A self build house project diary
by Oliver Cannell

It’s time to pour some more concrete

Making the oversite slab foundation - another lorry load of concrete is delivered and poured on-site



There was a some rain last night, but not enough to create anything more than a few puddles in the plastic sheeting, which forms the damp proof membrane.

This time, the concrete pump lorry drove right up onto the site (from the lower end) and was able to unfurl it's huge piping arm out to where it was required, without causing havoc on the streets. The concrete mixing truck, was then able to back-up behind it, and unload its contents into the hopper, before being pumped out across the membrane. I'm sure the concrete was pumped an awful lot quicker than the last time - maybe a better or newer pump. It seemed to flow in a rapid stream rather than spitting and splashing out across the build like last time.

The builders had rooms / zones to fill this time, rather than one big lump, but there was still a finite amount being measured out with their handmade measuring beams. Lots of dirty wellies all round and the rain didn't help, being coming down fairly steadily for most of the morning. I still don't quite understand how rain doesn't affect the mix of the concrete - but it seems to still set pretty quickly and without any problems.

This layer of concrete doesn't need to have a silky smooth finish, as there will be further layers going on top, such as the underfloor heating and then a final screed.

At the same time, more of the rear boundary wall has been making good progress, with some extra hands on deck this week. It'll be so nice to have that complete soon.

Next entry: Kitchen ordered today (Saturday 16th August 2014)

Previous entry: Damp proof membrane phase of the slab construction (Wednesday 13th August 2014)

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