Mud for the Footers

As if the weather knew that today mud was coming for the footers.

You can tell it's early morning.  There are no clouds in front of the Alaska range.  And today is going to be a busy one.

Onsite babysiter still on site.

Footers backfilled for extra support and to keep the mud in place.

And the concrete truck is here!

The concrete truck has a spout on the front where the mud comes out.

And what looks like waterslide pieces are attached to the spout to extend the reach of the concrete truck.  

Bring on the mud!

Don't get me wrong, concrete work is not easy and not something you want to mess up.  But proper preparation and knowing what to expect make pouring footers something that can be done by most determined diyers.  

And it's hard work.  Think of it like pancake batter full of gravel.  Cookie dough made of marbles.  Ice cream with pebbles that sets up instead of melts.

Extra Aunts arrived just in time to help the dirt hill out with babysitting.  THANK YOU!

And the mud kept pouring.

My father-in-law, Tim, did the vibrating to remove air pockets in the concrete.

The Ram screeds the concrete with a scrap 2x4, to smooth out the surface of the footers.

And remember the rebar Grace helped bend the other day?

Uncle Bill placed the rebar in the concrete.  These pieces of rebar will hold the walls on the footers.

The concrete will need a few days to cure.  

And the crew needs a few days of fishing.

So we'll be taking a few days off from the Momplex before walls start going up!