...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
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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.
I wish you all a splendid year 2016, may it be filled with love and understanding but most of all, with crazy ideas!... A bit like this house :)
Thanks for following!
what are the advantages of concrete, by the way? can it be compared to brick, as a building material (which does require repointing, actually)?
ReplyDeleteHello David,
DeleteYou are right about the bricks, with time eventually the mortar between the bricks need repointing but that can take decades depending on the weather.
Concrete as you may know is a mixture of cement, gravel of different sizes, sand, and water. You can reinforce the concrete by adding steel. Again depending on the weather condition (by the sea being the worst case ) the concrete will also suffer some damage.
There are various differences between the two materials, in making, in resistance to loads, in resistance to weather, in weight, in reaction to water and so on.
You can reinforce brick building only to a certain point, limitation that reinforced concrete doesn't have. The resistance to loads can vary in a brick but we have the means with additions in concrete to make it easily 100 times more resistant than a brick.
When it comes to water, concrete is water and vapor proof, the brick isn't. Some may say it's a disadvantage, but it always depend on all the materials used to build. You may go with a permeable building in which case concrete would be your worst enemy.
So to sum this up, concrete is stronger than bricks.
When it comes to the HotFu, concrete is a mean to achieve the shapes we want, something that would be hard to do with bricks .
Hope that answered somewhat your question.
Have a delightful day!
The HotFu team :)
Apparently then concrete is maintenance-free. But, for example, you couldn't build a skyscraper out of it, i imagine. What limitations does it have?
ReplyDeleteOn the contrary David, we do build skyscrapers out of concrete ( cement and steel). Concrete is a mixture to which can be added many additives to strengthen it after it cures. In our society the biggest building today are made out of it. We are yet to see it's limits. France build the longest bridge in Europe a few years ago, and insured it for 100 years, a first in Europe maybe even in the world.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes the concrete is maintenance free here in Vermont. In areas closer to the ocean or sea, that would be a different story.