So, you might remember that this time last year, RJ put a new garage in our backyard. Now, he is pouring the new driveway and parking area. This will be fantastic when it is finished, but RJ is doing this himself (with help this weekend from Grandpa and Uncle Bobby). Most people would hire someone to pour concrete - which I somehow convinced RJ to do with the slab for the garage. Watching that process only solidified RJ's conviction that he can sooo do this himself...and, of course, do a better job. Which, I have to admit - he probably can, but it makes everything take soooo muuuuch looooonger. It is MUCH less expensive though.
I now know more about concrete than I care to know. The hideous and tedious part of this process, from my perspective, is building the forms and laying the rebar...but, RJ has decided to use fiber reinforced concrete which means he does not have to use rebar - he can just build the forms out of wood. His main concern is...he has never worked with cement on such a large scale (it will take 6 cement trucks to carry all of the cement needed), so his is unsure if 3 people (RJ, Grandpa and Uncle Bobby) will be enough to work with everything in the time-sensitive time that things need to be done.
He is gathering supplies, renting tools, and rigging up tools (I think there is something being fashioned with the motor to the power washer), etc. They are going to finish the tractor work - leveling the base - and build and set-up the forms today and tomorrow (40% chance of rain tomorrow, but we're ignoring that) and pour the cement on Monday. RJ has even decided he is going to stamp a pattern into the driveway portion (not the parking portion - it will be smooth for basketball, bikes, remote-control cars, etc) and will apply a stain after it is all dried (a charcoal color) - fancy!
Here is the pattern we've decided to use (we were somewhat limited with which patterns the store has to rent). It is a slate pattern, which is kind of weird because you'd never use slate on something you were going to drive on - it isn't strong enough, but...
I now know more about concrete than I care to know. The hideous and tedious part of this process, from my perspective, is building the forms and laying the rebar...but, RJ has decided to use fiber reinforced concrete which means he does not have to use rebar - he can just build the forms out of wood. His main concern is...he has never worked with cement on such a large scale (it will take 6 cement trucks to carry all of the cement needed), so his is unsure if 3 people (RJ, Grandpa and Uncle Bobby) will be enough to work with everything in the time-sensitive time that things need to be done.
He is gathering supplies, renting tools, and rigging up tools (I think there is something being fashioned with the motor to the power washer), etc. They are going to finish the tractor work - leveling the base - and build and set-up the forms today and tomorrow (40% chance of rain tomorrow, but we're ignoring that) and pour the cement on Monday. RJ has even decided he is going to stamp a pattern into the driveway portion (not the parking portion - it will be smooth for basketball, bikes, remote-control cars, etc) and will apply a stain after it is all dried (a charcoal color) - fancy!
Here is the pattern we've decided to use (we were somewhat limited with which patterns the store has to rent). It is a slate pattern, which is kind of weird because you'd never use slate on something you were going to drive on - it isn't strong enough, but...
1 comment:
wOW! wHAT A LOT OF WORK, BUT IF ANYONE CAN DO IT RJ CAN. THE PATTERN LOOKS INTERESTNG. CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THE RINISHED PRODUCT. MAW MAW
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