Thank God Family!

Where do you look when you really need some help and have no money to pay for laborers?  Look no farther than the branches of your family tree.  Thank God for family!  The best free labor money can buy.

I had the pleasure of many family members coming to visit me when our beloved Greenbay Packers came to Seattle.

Nephew Jason, Sister Jennifer and Brother in Law Greg

We went to see a game that was robbed away from the Packers in the final seconds.  As we stumbled back to my place in disbelief and cried in our beers I came up with a brilliant therapeutic activity to take our minds off the mounting depression.  I will have them all help me pour the remaining concrete for footings and foundation wall.  What else would knock them football blues out of us then humping two and a half yards of concrete?  Actually I had set up my final concrete delivery for the day after the game well in advance knowing that I would have an army of family members to take advantage of being the cheap bastard that I am.

Greg's thinking it looks sturdy enough.

So there they all were at 8am with fresh coffee in hand.  Nephew Jason, sister Jennifer, brother-in-law Greg, father-in-law Larry and best friend Keith all ready for the final pour.

So perfect!  Kitchen Foundation Form

Last of the garage footing

I stood proudly over the forms I built so perfectly.  Boasted of how level and plumb they were.  Displayed the artistry of the well placed re-bar and the sturdy bracing.  Presented how clever I was to build ramps into the bracing system so that the wheelbarrows could easily be pushed up into place to pour the cement.  I proclaimed how fast and easy the pour was going to be.  It had to be as I only had 2 hours with the concrete guy before he started charging me $135 per hour.  But you quickly learn that thinking about how a concrete pour is going to go, and how it really does go can be two different realities.

Jason shoveling as fast as he can

Things started smoothly.  Just as I planned.  But concrete is heavy, especially when it is wet.  In fact it's about 350 lbs. per square foot.  And when you think you have plenty bracing to hold up your concrete forms, my advice to you is put in even more.  As the form continued to fill with more and more concrete I heard something creek and the disconcerting sound of my sister shouting ""SHIT!".  One of the corners where she was standing had blown out and concrete was oozing out of the opening.  I quickly jumped over to her and threw some cinder blocks as a wedge to hold the corner together.  Whew!  tragedy averted.  Then I heard the next creaking.  Then some groaning and eventually a loud "POP" and the entire center of the wall began to bulge!  What could I do but loudly curse and run for the jack in my truck?  I worked with a couple of jacks to try to press the form into place and put in more bracing.

Larry Smoothing Away

The moment I got one area stabilized, another area would begin popping.  I had the rest of the team keep pouring the remaining footing for the garage as I took measures to stabilize the form.  The last thing I wanted was for Dana to come home and find $500 worth of concrete spilled all over the lawn.  It took me about 45 minutes to get things secured.  We went 40 minutes over my 2 hour time limit.  Fortunately the concrete delivery guy took pity on me and only charged me for 20 minutes.

Keith does his part

I learned a lot about concrete this day.  I learned that it is wet, heavy and when it dries it is permanent.  Luckily this wall will eventually be hidden under my kitchen.  But for now it sits out in the open as an embarrassing reminder of what I need to do next time.

Yikes!  Not so perfect.
Managed to save it!

My footings however came out perfect!  Now they are finished and I can move on to the fun part.  I think.  I actually have to put down the cinder block for the garage foundation wall.  I am so close, but feel so far!

Many thanks to Friends Keith and Tom, Nephew Jason, Father in Law Larry, Brother in Law Greg, Sister Jennifer and Bother Mike for the help on the concrete forming and pouring.  I couldn't have done it without you!