- having enough cement, sand and gravel before I started
- having enough time
- shovelling straight from the piles of sand and gravel into the mixer, and tipping the mixer straight into the shuttering
- working out how to get the mixer on its stand without a well-muscled helper
- finishing without getting my gloves wet, as a result of turning on the tap just enough to fill the watering can between mixer-loads (adjusting the tap means wet gloves)
- getting the surface nice and flat
- finishing before 11.30 (in the morning)
Friday 27 February 2009
(very) Small pleasures of laying concrete
Put down the final layer on the first slab today. The small pleasures in question were:
Wednesday 25 February 2009
Out in the AZU
We went out in the AZU, over to a village the other side of Figeac, to see a couple with a similar van - more original, but needing more work - and also an Austin 7.
It was an easy drive over, and a beautiful warm sunny day. Bob and Karen made us really welcome, shared their lunch with us, and generally let us waste their time. Bob kindly let me drive both the van and the car, and afterwards Caro and I both felt it might be worth bringing our Lichfield over here to join the AZU: Bob assured me that it's not too difficult to import a really old vehicle.
His AZU, though CT-ed and totally legal, still needs a bit of work on the front wings, and bonnet to finish it: the bits that Bob has done - most of the van! - look as if they'll last another 50 years (his is a 1961 model, with suicide doors).
We were most impressed by the barn conversion Bob and Karen had done, all their own work but looking very professional (they'd even done the roof tiles themselves), and as a result I'm newly incentivized to try reusing some of the old oak floor-boards, spoilt though they are. B & K had done a really good job with old chestnut planking. Though I have to say I am rather jealous of Bob's well-equipped shed. Another resolution for Lessal. They also told us about French conversation evenings at Figeac and we've decided we'll give that a try too.
We were back here in time to enjoy a cup of tea by the new concrete, and plan the next mixing day (Friday?). Still cold once the sun has set though, so the fire is now lit and roaring away.
It was an easy drive over, and a beautiful warm sunny day. Bob and Karen made us really welcome, shared their lunch with us, and generally let us waste their time. Bob kindly let me drive both the van and the car, and afterwards Caro and I both felt it might be worth bringing our Lichfield over here to join the AZU: Bob assured me that it's not too difficult to import a really old vehicle.
His AZU, though CT-ed and totally legal, still needs a bit of work on the front wings, and bonnet to finish it: the bits that Bob has done - most of the van! - look as if they'll last another 50 years (his is a 1961 model, with suicide doors).
We were most impressed by the barn conversion Bob and Karen had done, all their own work but looking very professional (they'd even done the roof tiles themselves), and as a result I'm newly incentivized to try reusing some of the old oak floor-boards, spoilt though they are. B & K had done a really good job with old chestnut planking. Though I have to say I am rather jealous of Bob's well-equipped shed. Another resolution for Lessal. They also told us about French conversation evenings at Figeac and we've decided we'll give that a try too.
We were back here in time to enjoy a cup of tea by the new concrete, and plan the next mixing day (Friday?). Still cold once the sun has set though, so the fire is now lit and roaring away.
Tuesday 24 February 2009
Shovelling it in ...
A beautiful sunny morning (and sunshine all day), so obviously the right thing to do is to lay some concrete.
So first thing this morning (OK, ten o'clock) down to Chausson to get 720kg of sand and 6 bags of cement. Saw a pair of red kites over the upper Cele valley on the way down (the newspaper reports that the annual count of kites in the Cantal shows numbers significantly reduced in the last two years).
I then spent the next few hours shovelling the gravel and sand and cement into the mixer and tipping it direct into the formwork outside the (future) bedroom window. At lunchtime, having used up all the cement, wolfed down the remains of yesterday's dinner, and back down to Chausson for another 6 bags. Used three of these and finished the slab - a total of about 2.4 tonnes of dry materials, and probably another 0.1t of water - about two and a half tonnes of concrete (somewhere between 1 and 1.5 cubic meters?).
When it was all down, and we were about to sit down for a cup of tea, I noticed that the long board with the heaviest weight of concrete on it had bowed by about 3 or 4 centimeters in the middle. After cursing for a few minutes, I found a concrete block, wedged it against the middle of the shuttering, and used a sledgehammer to drive a thick piece of wood between the block and the shuttering. Surpisingly this worked, and the shuttering is now straight again.
Since finishing the concrete and the tea, I've been spending the last half-hour going out to admire it at five minute intervals, telling myself that I'm making sure that the neighbour's dogs don't walk over it (as I am sure they will). Later on, if there's a reasonably dry surface, I'll try to cover it over with sacking as the weather forecast is freezing temperatures overnight.
What does it look like? Pretty much like concrete, unfortunately.
So first thing this morning (OK, ten o'clock) down to Chausson to get 720kg of sand and 6 bags of cement. Saw a pair of red kites over the upper Cele valley on the way down (the newspaper reports that the annual count of kites in the Cantal shows numbers significantly reduced in the last two years).
I then spent the next few hours shovelling the gravel and sand and cement into the mixer and tipping it direct into the formwork outside the (future) bedroom window. At lunchtime, having used up all the cement, wolfed down the remains of yesterday's dinner, and back down to Chausson for another 6 bags. Used three of these and finished the slab - a total of about 2.4 tonnes of dry materials, and probably another 0.1t of water - about two and a half tonnes of concrete (somewhere between 1 and 1.5 cubic meters?).
When it was all down, and we were about to sit down for a cup of tea, I noticed that the long board with the heaviest weight of concrete on it had bowed by about 3 or 4 centimeters in the middle. After cursing for a few minutes, I found a concrete block, wedged it against the middle of the shuttering, and used a sledgehammer to drive a thick piece of wood between the block and the shuttering. Surpisingly this worked, and the shuttering is now straight again.
Since finishing the concrete and the tea, I've been spending the last half-hour going out to admire it at five minute intervals, telling myself that I'm making sure that the neighbour's dogs don't walk over it (as I am sure they will). Later on, if there's a reasonably dry surface, I'll try to cover it over with sacking as the weather forecast is freezing temperatures overnight.
What does it look like? Pretty much like concrete, unfortunately.
Monday 23 February 2009
Just what I wanted for my 60th birthday - a blog
I started the day with a bit of retail therapy: 1.3 tonnes of 4/16 gravel (will be getting the sand and cement tomorrow). This is two trailer-loads, and it felt just a little too much for the trailer both times. It always does. However just tipping it where the mixer will be sited (next to the slab I'm pouring) is going to make for a lot less shovelling and barrowing.
It's been a cold and windy day here in the Cantal, so I had mixed feelings about the weekly walk organized by the Club des Aines du Haut Cele ("Les Tousmalou"), and the first mile or so it certainly felt like winter. But once we got off the hilltop and down into the valley it was fine, and a interesting round trip from Cassaniouze to La Mothe and back. Caro had baked sixty little sponge cakes to celebrate the day, and the 18 walkers (including us) made pretty short work of them. Then back for an equally windswept talk with the plumber and builder about the work on the barn, neither of whom were quite able to say when they'd be back to do the work, and dinner with Tony and Anne. Raining!
It's been a cold and windy day here in the Cantal, so I had mixed feelings about the weekly walk organized by the Club des Aines du Haut Cele ("Les Tousmalou"), and the first mile or so it certainly felt like winter. But once we got off the hilltop and down into the valley it was fine, and a interesting round trip from Cassaniouze to La Mothe and back. Caro had baked sixty little sponge cakes to celebrate the day, and the 18 walkers (including us) made pretty short work of them. Then back for an equally windswept talk with the plumber and builder about the work on the barn, neither of whom were quite able to say when they'd be back to do the work, and dinner with Tony and Anne. Raining!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
