Home Run House

...Previously on the HotFu

It’s been weeks since the last update and I’m happy to be the one to take over this writing and catch you all up on the latest news of the House of the Future – HotFu for friends J -

The house, the work, the team, have all gone through many changes in November; only the weather seemed out of wack enough to delay winter until X-mas break.

So it's in a Indian Autumn with temperatures above 40, which means that the team preps for 3 new pours of concrete of course, what else?!

It seems that with each pour, we become better at bracing and foreseeing the flaws of our design. Unfortunately pouring is a two part job: making forms and the actual pouring of concrete, which we subcontract from a local VT company. Their teams are always great; patient with us, they know that sometimes when they arrive, we are doing last minute bracing after someone's advice or adding some re-bar. But as good as they may be, they are used to doing foundation work, which is more barbaric, if you know what I mean. Here we need finesse and tact, for our forms are very sensitive ;)

Of course there are times when you need to show the forms who is the boss and work them with a sledge hammer but mainly it's being gentle and slow, checking their levels, their position... But when the truck comes, the concrete team doesn't know that...and the very first burst of concrete is a bit of an overkill.

Immediately this sends the team into contingency mode and it off sets us a little for the rest of the operation. But that's how I like it. It's during those circumstances, when from the get-go something goes not according to plan, that you see if a group of people is a well oiled machine or not.

Orders are shouted in the heat, but no one takes offense. We know each others qualities and flaws and can foresee when a task is to hard for one soul- all fast enough to continue a pour without disruption. It's a complex dance where everybody knows the steps.

Someone loads buckets with the overflow of concrete - no point in wasting more than necessary - while another screeds the top of the forms. Others are ahead of the dance and are guiding the pipe towards new territory. Some are in-betweeners that follow with the concrete vibrator or run to the electrical box because a fuse went off.

Every second is maximized: even if it looks like you are just walking around, what you are really doing is checking that the form did not move or bow, all the while on your way to get another piece of 2x6 to brace another form that you just had your doubts about.

These pours are not that long, but after a 2h of running around you are happy to be cleaning your hands with some vinegar!

Of course this is part 2 of the happiness. Yes, it does have different stages! The first one is when you finish a form, second one is when the concrete is in and the form didn't burst all over you and the third but not least is the moment you take the form out and you see a well vibrated concrete, smooth and in line with a previous pour!

But the HotFu is not just about work! sometimes we take the time to go for a ride and take scenery pictures of our site!
It must look confusing with all the wood, making you think that the house is not made out of concrete, but I guaranty you it is!
Today most of the form were already poured and we are currently working on the West wall from the bedroom.

Concrete is a re-bar story though! Here you can see the reinforcement for the wall. If you are wondering why is there so many bars, it's to hold the cantilever of the 45 degree wall that follow the West wall. Until the bottom part of the wall is built, the weight is help by tension of the steal.