VERTICAL CONSTRUCTION

   Donde Esta el lote?

  Rather than sacrificing plant life, the ocotillo was

removed by Play de Oro and placed in the

communities green space.

  The lot is surveyed over and over to achieve

level and house footprint location.

A better angle of the slope height after the lot is level.

Continued watering allows for compaction.

Grade to level. The chalk lines give an idea of the house

footprint in comparison to the lot.

The house footprint is now, more accurate, with square

lines accurate to the blue prints.

30 foot steel rebar is shipped from Mexicali to hand form metal reinforcements in the concrete footer.

The square shapes are then hand tied with metal wire to

longer pieces.  This is time and labor intensive.

More rebar reinforcements completed.

Sub-slab plumbing is laid out prior to cement pour.

Plastic vapor barrier is laid over the compacted soil to control moisture.

Once the footer steel is in the trenches, the rebar is laid out.

Finally, steel mesh is added as an extra assurance

of maximum durability and quality.

Monday, January 4, 2010 

The concrete pour begins.  Timing is critical.

The screed or leveling of the wet cement is done in sections to allow for the delays between the deliveries of multiple truck loads.

The edges of the forms are cleaned to allow for easier removal. 

The Second Pour January 7, 2010

 The grey plastic is electrical line access from the

                  meter to the house.

 Placing block wall reinforcements in the wet cement.

As the late day turns cool and moist, the concrete is watched.

January 8, 2010

Forms are stripped and cleaned.

The Third Pour

 More in-slab plumbing.

Here we go again- the prep continues. 

Did we mention the typical spring weather? In the background, you can see fog rolling in.

The wall will eventually hold back earth from the lot behind the house. 

Please view Page 2 for more updates.

 The untouched lot.

Now with the plants gone we can begin

the survey and excavation of the property.

 A sloping lot requires mucho excavation and sand removal.  Eventually a retaining wall will be constructed.

Over 50 cubic tons of sand was removed

 just to level the lot.

 22,000 liters of trucked in water for compaction.

Compacting the grade.

Hand dug trenches lined with wood, will act as the forms, for cement poured to create the footers for the foundation of the house walls.

First pieces are cut and bent into square shape.  Similar construction is done for wall corners and the roof.

Finally, one 30 foot piece of reinforcement is formed. 

This is done over and over until enough is made for the footers. 

These footers represent the outside patio edge and the outside structure wall. 

The plumbing trenches will be refilled with dirt prior to cement pour,

The vapor barrier serves a double pupose, it also slows the curing process of the cement.

                 The rebar is the main strength of the slab.

Precision, from the start, births quality.

Cement truck is in position and

the LONG day begins.

The task is labor intensive and very hands-on.

 The pour is over, but, the concrete is floated and troweled until the surface attains an acceptable level.  On this particular project, the pour process will be repeated 3 times to allow for possible seismic activity.

The second pour begins.

The board down the center of the pour is level reference.

Groove lines are smoothed.

The ground is prepped for the next and final pour.

Three trucks were on-site for the final pour.

This trench is the base for the retaining wall.

VERTICAL CONSTRUCTION