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Exterior Openings |
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It is very important that we seal the area between the dome footings and
the vertical wall footings to prevent water from seeping into the expansive
clay and start lifting things up and destroying everything we have built
so far. |
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The edges of the dome openings where quite rough and not at the right height
so its a manual job of hammer drilling the extra concrete to remove the
excess. Keep up the good work Beth! |
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OK Guess Ray has to do some work too! |
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This edge is ready to go! |
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Here is a good look at a sticker imbedded
into the concrete and around a piece of rebar. |
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To insure that the moisture will run off the aprons we are having the concrete
extend 2" beyond the dome footing. To accomplish this we place a 2"
foam spacer between the dome and the concrete forms. |
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The forms could not be staked right against the dome since we have a perimeter
drain and did not want to take the chance of punching holes into it. So
we had to extend each support out away from the dome footing before staking
in place. After adding the screening, we are ready for concrete! |
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Here comes the concrete! The color should come close to match the window
and door frame color. |
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Lets pour the front porch! |
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Don't forget the shop entrance! |
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Smoothing it out before stamping. |
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Time to remove the forms so the front can
be stamped too. Man was I nervous to
do this - hoping it wouldn't just run off!
Guess they know what they are doing. |
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Finished product! Wow that looks nice. Still has to be washed and sealed
but we will let it dry first. |
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Garage Apron - A few weeks later! |
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Because of the mud around here it makes sense to have an area in front
of the garages to park a vehicle and get out without stepping into mud. |
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Smoothing out the rough concrete. |
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Troweled smooth. |
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Over half done. |
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Begin stamping the surface
(boy is it dirty work). |
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Continuing with the stamping. |
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Final look. Cool! |
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Another shot of the apron. |
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Extra concrete!
They will make the front walk some day. |
Patio |
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The final exterior portion of our project has to be prepared. Leveling
and compacting are the first order. |
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Donna drives the compactor very well.
Boy I love work! - I could watch her all day! :-) |
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Concrete is here!
Talk about dry concrete! I think we could form it into a statue is so stiff. |
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Lets spread it around a bit. |
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And smooth it off a bit. |
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Keep it flowing - we will get it filled up! |
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Hand troweling to smooth it off real nice. |
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Hey guys! He just got it all smooth - now you are roughing it up! |
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Final look - wow that's different and it looks great! |
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Closer look at the stamped surface. |
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Wow what a view - we will be out here a lot! |
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Back Window opening |
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The motorized wheelbarrow had a difficult time moving on the snow be they
made it to the back of the house. |
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Its cold out and concrete hardens better if its not freezing so we did
our best to cover the openings as well as blanketing the surface to protect
it from the elements. It isn't pretty but it worked! |
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