Not much going on today

Last night, Shawn brushed the outside of the window bucks with basement waterproofing. This is so that the wood will not be in contact with the concrete. The concrete can wick up moisture from the ground and it would lead to the wood frames rotting eventually. We could have used treated wood, but the problem is that wood is so wet, when it dries, it twists and warps and there have been problems with windows breaking or not working properly because of that. So, we went with regular wood with the the waterproofing. That black stuff is really messy, made out of tar. It sticks to everything. So while Shawn did that, I kept Evan well away from it.

Today I went to work in the morning, and then came home after lunch. While I was at work, Shawn moved all of the braces from the lawn into the basement site. He also loaded up all of the planks for the scaffold and moved them inside as well, plus moved a load of block. By the time I got home, Shawn was ready to begin setting up the bracing. These braces are what keep the walls straight and to support them while they are poured. Also, you can see that blue triangle towards the top. Wood planks will sit up there so that we can walk along and keep building the wall up once it is too high to do it from the ground, which for me that means after the fourth row is up. This way we don't have to go up and down a ladder to put up each block. The guys also use this plank to pour the concrete at the top of the wall. The blue bar at an angle is called a turnbuckle. You can turn this piece, which is connected with a threaded rod to the silver vertical brace, and it will tilt that silver brace forward or back. This is how you straighten the wall to make sure it is plumb right before you pour the concrete. Also, if things shift during the concrete pour, the crew turns the turnbuckle to make any adjustments if necessary. The silver brace is attached to the plastic ties embedded in the foam. We did find that you have to be careful not to strip the screw in the tie. Here's a picture of the progress we had last night. Pam and Derald will arrive tonight, so we can start bright and early tomorrow.