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8/4/2014 - Driveway pour, New A/C, Rough-in inspection.
Today promised to be a challenge. I had several projects all going at once. First and foremost was pouring the concrete for the driveway. Second was the installation of a new A/C system for the house. Third was getting an inspection for the rough plumbing and electrical installation. Fourth, which I rescheduled last night for Tuesday, was the housekeepers coming in for an initial cleaning.
We weren’t sure if the weather was going to cooperate so hadn’t put our concrete on call. Before Brandon left the house he called Bobby to confirm the pour and scheduled Morgan Concrete for the deliveries. The concrete crew got here and the first truck arrived at 8:30am. They started by putting some mud at the bottom of the French drain just outside the carport hoping it would set enough to keep from filling the forms when the big pour came. The truck pulled around the side of the building to pour the sidewalk at the back of the building. While they were pouring that, Leroy and I spent some time sweeping up and generally making the inside look presentable for the inspector. We had no idea when he would arrive and figured if the work site looked clean he wouldn’t look for sloppy plumbing or electrical.
About the time Leroy and I finished cleaning up the truck backed back out into the driveway to start the big pour. The concrete crew had to put in the last few forms that were left out to give the truck access to the back. The concrete crew consisted of 10 assorted workers including Bobby and his son Anthony. Once the mud started to flow these guys work their asses off. Two or three of them push mud around into the forms. Once there is enough concrete in place, Anthony fires up the power screed which compacts and smoothes out the concrete. It’s basically a 12 wide float with a weed-eater engine that vibrates it. Slick machine and reasonably quiet.
I had to run over to Lowe’s to pick up flexible 6” pipe I had ordered to connect to the French drain to disperse the water it collects. By the time I got back the second truck had arrived and the pour continued. We were cookin’ with real gas now and things were progressing nicely. The A/C guys from Mcgee showed a little late because of a flat tire but got right to work when they did. I pretty much left those two guys alone to do their job and spent time monitoring the concrete work.
The third truck arrived and the pour moved up to the existing 2 car garage. Not realizing how much concrete splashes when it’s poured I hadn’t moved the bike. Anthony saw that we were getting little splashes on the bike and had the driver slow the pour down. I grabbed a towel to wipe the little dots off the paint and moved the bike further in to prevent any more issues. The third truck got the entire parking area outside the 2 car garage poured but there wasn’t another truck waiting. So far the trucks had been waiting in the road for the truck dumping mud. We waited for about 30 minutes and Brandon called to find out where the rest of our concrete was. He was informed that they had cut us back from 3 trucks to 1. It was an hour between the third and fourth trucks (which was the same truck) and the concrete was starting to set. I guess Brandon yelled loud enough when he called because the trucks were coming faster after that. They started sending rear chute trucks which slowed us down a bit, but concrete is concrete no matter how it arrives.
Once they got to the upper driveway the concrete work went faster because it was only 12 feet wide. The last pour slowed a little because it was the apron at the street and we were trying to extend a culvert pipe that was under the driveway. We had to dedicate a couple of guys to traffic control because the truck was out in the road. The cars seemed to come in groups of 2 or 3, but at one point a road painting crew came through as well and cause a bit of a jam.
The A/C guys finished their work, pulled a vacuum and charged the system. After some brief instructions on programming the thermostat, they cleaned up and were on their way.
Late in the day while they were pulling the forms off of the driveway, someone noticed an extra body down by the garage. It turned out to be the inspector. He had snuck in while we were all busy, did his inspections, signed the permit, and came up to chit chat with Brandon and Anthony. He probably hung out jawing longer that it took him for the inspection. Everything in the garage looked fine so I can start the ball rolling on getting Blue Ridge Electric to hook up the meter box so we can plug things in the garage for real.
Bobby came back at around 4:30 with the concrete saw to cut the control joints. Sean was there to pick up the steel forms and helped to change the blade on the saw. Sean had to leave and after watching Bobby cut the first two joints I figured it would go a lot faster if I operated the saw. I gave Bobby the blower and we started cutting joints. The dust that the saw creates is this amazingly fine concrete dust that sticks to everything. By the time we were done cutting 520 feet of joints, my legs were white and my face felt like it was coated with talcum powder, only gritty. I helped Bobby load the saw back onto his truck and now that all of the trailers were gone, managed to finish mowing the lawn where they had been parked.
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Copyright (C) 2004-2014, Larry Manka. all rights reserved.
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