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

[Richardson, Grover]

Many professionals will use wires spaced about every 2 feet from plywood form to the other.  This helps keep the wood from bowing.

Sent from the Groverville ipad

> On Aug 12, 2014, at 10:06 AM, "Dan Brewer" <danqualman at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> The plywood will work if and only if you provide a framework of 2X4s on the
> outside with clips to keep the sides form bowing.  Along with a lot of
> bracing.  5 feet of rise is a lot of weight.  Your local masonary store
> will have the form clips you will need to use.  Used motor oil is a viable
> release agent.  Brace more than you think is necassary.  Do more research
> on line for how much steel you need to put in the wall. Post some pictures
> for us to see,
> 
> Dan in Auburn
> 
> 
>> On Sun, Aug 10, 2014 at 5:20 PM, Andrew Vida <osan at netlabs.net> 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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