Monday, April 29, 2013

Chapter 143...Pouring The Concrete Slab For The Store And Clean Up


Today is the day.  We will have the concrete slab poured and then if the weather holds Mike and I can start construction:)

The concrete company and our workers are ready to go:


They will need 12 1/2 yards of concrete so the truck will have to refill and come back.  This is the first truck and the concrete crew smooths out the first section:


While they are doing that, Mike and I brought the chainsaw to do some clean up work.  We have a big tree trunk down on the back hill.  Mike gets in the Jeep and backs it up as close as he can.  I take the chain and wrap it around the log so Mike can pull it off the hill:


Mike starts cutting and I start loading.  Now we have a nice start for our wood pile for next year:)


Back to our concrete crew.  The second truck of concrete is here:


Using the chute to pour the concrete onto the slab:


All the concrete is poured and our contractor does the finishing touches for a smooth slab.  He uses a troweling machine to smooth it out.  Looks good:


Now we have to let it cure before we can do any building.  We also need a dose of good and dry weather.  Mike and I will order the lumber and start building as soon as we have 3-5 good days in a row.


We do get a chance to go back to the lot to clean the land.

First we have to buy a ride on mower since we sold our last one.  I use a push mower at the house but that would take too long here.  So down to Lowe's we go and we pick up a Troy-Bilt Pony mower which has the exact same engine and size cut as the John Deere but it is $500.00 less:)  Troy Bilt Pony

The only problem we have is Lowe's forgot to give us a manual and a key....grr!!!  Lowe's is too far for us to make a trip back so Mike stuck a screwdriver in the key hole so I could start it.  Hey...it worked for now.

Getting the equipment to the property:


Mike unloads the mower onto the grass for me:


And off I go.  While I mow and blow all of the debris on the hill by the road, Mike works with the tractor.  We have a lot of clean up after the grading was done.  Mike wants to make sure we have a nice small ditch from the back of the building to the road at the other end of our property.  This way any water that comes down the back hill will get caught in the ditch and carried away from the building.  It's a mess and it takes Mike a long time to get it somewhat cleaned up.

The lawn is cut:


For the next week we have to work at home but now we are back and it's time to rake and seed the property where Mike has cut it open.  I start out by weed eating the front 400 feet of the property while  Mike once again works on the tractor:


And he grades it out:


I get the grass seed, the shovel and the rake from the car.  I start at the far side by the road.  I need to dig out the one small hill so the water can flow into the lower section of the ditch by the road.  Unfortunately it is too hard and I need Mike to break up the dirt for me:

Now I can get some work done:)  I rake out the ditch line that Mike made, shovel up all the rocks and throw seed down.  It is a slow process.  I get about 100 feet done and I have to stop.  Mike is working on a muddy area and there is nothing I can do there so I do the same job behind the building.


My sections are cleaned up, raked and seeded.  The front of the ditch by the road:



And behind the building:


That is what we are up to on that lot.  Now we need a big break in the weather to start construction.  Mike and I can't wait.  It will be hard on us to build but this is something we both really enjoy doing.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I will write again soon:)

6 comments:

  1. This ought to be fun to watch!! =) I noticed someone was missing in action. I assume Nikki was protecting the homestead?

    Victoria (CocoaNut)

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    1. Hi Victoria. It's good to see you stopping by:)

      Niki won't be at the store with us. She guards the homestead, lol.

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  2. Are you really expecting that much produce from your dwarf trees, that you can sell?
    I think you need to plant a whole lot more, in order to sustain a store if produce is what your going to be selling.

    Maybe you can make a deal with the local farmers and sell some of thier produce, and get a 'take' of the profits :) Its an idea :)

    I wish you well...

    Jesse

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    Replies
    1. Hi Jesse

      No I won't have enough to sell my own. I will get some local produce from some of our farmers:)

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  3. Reinforcement wire in the pad ? Re-bar around the perimeter ? No building codes means self-inflicted building standards, I reckon. Gonna insure this building ? just asking ...

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    Replies


    1. The slab that has been poured has been poured 4 inches think in the center, 8 inches on the perimeter and it has been poured completely with commercial fiber mesh. That was 4000 pounds per square inch concrete.

      The building that sits on top of it is a light weight single story building that falls well within the 4000 pounds per square inch. We have actually overbuilt it.

      I hope this helps you understand how we built it and that we did not take any short cuts.

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