Pouring the Foundation

The day we poured the foundation was an exciting, nerve-racking day. School was back in session, and Donna and I decided that the arrival of two big cement trucks and a spider-like pumping truck on the island made for an interesting educational opportunity. We agreed to walk over to the house site with our eight students and watch the pouring together. I think Whit, five-years-old at that time, and I were both feeling the same amount of exhilaration at the thought of seeing those big trucks. I was feeling that way because we were pouring our foundation, Whit was feeling that way because he's a little boy, and what little boy doesn't just love really big trucks.

The days leading up to the foundation pouring were long and tiresome for Jason. He spent days hunched over in the hole laying out the Durisol blocks, leveling each one individually. Since the footing blew-out during the first pouring, he needed to level each individual block he put down, we're talking hundreds of blocks. While he was working on building up the foundation walls, after school during the evenings I filled the wheelbarow up with crushed stone, rolled it down in the hole, and shoveled the stone around the outside of the footing to create drainage. I don't know how many trips with the wheelbarrow I took, but I can tell you my back and arms felt numb. This was not my favorite part of the job, and it seemed to go on forever! But then the day came to pour the walls.

Jason worked out all the tiny details with the barge, the cement trucks and the pumping truck. The pumping truck and the first cement truck would be barged over first. When the first cement truck was empty it would meet the barge and ride off in time to pick up and barge over the second cement truck. When the second cement truck was empty, both the pumping truck and the cement truck would be barged off together. How many barge trips? Four all together. Yikes.

Around 11 in the morning, Donna and I walked the kids over to the house site. Whit and I couldn't contain our excitement: when we saw that huge pumping truck we ran, leaving the rest of the group behind! What a sight! The truck itself was huge, but it looked even bigger because these huge legs reached out from it in all directions for stabilization and then the pumping arm reached out from the nose of the truck all the way to the foundation walls. It looked like a huge spider crouching over the road, getting ready to pounce, it's pincer outstretched.The cement truck backed up to pumping truck and began to pour the cement. The cement ran from the cement chute to the pumping truck, and then the pump kicked in. Over at the foundation, Jason and our wonderful friends Cory, Kaitlyn, Will, Iann, and Eric were all standing ready to begin their work. Jason held the long nozzle from the pumping truck and directed the cement into the cavities of the Durisol block. Will, Iann, Cory and Kaitlyn followed Jason around the foundation and punched into each block cavity with long poles to pop any air bubbles. Eric followed with his trowel, smoothing over the cement as it oozed up from the holes.
Whit and I were not disappointed that day! Whit got to see some really big trucks, and by the end of the afternoon Jason and I had a foundation! Yippee!