Some assembly required.

Today Harold's Contracting crew was back on the job. They first set the first row of LOGIX ICF (insulated concrete forms) block into plce, fastening them to the row below to make things secure and level. Once the rebar was set in place for that row it was time to begin the fun stuff. We hauled the window and door bucks from the shop out back and placed them through the house. These bucks or forms will be placed into the walls and then the LOGIX blocks will be stacked around them. These bucks which are made from treated wood will stay in place after the next pour. The plywood inserts will be removed to make way for the windows and doors.

The first buck to get set into place was for the front door. To interpret what you are seeing, the front door actually will have a rounded top. On each side of the eight foot tall door there are windows top and bottom.

Two more bucks for windows were set in place by quitting time.

Tomorrow the LOGIX blocks should be a lot higher and most of the windows will be in place. Wednesday morning the real big window bucks will be lifted into place by crane. It is fun to watch as things finally come together!

-grampa dan

Happy day!

Today was a day I've been anxiously awaiting since we first began dumping loads of sand into the foundation. The task was immense and nothing short of simply hauling load after load after load into place was going to get the job done. This morning the last load was dumped into the foundation.

Then it was time to stack up some old pallets and arrange some blocking and lay down some sturdy planks. On the other side of the wall I used the bobcat to build up a good sized pile of sand. I put the small tractor in low range and gingerly drove it over the wall.

After more than a week of driving a tractor and a bobcat back and forth in confined spaces hundreds and hundreds of times I'm kind of glad I get to do something else. I celebrated by taking our the small John Deere lawn tractor around our remaining bit of lawn. In fact I enjoyed it so much I mowed it twice. :)

-grampa dan

oops! Spectacular failure.

Murphy's law says if it is possible for something to go wrong it will. After getting the bobcat good and stuck yesterday I proimised myself to be extra careful. This morning dawned bright and clear. We were in the home stretch with the fill. Only one more layer to go. All the dangerous stuff was done.

I grabbed a perfect bucket load of sand and approached the wall to dump the load over. I'm still not sure what happened for I know the front wheels did not bump the wall, nor was I going fast. But as I approached the wall the bobcat suddenly tipped forward. In an instant I found myself face to face (literally) with a concrete wall. There was no time to react and no way to stop my momentum. It was a very short E-ticket ride. The rear wheels lifted and it went over. The bucket hit hard on the ground. One piece of rebar (thankfully bent over hard) hit the windshield and the tempered glass shattered and disappeared in front of me. As quick as that the bumpy ride was over. I shut off the machine and crawled out the tiny space under the machine to survey the damage. Save to the broken windsiheld the machine wasn't even scratched. I had no damage either, thankfully.

Two guys working across the street came running to see if I was OK and tried to tip the machne back on it's wheels (to no avail.) There was only one way to remedy the situation.

I had to get back into the saddle and start up the machine. I gingerly worked the controls to dump the bucket and tip it back on the wheels. It took a good twenty minutes before I stopped shaking but things went smooth for the rest of the day.

It seems when I make a mistake it always is spectacular. I think I've had enough excitement this week.

-grampa dan