Concrete Pour
So, the concrete. In short - it didn't go great. I recorded a video and everything, but in light of what I'm going to write I've not edited or posted it. But I think it's only right to include what goes wrong on these project write-ups too.
Due to various conflicting schedules and such, I was basically stuck by myself for the concrete pour. I had nobody to help me, and I was very conscious of the trench being left open for too long especially as the top of the trench was (and is) very crumbly. Because of this, I decided to speak to a few local concrete firms about pumping and while it was fairly expensive, it seemed like a sensible solution.
So, I enlisted Local Firm A who assured me confidently that they'd come and pump the concrete get it to height and I wouldn't have to touch a thing while they were there. Sounds ideal for a DIYer on their own, hey!
Well, the whole day was a s**t show really. They were many hours late due to some issue with a truck somewhere (I know that's not their fault really), but I think they turned up at past 4pm with several other jobs still to go. One of the guys was wearing sandals, which didn't exactly fill me with confidence.
Anyway, I told them to bring it to just about rebar height and for whatever reason the guy struggled with getting the pump shut off with his remote control thing. It probably didn't help that he'd decided to position himself and work around the worst bit of the crumbly bits.
Even standing well back it was clear we were well over - I tried to get some out with a shovel, but it was an exercise in futility really and I started to worry I was going to end up in the trench! So all I could do was tamp it the best I could.
To be absolutely honest, I felt damned deflated after this but all we can do is fix forward!
And hey, I've got a trench full of concrete! End result was it was about 30-40mm over where it should be
So, the concrete. In short - it didn't go great. I recorded a video and everything, but in light of what I'm going to write I've not edited or posted it. But I think it's only right to include what goes wrong on these project write-ups too.
Due to various conflicting schedules and such, I was basically stuck by myself for the concrete pour. I had nobody to help me, and I was very conscious of the trench being left open for too long especially as the top of the trench was (and is) very crumbly. Because of this, I decided to speak to a few local concrete firms about pumping and while it was fairly expensive, it seemed like a sensible solution.
So, I enlisted Local Firm A who assured me confidently that they'd come and pump the concrete get it to height and I wouldn't have to touch a thing while they were there. Sounds ideal for a DIYer on their own, hey!
Well, the whole day was a s**t show really. They were many hours late due to some issue with a truck somewhere (I know that's not their fault really), but I think they turned up at past 4pm with several other jobs still to go. One of the guys was wearing sandals, which didn't exactly fill me with confidence.
Anyway, I told them to bring it to just about rebar height and for whatever reason the guy struggled with getting the pump shut off with his remote control thing. It probably didn't help that he'd decided to position himself and work around the worst bit of the crumbly bits.
Even standing well back it was clear we were well over - I tried to get some out with a shovel, but it was an exercise in futility really and I started to worry I was going to end up in the trench! So all I could do was tamp it the best I could.
To be absolutely honest, I felt damned deflated after this but all we can do is fix forward!
And hey, I've got a trench full of concrete! End result was it was about 30-40mm over where it should be
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