[TheForge] Concrete forms OT, but important... for me anyhow.

[CGRAF]

I have seen metal forms used.
Perhaps they can be rented?

Mike Graf

On 8/10/2014 7:20 PM, Andrew Vida wrote:
> The excavation under the house is now more or less complete.  I removed
> about 400 yards of clay from under and just outside the house.
>
> The house is now standing on 18 high strength stilts that I fabricated
> from drill string.  It is a weird sight, what with all that daylight
> coming in from under the old footings.
>
> My question is this: would 5/8 plywood suffice for concrete forms? The
> tallest section to be poured is about 8 feet, about 4 feet wide.  The
> rest is averaging about 5 feet.  I will be using 12" snap ties, on 24"
> centers with two layers of 2x4 criss crossing per the usual practice.
>
> I was going to use 3/4 OSB, but am now having some second thoughts
> because of the tongue and grooved edges.  3/4 ply is painfully
> expensive, 5/8 being notably less costly.  My concern here is whether
> the 5/8 has the strength.
>
> The damned lumber for the forms is almost as $$ as the concrete itself
> and the wife is having a heart attack at the costs.  I'm trying to be as
> efficient with the money as possible, but do not want to make the
> mistake of using insufficient materials.  A blow-out would be very bad,
> as you might surmise.
>
> One other question: because I am forming to the irregular bottom of an
> existing footing I was going to rough-trace the profile onto wood, cut
> with a scroll saw, and fit it that way.  Has anyone here done anything
> like this before and if so, how did you build to the footing?  Since I
> have couple hundred tons of clay handy, I was thinking I might use it as
> a sealant to close up the little crannies at the top.
>
> Thanks much,
>
>      -Andy
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