August 2010 – A day to remember…..or maybe, to forget.
About 12 or 14 years ago, I built a 12×12 tool shed off the back of my woodworking shop.
Money was pretty tight back then so, I made good use out of recycled siding and some doors from a previous remodeling job. I wanted to pour a concrete slab but it just wasn’t in the budget.
So, I built the floor out of treated 4×4s and 3/4 plywood, sitting on concrete pads and gravel.
This worked just fine for awhile but eventually, it started to sink and it became a hotel for chipmunks.
I knew pouring a new concrete slab was going to be a big job…..
pull everything out, cut the bottom 2 ft of siding off, attach big beams to the building and jack it up 3 inches. Then, remove the old floor, dig out a new trench footing, add rebar in to the existing slab, wire mesh, and call and order concrete. No problem.
Thinking back, I’ve always been proud of my physical abilities…..a natural born athlete.
I could bench press 300 lbs. 10 times, and I ran the 100 yard dash in 9.8 sec. in high school.
As a young carpenter on the jobsite, I could walk on a second floor top plate or down steep rafters without a care. I carried 8 studs or 2 sheets of 1/2″ plywood at a time. I could sink a 16 common nail with two swings…tap, BAM, tap, BAM! I worked all day framing houses and then afterwards, played sports like A league Volleyball twice a week, dirt biking and water skiing on weekends, cross country bicycle touring, Street skating, and working out.
Like a tightly wound clock about to bust…….
Lead, Follow, Or get the Hell out of the way. – my motto. (from the Marines)
Ah…to be that young again………I smile when I think about it.
I’m still in good shape but, I have to admit …..I think the last time I actually tried to bench press 300 lbs. was about 5 years ago. My shoulder hurt for a week afterwards, but I did it….barely. Never wanted to try it again.
Which brings me back to my story,
It just happened to be the hottest week in August when we decided to take on this nasty, ball busting project.
I say WE….as in, me and my apprentice/ gardener, Randy. I also hired a neighbor who was a concrete finisher that said he and his cousin wanted to help with the project. “…..Haven’t worked in a year!”, he told me. So we agreed on a fair price and set the date.
The new foundation required about 3.5 yards of concrete. I also wanted to pour a 6×12 slab on the left for the pool pump and equipment which I planned on doing after the shed was completed seeing how everything was outside, sitting on the pool deck and all over inside my shop. One project at a time, right?
We did a good job getting everything ready. We put plywood down on the driveway and planned on using two wheel barrows to get it around back. I had a concrete screed and all my finish tools ready. I’m no stranger to concrete and felt confident we could handle it. 2 or 3 guys wheel barrowing, 1 guy leveling, and 1 guy as a helper.
It’s been awhile since I’ve purchased concrete and I quickly discovered they have a minimum charge of 665.00 which is the cost of a truck load – 6.5 yards. If I ordered 3.5 yards…..same price.
Plus, they would only allow me 25 minutes to wheel barrow the concrete if I ordered 3.5 yards for 665.00.
Or,…. they would allow 60 minutes to wheel barrow, if I ordered 6.5 yards for the same price, 665.00.
There was also an 80.00 extra charge every 15 minutes after the allowed time. Are you kidding me? That’s 320.00 an hour!
I know……I’ll buy all the concrete…NOW. I’ll beat them at their own game.
So, I called the man…..”Bring on the concrete!….. We’re ready.”
The new plan was to pour both slabs at the same time ……one giant, monolith 12×18 slab.
At 3:45 on a Friday, the massive cement truck arrived. I could hear the concrete slamming against the inside, Wham, Wham, Wham! It was so dry, it was like a giant dough ball. I asked the driver to add water but he only put in, maybe 5 gallons, which helped but it was still so thick, it wouldn’t slide down the chute.
I asked again if he could add water. He said he couldn’t get it too wet because it would spill out of the wheel barrow and he couldn’t fill it as much. Then he mumbled something about the time and the fact it was Friday.
It was so hot….the air was dead calm and not a cloud in the sky. I helped wheel barrow the first 10 loads and then, put on my concrete boots and started leveling it. Randy kept wheel barrowing and it suddenly became obvious, Jose and his cousin were a no show.
We were on our own.
There was a beam holding the shed up in place while we poured the floor which meant we couldn’t wheel barrow the concrete inside, exactly in place. It was so thick, it wouldn’t flow and started piling up at the door opening.
I had a concrete hoe to pull it across the 12 ft. floor in to place but I could tell…..like a panic attack…..I was in trouble.
I yelled at Randy to tell that guy to put more water in the mix, and he’s yelling back: “I did! but he only puts in a little bit!.”
I quickly take my boots off and run around to ask the guy to put more water in and he says he did already.
What am I supposed to do? Call him a liar? Grab the hose and squirt him?
I told Randy we had to finish this or we were screwed. I grabbed a wheel barrow full and headed back to the hole from hell. I hosed it down to keep it from drying out and pulled it in to place with the hoe as best I could. I grabbed a float and tried to force it down the rest of the way but it was like pushing silly putty flat through flower.
Randy dumped another load of concrete in to the growing pile and looked at me with these big pie eyes and said: “Man, this is kicking my ..s!” I said: “We’re almost there… 5 or 6 more barrow full’s and we’ll have enough. Hang in there!”
I hammered at the concrete, refusing to yield to its hardening cancer which spread faster than my trusty trowel could keep up with. I knew it didn’t have to be perfect…it’s just a shed, but it at least had to be flat.
I had been drinking water all day but we worked through lunch as we had to get the 2nd. slab formed and ready at the last minute. The sweat poured into my eyes and burned to the point where I could barely see but I didn’t stop until I started to feel woozy and had to lie down……just 2 minutes, I’ll be fine. I drank more water and suddenly…….lost it all.
My lips were tingly…. I saw stars, and immediately recognized the signs of dehydration.
I’d been drinking water all day……how could I be dehydrated? I drank more water and within minutes, threw that up too.
I was going down faster than a big rig on Ice Truckers. NOOOOOOooooooo…….!
Randy comes over and looks at me and says: “Dude…You OK? You look like sh.t.”
After throwing up the fourth time and my legs started shaking, my wife insisted on taking me to the emergency room. I refused at first, but then the room started spinning and I decided maybe she was right.
Alas….the Mighty Titanic is neither.
After being given 3 bags of saline intravenously, I was back to normal and felt surprisingly, pretty good. You wouldn’t believe what this little visit cost. Thankfully, I had insurance. We didn’t get home from the hospital until midnight.
The next day, I went out to see the damage and discovered it wasn’t that bad and with a skim coat, I could level out the low spots and you would never know. The best part was, all the tools were cleaned and put away, the plywood was picked up off the driveway, the wheel barrows and concrete tools were washed, and the shop and work truck were locked.
It was 6 pm on a Friday when I left in a hurry, but Randy stayed late until the job was done. I was very impressed.
To show my appreciation, today we built a 4×4 sand box for his 5 yr. old niece out the old treated 4×4s from the original floor and some 1×6 cedar I had in stock. We belt sanded the 4×4s and then routed all the edges. We installed a smooth 1×6 cedar cap for a seat which really made it look nice.
Randy was very pleased with his handmade gift and couldn’t wait to get home to assemble it and fill it with sand, just in time for her birthday on Sunday.
We joke about it now and everyone has a good laugh at my expense. I don’t mind….a little.
Working around the house and in the gardens, we like to call ourselves: The Reed and Randy Show.
We do nice work and have fun together ….and that’s all that matters to me.
So what’s the message this time? Shoulda got decent help…..shoulda ate lunch…..Shoulda called that guy’s boss….
“You’re no spring chicken.” my wife told me.
My favorite: “Wake up and smell the coffee….you old fart!”
What ever the message, I know one thing…..I have completed my last concrete job, thank you.
3130.00 for the 2 hour hospital tour – ouch
240.00 for extra wheel barrow time – %$#@&!
+250.00 for more leveling concrete – doh!
3620.00 total additional costs – one more lesson….. paid for.
But……. at least I got my 665.00 worth of concrete.
Mark
Replies
Might do a 30 yard foundation and floor concrete job next summer for big shop.
45 years ago could carry 3 94# bags of cement up one flight of stairs. Twice then carried 6 1/2by8 ft sheet of sheetrock up 2 flights of stairs (only a few times, cut it back to 4 sheets, to dang hard)
Hard to carry one bag now, and recently have even been known to slit apart the sheetrock and just carry one sheet.
As recently as 1992 poured and finished 14 yards of driveway with zero help in one day, pretty beat. - did not have to wheelbarrow though, but it was 4" slump.
So, the 30 yard job WILL be in just 6 or 7 yard batches....... <G>
It is fun getting old.........?
A Cautionary Tale
Mark,
Your account should serve as a cautionary tale for everyone who considers doing a concrete pour--especially those with little concrete experience. As a young builder in the 1970s, I had a few concrete fiascos but, fortunately, the consequences of my lack of planning and overconfidence were not as severe as yours. I ended up working a few of the hardest days I've ever worked, at a frantic pace in a state of near-panic. When done, the finish on the concrete was not something I was proud of. I quickly learned to respect this heavy, irreversible and unforgiving material.
Clearly, you have learned a hard lesson. For others who read this and are considering doing a pour, I have a few words of advice:
-Think the job through from the beginning.
-Think about how you'll get the concrete to the form. If you need to roll it in in wheelbarrows, figure 10 wheelbarrows full for each yard of concrete.
-Line up plenty of quality help. People who have never done concrete work are not usually quality help. A wheelbarrow full of concrete weighs between 450 and 600 lbs. and a large percentage of middle class men simply can't manage that weight. Another factor is that you have to be absolutely certain that the help will show up.
-Make sure your wheelbarrow doesn't have a flat. Don't laugh; this happened to me once.
-Keep an eye on the weather.
-Carefully check the anticipated path of the truck. Look up, especially for power lines. Look also for overhanging eaves and other things that can get damaged by the truck.
-Know when to say when. I like pouring concrete and I do a lot of my own pours. But I've learned to bring in a concrete crew when the job is too big for me and whatever crew I can rustle up. I've attached a link to a video of my last pour, a 5-yd. slab for a stone patio. I had the good sense to hire the pour out to a crew of seasoned pros. Note the power of the dude in the red shirt. This company, by the way, is owned by a woman (in shorts); her father, aged 70, is operating the bull float. They did this pour in one hour for $400. http://www.youtube.com/user/BillPhillips1944#p/a/u/0/8nRR9pkT0kM
-Respect concrete; it is heavy, expensive, and comes with a ticking clock.
--Mudslinger
Great story--for a story!--but sorry it had to happen to you. Sounds to me like you weren't suffering from simple dehydration (heat exhaustion), but incipient heat stroke. You're lucky you're still in the land of the living. I'm by no means in your physical class, but I've learned my limits. Fifteen years ago I could climb up on our 35 deg roof and look for non-existent leaks, but as I resided the house this past year, I went up on the roof and within a minute discovered that I didn't want to do the dormers or the narrow bit of gable end up there. My legs just aren't up to it anymore. Gave the job to the nephew of our roofer.