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

Tue Aug 12 16:28:00 EDT 2014

Looks like a lot of grunt work!
Once your 12" footer is poured and leveled with rebar sticking up..
The speedblock will fit right in around your vertical steel members with ease. No problem.
The speedblock is easy to cut with a carbide grit or diamond masonry blade in an old skillsaw.
Forming isn't necessary ... and would be difficult with the external clearances shown in the video.

On Aug 12, 2014, at 1:08 PM, Andrew Vida wrote:

Can't lay conderblock because of the columns holding the house up. As far as I can see, it has to be a poured concrete affair.  Look at this and you will see what I mean:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOVT7uZMQLE&list=UUMXX2OBQ46aG0DEdhK04gIA

On 8/12/14, 3:50 PM, Peter Fels & Phoebe Palmer wrote:
> Speedblocks are a bit different Jerry. They come with no knock out ends, but rather the ends are tapered.
> The surface bonding cement is GRC...or fiberGlass Reinforced Concrete with a lot of acrylic plastic additive in place of most of the water. That system saved laying the block in grout and, of course , forming.
> I actually had a building inspector look down inside a structurally critical corner before we grouted , and say...
> "Peter, that's too much steel. You have to leave some room for the cement".
> Ironically, now, years later, i have to drill a number of horizontal bolt holes through that area
> and don't look forward to it. We used a high strength grout too.
> A big walnut log is going to be installed as a corner post there.
> 
> On Aug 12, 2014, at 12:30 PM, jerry Frost wrote:
> 
> When I worked masonry we called these blocks "bond beams". We laid a course
> at specified distance and laid rebar through them to tie the wall together
> horizontally. As I recall the first bond beam course was at 4' rise and 4'
> intervals for walls higher than 8'. The wall is tied to the footing with
> vertical rebar stubs so the footing serves as the first bond beam.
> 
> When I specified the footing and pony walls for this house I specified
> double rebar in half spaced bond beams so our bond beam courses are at 2'
> intervals and every vertical gap is reinforced. The entire pony wall is
> grouted solid. It's a "tad" over killed but that's what happens when the guy
> who designs a foundation spent 20 years on bridge and large building
> foundations in earthquake country.
> 
> A bond beam block has ends but they knock right out with a tap of a hammer,
> rock or almost anything. Normal code for a bond beam course has the mason
> lay the knocked out ends in the space in the blocks to prevent the grout
> from filling the entire wall. There are verticals that get grouted and as I
> recall they're on 4' intervals, the knock outs are left out so the rebar can
> be laid vertically and grouted with the bond beam courses.
> 
> Anyhow, when the mason laid our pony walls none of the knockouts were laid
> in the wall and it's solid concrete with WAY more rebar than called for by
> code.
> 
> There is or was a dry lay cinderblock method. No mortar is used so
> calculating the wall height and length takes a little figuring before hand.
> Once wall and rebar are laid it's grouted solid and given a surface coat of
> mortar or grout. I have no idea why it's plastered in mortar/grout but
> that's what they were doing. I haven't heard anything about this method but
> I don't pay much attention to construction industry any more.
> 
> Were I doing your project Andy I'd lay a cinderblock foundation wall and
> grout it solid. It's So much easier than laying forms and worrying about a
> blowout. If you think digging your basement/crawlspace was hard just think
> of digging out a few yards of set concrete.
> 
> Jer
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: TheForge [mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Peter
> Fels & Phoebe Palmer
> Sent: Tuesday, August 12, 2014 9:35 AM
> To: Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA
> Subject: Re: [TheForge] Concrete forms OT, but important... for me anyhow.
> 
> 
> On Aug 12, 2014, at 5:45 AM, Andrew Vida wrote:
> 
> Care to elaborate on this?
> 
> Never heard of speedblock.  Are you talking about 12" hollow block and
> filling the voids with concrete and rebar?
> 
> Speedblock are like concrete block, but with open ends, and a half thickness
> crossbar...an H shape....Usually cheaper than concrete block too.
> Yes they have a groove for horizontal rebar and the vertical bar placement
> is the same. Yes, the cells are similarly grouted.
> 
> 
> 
> On 8/11/14, 1:29 PM, Peter Fels & Phoebe Palmer wrote:
>> Did our foundation  and retaining wall forming using 12" speedblock, lots
> of rebar, drystacked with surface bonding cement instead of forms. Poured
> the first 4' lift, vibrated to get the air out and pumped the top 4 ' a few
> hours later.
>> Faster and cheaper than forms and required less skill.
>> Backfilled over the french drain using junk styrofoam with a foot of
> leechrock on top. They were real eager to get rid of the bailed styro, no
> charge, even helped me load.
>> On Aug 11, 2014, at 9:34 AM, Andrew Vida wrote:
>> 
>> Irregular on the bottom of the existing footings.
>> 
>> I could cut the outside of the footings as well, but worry whether what
> remained (about 11-12" total width) would be strong enough to support the
> current load.
>> 
>> On 8/11/14, 4:56 AM, Larry Brown wrote:
>>> Maybe see about renting them and just make the filler pieces  where
>>> it is irregular?
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