Foundation/ slab pour, Part II... and I get to cook again!

Well, it's been a long time since I last posted, between our trip to Mexico and my trip to Florida, so as you might imagine a lot has happened. While I was gone, Sam poured the slab, so we now can see exactly how big the garage is going to be! (It's going to be huge.)

The concrete trucks rolled up, just like the last pour. This time, the pump was on time.



In the early morning, everyone was ready.



They started by pouring the second part of the patio:







In that last picture- just in front of the guy- you can see the pretty stone that Sam and I decided to incorporate into the patio- it's reddish, and once the concrete dust is cleaned off of it, it'll look quite nice! Once the patio was done, it looked like this:



Then they moved on to pouring the slab, starting at the back:





Concrete starts to set amazingly quickly, so as one guy was pouring the new stuff in one place, other guys were smoothing it out. A great sense of urgency prevailed.



Smoothing it out...





And making it smoother...





They progressed by patches...





Here it is towards the end. Those two grey pipes you see sticking up will provide electricity for one of Sam's lifts.



And then they did the final smoothing, to the patio...





And to the slab.





In that last picture you can see the nifty yellow power smoother that they used- it's like a floor polisher, only it hovers above the setting concrete!

The next day, they cut the control joints, which are basically pre-made cracks which prevent the concrete from cracking in unwanted places. Sam wanted more than is 'officially' called for (read: he wanted it done better than it usually is!), and so we ended up with 28 'squares' in the garage, which will eventually be filled with some kind of epoxy.



Some of the control joints had to be cut by hand with a diamond blade (!), but I swear you can't tell, by looking, which ones they are. Sam was extremely proud that they were perfectly straight, as you can see by looking here at the shadow cast by the moment beam...



At this point, the bobcat was loaded up and taken away. I think Sam misses it a little bit. Its departure marked the end of an era!



Sam watered the concrete as much as possible. The cats, curious, came by and inspected everything. We're pretty sure they approve!









And this is when I returned home! I danced on our lovely slab...



... and admired all kinds of details, such as the patch of concrete which will be the 'first step' up to the second floor balcony in the back yard...



... and the support beam which will help support that balcony (which is perfectly plumb, of course!)





In that second photo above, and in this next one, you can see the pipes which will be the french drain, which will collect both some surface rain water from the yard and the rainwater that sheets off the (slightly tilted) new patio. Remember way back when, those trenches that Sam dug, and the pipes that were laid? Well, they're in exactly the right spot...



Before Sam hosed it down again, here's what the slab looked like...



And the patio...



And this shot officially shows some more of the perfect control joints, although I really like Sioux's shadow!



As Sam was hosing down the slab, I took this movie. Admittedly, this is only exciting to a select few, but if you're into watching water run down a drain, click! :)



And THEN... yesterday, Sam and Nathan hooked up the gas again!







And Nathan moved all the dirt that had been piled up behind the garage and moving it to the side of the house. So now our yard looks even more like a yard again!!



So, last night I cooked Sam's favorite chicken recipe with rosemary and lemons. Ody came over to share it with us. Tonight, the request was for pasta. :)

All in all, we've come a long way from this...



... not to mention this (taken June 13th, just eight weeks ago!)



And today, Sam and Nathan were hooking up the hot water again! We're living in true luxury! (And Michelle and Ody will appreciate it, too!)