Fortress Update

The astonishing and unexpected progress continues! Despite the masons taking the day off (because of the uncertainty about the inspection time), a lot was accomplished. Ruben (my contractor) and the inspector showed up within moments of each other, before 8 am. A few minutes later, after some minor difficulty locating the rebar schedule (the specification for the size of the rebar) on the design drawing, we were approved – we passed the inspection!

Next came the really surprising part… I can't help but think of Ruben as the absolute master of procrastination – eight months of zero activity will do that to you. But today, after the pleasant surprise of an early-in-the-day inspection (passed!), Ruben turned into the whirling dervish of Jamul. With a few phone calls, he arranged for the delivery of the remaining materials we need for construction, for delivery this afternoon of the 3.5 yards of concrete needed for the next pour, for Carlos (the concrete pumper) this afternoon, and for the masons to show back up tomorrow. Whew!

Even better – the material actually showed up, Carlos arrived and set up his pump, and the concrete arrived on time. Moments later, Carlos started pumping concrete into the voids inside the concrete blocks already laid. This operation is called a “grout lift” – the “grout” means filling the holes in the blocks with concrete, and the “lift” refers to filling the blocks up only to a certain height (five feet, in this case). The reason for limiting a grout lift to five feet is to limit the hydraulic pressure acting on the lower runs of block being filled – if the lift were made high enough (say, 10 feet), the pressure might be high enough to burst those blocks. What a mess that would be, with concrete running out all over the place!

Tomorrow Davy starts early in the morning, putting up the last 7 runs of block. He and his sons should be finished with that in two or three days of work. After that, they'll begin installing the form and rebar for pouring the last grout lift (which will fill the new blocks they're about to lay) and the pour for the roof. My estimate is that we'll make that pour next Wednesday or Thursday. Woo hoo!