[TheForge] OT: My floor is poured: the saga

Tue Sep 16 07:17:07 EDT 2014

Straw bales!.  Make your basement walls a temporary straw bale structure.
completely removable.  Decent insulation in the winter.

Bruce
NJ

On Tue, Sep 16, 2014 at 12:19 AM, Andrew Vida <osan at netlabs.net> wrote:

>
> On 9/8/14, 10:52 PM, jerry Frost wrote:
>
>> It shouldn't have started setting up even if they just let it sit half an
>> hour after pumping. That sounds like they added an accelerant at the batch
>> plant alright. Take a sample to the State Materials lab for analysis, the
>> concrete co. is picking up the bill. Have your lawyer charge it back.
>>
> I have now spoken with at least a dozen people in the area who do or have
> done concrete professionally and when I told the story, the first thing out
> of EVERYONE'S mouth was "calcium"... they must have put in calcium to
> accelerate the set.  But why?
>
>>
>> High humidity weather can allow steam because it's already near the dew
>> point but the basement shouldn't have been appreciably hotter than
>> ambient.
>>
> Basement is notably cooler than ambient, typically, and was that day as
> well.
>
>> Did you try touching the slab or pile setting up in the driveway? I'm
>> almost
>> betting a letter of intent from a lawyer will start getting  offers to
>> settle out of court. Don't forget to add emotional distress, etc. etc. It
>> SHOULD cost them to keep you quiet. Suckers MUST pay.
>>
> Oh, I'm not going quietly on this one.  I've had quite enough of getting
> screwed around by these two half-wit outfits, thankyouverymuch.  Readymix
> company is not returning my calls... I'm a very forbearing person, but once
> you demonstrate to me your malice, I go for the carotids, which is the next
> move after giving them ONE more opportunity to make like a cowboy.
>
> As for Marco... that will be a bigger nut to crack as they have driven my
> cost to do what I need to do up by at least a factor of 4 or 5.  Engineer
> told not to cut footings for fear of another shear failure.  Already have
> one right in the middle of where those dildoes placed one of the
> brackets.Not more than 1/16 shift, but that 1/16 more than I wanted.  But
> because the $$ have now gone way up, I'm sure Marco will admonish me to
> screw myself, in which case I will have to get very serious with them...
> but that takes time and time we do not have in any reserve.  When it goes
> single digits, we are going to be in serious shit.
>
>
>> Jer
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: TheForge [mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of
>> Andrew
>> Vida
>> Sent: Saturday, September 6, 2014 7:52 AM
>> To: Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA
>> Subject: Re: [TheForge] OT: My floor is poured: the saga
>>
>>
>> On 9/5/14, 3:13 PM, jerry Frost wrote:
>>
>>> It is if he stopped for coffee or lunch. Once concrete starts to set
>>> it sets pretty quickly. A concrete company that screws up a pour like
>>> this will have people blaming others, it's the guy in the mixing
>>> tower, the guy in the truck, the finishers, etc.
>>>
>> Well, the one person they cannot blame is me.  The pumpers and finishers
>> were also blameless.  The mix appeared normal until about 1/2 hour in,
>> after
>> about 5 or so yards were put down.  All of a sudden it started hardening
>> up
>> very quickly and the finisher was not happy.  I didn't realize how bad it
>> was until a while later.
>>
>> These bastards are going to tell me to go scratch and then I will have to
>> take up my iron bars - there's the smithing content. :)
>>
>>> When you say it got hot, how hot?
>>>
>> The 7 yards remaining in the truck was putting off very visible vapors in
>> 90*+, 90%+ humidity.  It was not hot in the basement, so they cannot claim
>> that we should have known.  Everything seemed perfect until the very
>> sudden
>> and rapid change in the character of the mix.  Prior to that, I was
>> shoveling concrete up into the low spots because it was flowing well.
>>
>>     Concrete should get warm as it sets but even a 24" footing should be
>>> too cool for a bath. If a slab is getting hot, say steaming on a cool
>>> day it's a hot mix, either WAY past pour time or a hot mix from the
>>> batch plant.
>>>
>>> How'd your footings come out?
>>>
>> Sagged slab - integral footing.  3 runs of #5 rebar all four sides about
>> 2-3 inches from the bottom, right where it belonged.  Engineer friend said
>> one would have sufficed and that three makes for a very strong footing.
>> Footings average about 16" deep x 24 wide.  Floor is about 5"
>> average with a few thinner areas, perhaps 3.5"... still plenty, especially
>> with the mesh in it.
>>
>> My only concern now is whether it is too far out of level for a mason to
>> lay
>> block, if I choose to go that route, which at this point I may because the
>> forms are now up to about $5K and there is no possible way.
>> I'd planned on $500-$600, using the clay as the outer form, but the
>> imbeciles at Marco scotched that big time.
>>
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