The kids are getting too big to share a room so I am adding 2 bedrooms and a bathroom on each side of the house. I'm doing everything myself with a little help from my friends.
Got to be at least 4” to be viable under its own weight.. more likely 6”.... I would be interested in the answer as well...
One things for sure ,, you're building a quality home. What type of form system are you using ?? Kinda hard to tell from the pics. Just curious,, I haven't really done much concrete forming since the late 80s ,, mostly built plywood and 2x4 forming back then ,, used Symons forms a few times ,, man ,, that made things go quicker. Just haven't kept up with all the different forming systems over the years.
This is a plywood clamp system by a company called Gates. A bank in WV was selling a complete system they had repossessed and I bought it. I bought the plywood at Menards, it is wall forming plywood and has some sort of really smooth surface.
We got really frustrated dealing with contractors on the main part of the house so I decided to do the new additions myself. It has been a bit of a learning curve but it is rewarding seeing the results of your labor and will probably save us 50% on costs.
Yes sir ,, if you've got the time and a little knowledge,, you can save some money. Especially in concrete,, some of them guys make some really good money , but you've got to know how and when to work it ,, or it'll work you. Looks like you're doing well.
Poured the footers for the walls yesterday, the concrete truck couldn't quite reach the footers in the back so we had to move concrete with wheelbarrows. Tough work but rewarding to see it finished.
I've learned to like the bill for a concrete pump. My back still remembers wheelbarrows and georgia buggies.
ON large pours , Pumpers are the way . We slumped our pump and the pumper operator bitched .. at one time i had 4 trucks sitting rolling it thill it slumped and the engineer said thats ok now. they try to sell water !! My Hanger / Shop 3 hoists with sky rail lift . Sloth
Curious about the economics of concrete construction compared to stick framing? I assume you are using furring strips or other for electrical and plumbing? Any provisioning for either in the concrete itself?
I put conduit in the wall before we poured the concrete and pulled the wire, I wedge a little block of wood inside a metal outlet box then screw through the form and pull the box opening up tight against the inside of the form. I put conduit in the floor for the water lines and pulled pex through them before we poured the floor in case we ever need to replace the lines.
That is without a doubt the way to run water lines. A friend lives in a slab house and she needed the floor ripped up to fix a leak.
Poured the walls on the first side and the floor on the second side this week. Now we are moving the forms from the first side to set them up on the second side.