Our current goal has been met! Phew! We wanted to get the footings and stem walls poured before the holidays. None of us want to work on the project until after the 1st of January, so this leaves time for the plumber to do his rough-in plumbing. (photo left) Before the concrete and pumper trucks arrive with concrete for the footings, we clean the trenches once more, check our string lines for accuracy and use the transit to double check footing depths. The more accurate these are, the easier it is later. Visitors such as my father, left, are put to work. He came to participate in Steven's graduation never knowing he'd be digging trenches.
The concrete finally arrived at the end of the day. A pumper truck with a boom supported the heavy concrete pumping hose. Even with the help of the boom, Steven still had to manhandle the hose to direct the concrete into the trenches. Rebar pounded into the bottom of the trenches helped him get the concrete to the proper depth. It's a sloppy and imprecise job, for sure; and even more so for amateurs. Fortunately, it's also pretty forgiving. We smoothed the concrete into the bottom of the trenches and leveled it as best we could.
Because our trenches kept caving in (being mostly sand) some ended up larger than needed. We opted not to form them, but use the trench itself as a form. As a result some of our footings are larger than necessary, which isn't a problem; just extra concrete. Once the concrete began to set up, we inserted L-shaped pieces of rebar into it. Orange rebar caps protect workers from getting scraped or stabbed by the rebar which is very sharp. The rebar will connect the footings to the stem walls.
Our youngest son Evan, left, jokes with his friend Travis while they set the forms on top of the footings the next day. The rebar, which was inserted into the footings (above), comes up through the bottom of the forms, which are leveled and positioned precisely, according to the string guides. Once the forms are in place, we backfilled the sides with dirt to hold the forms securely while they are filled with concrete. They are also wired and glued together.
	Ahhh, the concrete! We're ready to go....and the truck is late. Again.
An hour later.....(photo right) The end of the story is that the truck finally came and we poured the stem walls, smoothed them out and inserted anchor bolts every 3 feet. The anchor bolts will attach the walls to the foundation. More photos will be added soon! Christmas is upon us! Have a great holiday everyone! We'll be back here soon thereafter with our work clothes on, ready to go!