Friday, August 11, 2017

Pouring the Ballroom Floor

The first cement truck arrived promptly at 2:00 a.m. and the crew was ready and waiting for it.  All this plastic sheeting is a moisture barrier to prevent any moisture seeping up through the sub layer and getting near the wooden floor in the future.






I was glad to be there early so I could watch that Star Wars machine unfold its huge long arm and reach across the site for the initial pour.




It was quite impressive to see such a huge crew there.  At one point I counted 36 people and that doesn't include the truck drivers nor the people back at the cement company that were preparing the trucks.


By now I'm familiar with this pouring operation as we watched the same crew do all of our pickleball courts.  Cement comes flowing from the truck, dumped into the Star Wars machine (I'm sure it has a more technical name), and down that black tube chute.  One man steers that chute by hand while another wears a control box that moves the entire arm.  


Then the rest of the crew springs into action and each has his own responsibility to get the proper depth of the concrete.  Final step is smoothing the surface.


I watched through two cups of coffee I had with me and then came home to recharge my phone while I downloaded some video.  I'll put Don to work editing it later.


Security told me they were receiving complaints from several of our residents about the noise.  Sorry folks, but this pouring has to be done at night when the temperature is cooler.  It was a nice cool 86 degrees at 2:00 a.m.  









Always measuring depth and making sure forms are level.



Back-breaking work!






Time is 4:15.  A few minutes break waiting for the next truck.



Now we start on the kitchen.



Truckload after truckload.  Between 14-17 loads.
Don and I went home around 4:30.






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