"Ah, to build, to build! That is the noblest art of all the arts." - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

"Del Norte" : JD Scott

the introspective hours begin

along the dry riverbed.  I cross

the Rio Grande

each time more lively and hopeful

than the last.

I dart in and out of

one-stoplight towns

in cottonwood trees that block

the wind, if only for the length

of a song.  
  

Rocks for the radon heating system arriving:

Formwork detail: these ICF's have channels in the webs to fit the horizontal rebar into.

Expansion foam is used to fill any gaps/joints in the ICF's:

Looks like we're all set for an inspection; if all goes well we'll be pouring concrete on Tuesday!

5_31

ICF

"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." - Mark Twain

We installed the formwork for the foundation walls today; we're using ICF's (insulating concrete forms) instead of old-school formwork (lumber); it's much quicker but more expensive supposedly.  The ICF's consist of two foam panels connected by plastic webs that are joined by metal ties and serve as guides for the rebar.  They are stacked like bricks essentially.  Tomorrow, if all goes well, we'll seal them to the footings.

A semester's worth of information in two days.  Perhaps the best knowledge came from one of my supervisors:

"I'm gonna go home, sit on my porch, prop my feet up, grab an ice cold beer, pat the dog, kiss the old lady, and remember the good old days..."

Things you can't learn in school...

  
 

footings

My first day on the Habitat for Humanity build site in Johnson Village, just South of Buena Vista.  The primary task: placing footings.  Mt. Princeton (14,197 ft.) in the distance.

Footing detail