Final footings
19 August 2006
I finally poured the last few footings for the barn. These footings
couldn't be poured sooner because I had to dig the trench for the
electric lines first. Now that the trench has been inspected and
backfilled, I was finally able to prepare the area for the foundation.
After getting the forms in place I measured carefully and calculated
exactly how much concrete I'd need: 0.83 cubic yards.
That's an awkward amount because it's too small for a cement truck
(five yard minimum) but still too large to easily pour by hand.
0.83 yards may not sound like much until you realize that it's seven,
100 pound bags of cement mixed with another 2100 pounds of sand and
gravel. I had to shovel all that by hand. It took me over
six hours and required fifteen full mixer loads, very tiring.
It was a lot of work but everything went as planned. It's nice to have
these footings finally poured because they were holding up everything
else. Now I can finish the wall framing which means I can finish
the upper floor decking which will allow the electrical wiring to be
installed and the siding to be installed and the upper deck to be built
and the roof to be put on. It will be nice to finally have a roof.
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