Slab Prep & Pour (Part 4 of 4) - June 14, 2007

Hello again, PPR fans. Our apologies for being so lax (or lazy?) in sharing our adventures out on our ranch. Life is always busy, isn’t it?

Sam left off last year with his account of our "all-nighter" in preparation for the delivery of cement for the floor of the well house. The cement truck showed up right on time on a sunny day, June 14, 2007. I waited by the road so he wouldn’t miss the driveway, and got a free ride in the truck the quarter of a mile up the hill.

When the driver saw all the steel rebar and mesh that Sam had carefully placed and tied in, he grinned and asked, “What are you building, a skyscraper?” That was Sam’s second confirmation that he was building it strong and right.

As the concrete poured down the chute, our good friends jumped right into the fray. Bill, in the green shirt, has poured many slabs while building houses for the poor in Mexico, so he was in charge. Jeff (in the middle), Dave and Mike, along with Sam (on the right here) were the crew.

In the middle of June in southern Arizona, concrete dries quickly. If it dries too quickly, it cracks, so they had to keep moving to get it done right.

Once the concrete was in the forms, they tamped it down so it was roughly level…

Then started smoothing it to a final finish. Sam worked one end. He's a quick study.

Bill worked the other end. With all his concrete experience, doesn't it look like he's flying?

I stayed out of the way and took pictures. I was in a daze, since I hadn’t slept in 28 hours. As the temperature climbed towards 100, Sam and I were both moving a little slowly.

Meanwhile, Dave had brought his dad’s old transit and offered to survey the boundary lines of the parcels we were hoping to sell.

Jeff held the tall stick at the other end. I placed little yellow flags along the boundary lines. These guys all have a lot of talent and experience in building houses, and we are blessed that they were willing to help us out that day. The ranch is pretty far out of town, and it was a big commitment. After the guys left, Sam made sure the slab was watered down, then he and I got some sleep.

We stayed a few more days in Dennis and Joni’s trailer, and I drove back and forth to Tucson for work. One morning I must not have been fully awake when I left at 7 a.m. I drove right over the drain hose! Sam claims I thought it was a snake and tried to kill it. It's actually the hose to drain off the sink and shower water into the desert.

During that week, Sam hosed the slab down several times a day so it wouldn’t crack while the concrete was curing. When we moved back into town, he rigged up an ingenious lawn sprinkler system with a timer and the slab stayed cool until we were sure it was cured. Isn't it pretty and smooth?