Sunnyhill New Home

Georgia buggies were used to move concrete from

the transit mixer to the west end of the sanctuary.

The first day of winter and the shortest day of the year coincided with the longest day of construction so far for our new home. The 14-person crew from Carl Taylor and Sons (CTS), our concrete sub-contractor, began to arrive at 6 a.m. By 10:30 a.m., when this reporter arrived, about 75 percent of the concrete in the new addition had been poured and leveled or "screed" in the jargon of the trade. 

Concrete for the east end of the building was

poured directly from the transit mixer.

Screed used as a verb is the process of leveling the concrete. The noun screed is the tool used for leveling. CTS used a combination of screeds to level our floor. The floor of the sanctuary was leveled using a power, laser guided screed. Because of the difference in depth of the pour - from 4 inches to 12 inches at the haunches - the floor under the offices, classrooms and restrooms had to be leveled with manual screeds. 

The laser in the left of this photo was used to 

guide the power screed so the slab would

be perfectly level. 

A power, laser guided screed in action.

 Once the floor was leveled and the concrete had begun to set, the floor was troweled to a smooth finish using powered trowels and hand trowels. This tedious process took until about 5 p.m. to complete. Even after the last crew member from CTS left for the day, there was still work to be done. 

Troweling was done using both a powered trowel

(foreground) and the old-fashioned way with

hand trowels (background).

Temporary bracing kept the wooden forms in place.

To prevent movement in the steel columns from

cracking the floor, the area around the base will

be filled with an isolation pad.

Craig Frye, our construction manager from TEDCO and his associate, Scott, had to remain on site until the concrete had hardened enough to be walked upon without leaving marks so they could cover it with insulated plastic tarps. These covers will help keep in the heat generated by concrete in the normal process of curing and keep the slab above 40 degrees Fahrenheit until it cures enough to be exposed to weather. Generally concrete reaches 70 percent of its strength in seven days and full strength in 28 days. Craig and Scott began covering the floor just after 8 p.m. and were nearly done by about 8:45 p.m. They expected to finish by 9 p.m.

Placing the slab required seven transit mixers, each hauling 10 cubic yards of concrete. To compensate for the temperatures, the concrete was made with hot water and a chemical accelerator was added to speed curing. This will result in additional costs, which will be absorbed by the contingency built into the budget. We had expected to be pouring concrete in the late summer, but the start date of our project was delayed three months for a variety of reasons. 

Tomorrow, Thursday, CTS will return to pour isolation pads around the columns, place the slab in the basement - which will take eight to nine yards of concrete - and to cut expansion joints in the concrete poured today.

Placing the slab isn't the only exciting news coming from the work site. For the past week, carpenters have been busy - even on the coldest days - framing and erecting the exterior walls of our new home. If you can read the language of wall framing - studs, king studs, jack studs, cripples, headers and sills - you should be able to see where the doors and windows will be installed. Once the floor is finished and the holidays have passed, framing our new home will take center stage, and we should see rapid progress. The goal is to get the building "dry" as quickly as possible. Look for an update on framing in next week's blog.

In other news, look for a link to the steel erection video in the right column of this blog. The most dramatic changes took place on day one, but if you look closely on day three, you can see the bright light from welding strategic joints taking place. 

A view of the slab through a window in a new RE room and an 

exterior door on the north side of the building.

Scott, left, and Craig from TEDCO putting the slab to bed 

for the night.

Carpenters continued to fabricate wall sections even as the

slab was being placed.

To reduce the likelihood of termite damage, the sills of the wall 

panels are treated lumber. In addition, a copper termite shield

and plastic foam insulation is placed between the foundation and

the sill plate. The ground under the slab has also been

treated for termites.

The steel frame has been welded at strategic locations.

Framing of the north side of the building showing two windows in a 

new RE room, a door to the outside at the end of the hall, and a

window in the crying room. Scott and Craig can be seen in the

background placing insulated plastic covers over the new slab

to protect it from the cold.