Concrete Jungle

(The Negligent Blogger part 3)

We went around and got several quotes for our stem walls from subcontractors, but the best option ‘got busy’ and neglected to tell us; they even went as far as to claim that they stopped by but couldn’t get up the driveway, even though our camera system indicated otherwise. All the other quotes were for over $10,000 for labor alone.

So we got ambitious and did them ourselves.

Simply carrying each 60+ pound AdvanTech panel up our driveway was an exhausting affair, so I can’t even imagine how heavy each fully built form was. While I sat behind a computer at work (and then traveled to Austin for a wedding), John and Reid each clocked around 200 hours of hard labor. The process used over $5,000 of lumber, 80 pounds of nails, 5,000 feet of 12 gauge steel wire, and 34 cubic yards of concret.

But the worst part of the process was the rain. A seemingly endless deluge – 4.5 inches during the period we were working on the stem walls – meant that the rain was a huge hindrance. A large portion of the time was spent weatherproofing everything over and over, having to take a break when storms came through, or wasting time trudging through thick mud during the rare, rain-free moments.

Every single day…

If we were to break down the time spent, it would probably look a little like this:

• 30% building the forms
• 30% dealing with rain
• 40% actual formwork (a hired contractor would bring their own forms, so this involves placing the forms, rebar work, securing forms with wire and wood, pouring concrete, etc)

The best way to truly document this process is through pictures, so I will let them do the talking:

An internal view of where the concrete gets poured, showing the steel wire that holds the forms in place once the weight of the concrete is added

Every form and every stack of wood needed cover from the rain.

The completed forms.

Starting to pour the concrete

The concrete is poured (and nothing collapsed)!