Rocks, Cement and "The Rammer"

Well, a week has gone by and I can report progress. After finishing the frame for the foundation and the putting 1000 lbs of gravel into it I realized that I dug a little deep and needed another 1000 lbs of gravel to reduce the need for too much cement. So back to Home Depot and more bags of the lovely stuff.

And then my 12 year old alter ego came out and thought it a good idea to rent a power tool called the Rammer. I had seen it in one of my many stops at Home Depot. For those of you who don't know what it looks like, picture a gas motor attached to a large spring that has a flat piece of steel on the bottom. From afar it looks like an upside down nail with a motor on top. It weighs a ton and was a bitch to transport in my car. (just ask the wifey, she had to help me schlep the thing)
You turn the motor on, wait for it to warm up and turn the throttle. That thing starts jumping like a bull in heat. And I mean jumping. Clearly not what I needed to pat down the gravel in my little back yard project, but after a while I got the hang of it and after about 30 minutes the floor evened out and it did the trick.

On Tuesday my friend Frank showed up with his knowledge of how to wire for electricity and lay a gas line without creating an explosion. It helps to know people who know stuff. Yesterday, he and a helper came by with 36 -90lbs bags of concrete mix and spent 6 hours mixing up tons of this stuff to pour the foundation. All I had to do is water the surface at the end of the day and enjoy the pretty flat finish.

In the meantime I went back to home depot and ordered 3 pallets of cinder blocks for delivery tomorrow. I also purchased more rebar and cross-bars to tie the whole thing together. I borrowed a hammer drill from another friend (thanks Ron) to sink the rebar vertically into the fresh concrete foundation. The next two days are being spent with me trying to build the counter for the whole project. Since I lost all of May to waiting and planning I have an ambitious June schedule. On Sunday night I would like to be done with the wall construction so I can prep for the "floating cement ceiling" which I will attempt to do next weekend.