We have actually had some rain recently, so I was driven into the cellar once more. With the jackhammer, I smashed up the old post stone (there was a little concrete involved in that as well), a massive slab of shale which split in layers. Then I chiseled a trough linking the new and old footings along the centre line. Then I put together a simple form. For once, I oiled the plywood sides; we'll see if this makes any difference in ease of removal.
My estimates are getting better. I thought this 18' by 4.5 foot section would take 14 30kg bags of Readymix; it took 13, the 6 that had been stacked in the cellar stairs atrium and 8 new bags that I picked up from Kent on Friday. Wilkins was out of concrete mix--apparently, there is a shortage of pressure treated lumber as well. It seems that in New Brunswick, everyone is using the lockdown to complete home improvement projects. The word is that similar supplies are not moving at all in Ontario--people are afraid to go to lumberyards!
I remembered the anchors at the last moment, and I should really have put in three, not two. Still, it's a far cry from my very first concrete project, the corner kneewall and slab under the pump. .
I took the forms off a little later. It's not a bad pour--I missed a little corner, but that will fill in when I pour the next floor slab.
We have actually had some rain recently, so I was driven into the cellar once more. With the jackhammer, I smashed up the old post stone (there was a little concrete involved in that as well), a massive slab of shale which split in layers. Then I chiseled a trough linking the new and old footings along the centre line. Then I put together a simple form. For once, I oiled the plywood sides; we'll see if this makes any difference in ease of removal.
One can't work on the house and grounds all the time. I found a little time to put together the long-anticipated target range. It is just a target on a pair of clotheslines, but it's fun. The kids were here, and they proved to be excellent shots. It is really too short for air rifle with scope, but to extend it I will have to do significant chainsaw work. In time, no doubt I will. For now, it was another of those quick and fun projects.
Although the bathroom and kitchen were the main focus of the spring, June involved quite a number of projects featuring the workshop cellar, that hideous space of darkness and decay. I opened up the boarded-up window on the driveway side and put in the ramp from the house cellar; Lucy and I used this to haul several fish buckets of wet gravel up using the low-rider cart.
Spring arrived at last--very late. The contrast is remarkable: just three weeks ago everything was snowbound, dead, and white. Now it's all green again, the annual miracle given added force by the late and savage storms of the previous season.
