I'm on the tractor and look who's on the broom!