September 15, 2004 - Wednesday - Today we pour the walls! Don't know why
this picture came out so dark. It looks like we started before dawn when
in fact we started about 11am. This shot shows the boom of the concrete
pumping truck looming high over the home.
September 15, 2004 - Wednesday - Applying and removing strapping takes a good
deal of time. On this home we decided to push the limits and test
where we could, and could not, get away with putting less or no strapping.
We decided that one place we would not put strapping this time would be corners.
This worked very well except for one corner...where we had a "blow out". A
"blow out" is when your forms break or give away and concrete comes spilling
out. Blow outs can happen to anyone using forms to place concrete, whether
you are using ICFs or standard forms. It may go without saying, but blow
outs are something to be avoided at all costs. This shot shows staff
member Mark Everson and our Regional Manager for Eco-Block, George Volker,
fixing the blow out. Our pumper truck operator Paul, kept reminding us
that at least with ICFs, you can easily fix the area of the blow out and pour it
again. This is very true but it still is VERY nerve racking to have a blow
out. The concrete that spilled out of the wall as a result of this blow
out can be clearly seen at Mark's feet. Many thanks to George
Volker for the blow out repair training. Struck us a bit like CPR training
however. Something that's great to have but hope you'll never have to use!
September 15, 2004 - Wednesday - Another shot of the pumper truck and boom.
The beams that appear to be protruding out from the pumper truck are its
"outriggers". Outriggers are built onto the pumper truck and are used to
make sure the pumper truck does not tip over when the boom is extended.
September 15, 2004 - Wednesday - Here is a shot of our fearless leader Jeffrey
Bruton up on the scaffolding, manning the hose at the end of the boom. The
concrete of course comes out of this hose and basically goes where you point it.
Eco-Block Regional Manager George Volker is directly below Jeffrey. George
is acting as the "move on" man here. By thumping on the walls, the "move
on" man can tell how much of the wall is full of concrete. When he decides
there is enough concrete in the wall at the current position, he tells the
person above manning the hose to "move on" further down the wall.
The job of the "move on" man is possibly the most important job during a pour.
When pouring ICF walls we DO NOT fill them up to the top with concrete in one
fell swoop. This would create WAY too much pressure on our forms and would
basically guarantee blow outs. The proper way of pouring ICF walls is in a
number of "rises". For example on the first "rise" we only fill the walls
up maybe two feet with concrete (measured from the bottom of the wall).
This is done for two reasons: First the pressure on the forms is kept to a
manageable level. Second, as we move around the home pouring the first
rise, the concrete has a chance to start hardening so that when we come around
for the second rise, the concrete from the first rise is already starting to set
(get hard). Depending on how the pour is going, we may elect to increase
the height of the rise on each subsequent rise, for example maybe to four feet
for each rise. This hopefully explains why the "move on" man is so
important since it is he/she that prevents us from putting in too much concrete
in the walls on any given rise. Notice George has his rain coat on during
the pour. It wasn't raining but he knew Jeffrey would be manning the hose
on this job and apparently he wanted to be prepared for a repeat of the pour in
Boring, Oregon a few weeks earlier when Jeffrey shot a good deal of concrete
down on George "by mistake". Sure enough it happened on this pour
too...but this time George was prepared!
September 15, 2004 - Wednesday - In this shot Mark "screeds" off the bottom of
the window buck for the breakfast area. "Screeding" is the process of
removing excess concrete and leaving a level (but not necessarily perfectly
smooth) surface.
September 15, 2004 - Wednesday - Here is a good picture of the pumper truck.
The concrete truck is just out of the picture to the right. You can
however see the chute of the concrete truck pouring concrete into the "hopper"
of the pumper truck.
September 15, 2004 - Wednesday - This shot is taken through a window and shows
George checking out Jeffrey's progress.
September 15, 2004 - Wednesday- When we see trickles of gray water coming out of
the seams of the walls its a pretty good indication the wall is full of
concrete!
September 15, 2004 - Wednesday - Another shot of Jeffrey and George going around
the Dining area bay windows. During what rise we don't know.
September 15, 2004 - Wednesday - This shot shows Jeffrey asking Paul, our pump
operator, to move the boom to a certain position. Pump truck operators
have both wired and wireless remote controls that they use to control the
position of the boom. For this pour Paul chose to use his wireless remote
control so he could be up on the scaffolding with Jeffrey. Its hard to
see, but Paul has the strap for the remote around his neck and the remote is in
front of him, just below his waist. Remember NEVER to play against a
pumper truck driver in any video game. They have LOTS of practice using
joysticks!
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