It's really hard to believe it's been six weeks already, what a blur. Time flies when you're having fun! My husband and I spend a couple hours every night (except Wednesday), all day Saturday and Sundays after church working on our newest adventure.....
The Chirping Frog, an antique, collectibles, vintage, home decor, furniture, artisan wares and more shopping mall. I also plan to host classes in a variety of fun topics; such as mosaic, hypertufa, jewelry making, paper arts, etc. I am so excited and a little terrified all at the same time. Here's some links if you're interested in following our progress:
Now its onward and upward, literally. Our focus this week has been on the bathrooms. The walls and ceiling will be concrete to provide a little bit of storm protection. It's been quite the process.
I didn't get any pictures of the inner forming (it was freezing out there and taking my gloves off, well, wasn't gonna happen).
In the picture above you can see that the inner forms and rebar is in across three sides. The bottom 3' is the forming for the foundation walls and we've added on top of that (another 6' and 3' form). The wood framing is block-outs for the doors. You can also see the added supports are still in from the foundation wall pour. A couple more rows of those will be going in for added support above.
To add the 6' form required a little climbing in order to put in the wedges to hold everything together. Then the next 3' required a little extra planning. Below you can see what my hubby came up with, worked really well (as if there was any doubt).
He used the "whalers" from all the added support outside and made himself a platform of sorts. That allowed him to add the top 3' of forms. Me, well, I never really realized what a wuss I am when it comes to heights.
Here's whats holding up the platform, those little metal brackets also hold the wood around the outer edges to help straighten the forms and keep them where they need to be.
Now that the inside forming is done and the three sides of rebar with forms underneath are in its time to work on that outer wall. It's going to take a little more work. First thing, clean it off. I can't help but hear the "Ghostbuster" theme song every time he wears that thing!
The bottom piece of rebar is set in the foundation wall and connected to the new rebar verticals for the walls.
Here the verticals are in and we're nearly done adding in the horizontals.
Hubby added some electrical into the wall. Not sure if its the right size or ever going to be usable but if it is, it's there. If not, it'll have to be exposed. Worth a shot.
He also added some water pipes and a vent. If the plumber decides to use them they'll have to use flexible piping, if not then I'll have exposed pipes. Either way I'm happy.
Now that all that is done its time to add the outer forming. The first layer was not too bad. I can't handle the forms (they're heavy) but I could help put in the wedges to tie everything together. The next layer (the 3' toppers, well, that's another story).
This was my hubby's plan for the 3' toppers. He is on the inside, carrying them up the step ladder to the top and then holding them in place while I am on the ladder you see here trying to put the wedges in. Easy, right! Well not when you're a weakling and use your body weight to help hammer them in. I couldn't put my weight on the form I was trying to wedge in so I was always off balance and not able to use my body weight. (Sorry, but all you ladies out there know what I'm talking about). I was no help at all! Those five or six forms are all we could get in and hubby had to come back and tighten everything because I couldn't do it. Next day, Caleb to the rescue.
The plan is to pour on Saturday. We still have the back wall to get put together and lots of support to add around the outside. Busy, busy!
