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

[Larry Brown]

Maybe see about renting them and just make the filler pieces  where it is
irregular?
L Brown

-----Original Message-----
From: TheForge [mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Andrew
Vida
Sent: Sunday, August 10, 2014 8:21 PM
To: Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA
Subject: [TheForge] Concrete forms OT, but important... for me anyhow.

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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