Wednesday, August 1 - Construction Nearly Kills Us All

Not really.  But we did all work extremely hard Wednesday both tying rebar some more, and mixing concrete for footings.

This is the hard part.  The concrete is mixed by hand using shovels on the ground.  The formula is 3 wheelbarrows of sand, two of coarse gravel, and two 100-pound bags of Portland cement.  Mix twice.  Add 4 blue buckets of water.  Mix again, and distribute in buckets.  The bucket brigade delivered hundreds of loads of concrete to form the footings for the house.  Blocks are easier to move than buckets.  All the blocks are the same, and you expect it, and it becomes routine.  But the buckets are all filled to a different extent, and you never know what to expect. 
It never becomes routine, the handle is sharp, the bucket swings, and it can hit you.
But, we know it's worth it, so we do it with gusto.

Tuesday, July 31 - Construction Continues

Today, we finished moving the large pile of fill being used for the footings of the house.  We also leveled some dirt removed to make room for the footing.  In addition, we tied rebar together to get ready for the task on Wednesday of mixing concrete and pouring it over the rebar.

The pile of fill we have to move to the work site is in the distance.

It was too wet for the delivery truck to get closer.

Miguel makes small footings that go at the corners of the house (see below).

Miguel puts out his strings to make sure everything is straight along one side of the house.

Dan Corkery and Francis Padilla from Habitat.

Pastor Tom and Dan know they are getting close to the end of hauling fill about 300 feet from one end of the work site to the other.

Tolu makes the ceremonial last dump of fill, as we finished moving it from one location to another.  The fill was not delivered to a point near the work site due to wet conditions.  When Tolu made the last wheelbarrow delivery, there was great rejoicing.

Gordon Hack (The Flash), Douglas from Habitat, and Nicky Kyle take a break under the awning.

Pastor Tom Hillertz, Tolu Perrin-Stowe, Marilyn Dudley, and Laurie Johnson, as Francis looks on.

Douglas helps Justin listen to Lisa Hack as she reads a 

National Geographic publication on sharks - in Spanish.

Pastor Tom takes a lesson in the Douglas School of Worksite Survival.

All well and good except it gets your backside rather dirty.  But, it's worth it.

Lisa and Jennifer Melissa take a selfie.

The arduous task of tying in the rebar begins.  Not fun, but it needs to be done.

Monday, July 30 - Construction Begins

The work site when we arrived Monday morning.  Ditches have been dug by the three masons and some footing material put in place.

The construction materials await our attention.

We need to move the footing material from one location to another.

Gordon Hack makes one of the first wheelbarrow deliveries of hundreds moving fill to a location nearer the construction site itself.  The fill material was left at a distance of about 300 feet due to wet conditions at the time the truck made the drop.

Mason #2 named Nelson.  He will help guide our work.

Pastor Tom pitches in with one of many trips made by wheelbarrow.

The cinder blocks for construction wait in the background.

Bob Clark shows particularly good form in making his delivery by wheelbarrow.

A truck delivers gravel for making concrete later in the construction plan.  Miguel, the head mason, directs them where to place the gravel.

Miguel, the head mason.

Two workers who arrived with the truck push the gravel over the side.  The truck is not a hydraulic dump truck like one might see in the States.  But, if offers the capability of unloading on three sides, not just out the back like a traditional dump truck.  That can be very handy on a cramped work site.

Miguel adds footing material to the soil forms which will determine the layout of the house.  The formula for the material is: 7 wheelbarrows of raw fill material plus 1/2 bad of Portland cement.

The fill material is thoroughly mixed by shovel, and the bucket brigade begins.

Little Justin wants to help, too.  He will be a neighbor of our Habitat family.