Yesterday was upper-body and arm day.
Dug two holes and poured concrete for one, mounting the 6×6 post base in the top of the pier.
Today was upper-body and arm day, times two.
Got the rest of the existing posts out and took down the existing beam (without dropping it on yesterday’s work or the propane line).
By the end of the day had three piers poured, and a fourth hole dug. Tomorrow: the fifth and final hole.
The work in progress: of sixteen 80# bags of ready-mix concrete that I picked up today, seven are used and nine remain for tomorrow. Plus the five I got yesterday — 21 for the whole project, slightly less than I initially estimated…
…partly because a couple of the holes could not go as deep as I wanted (4 feet). This is the fill from one hole — and this was a pretty easy one, despite the amount of gravel. Two others had stacks of cinderblock buried about three feet down (presumably as a footing for the posts I had removed?) and it was pretty damn hard to break it up and remove it. I’m pretty sure the fifth hole will be the same.
My temporary wall is holding beautifully — when I removed the last of the existing support structure, there was no creaking, deflection, or motion — meaning the temp wall was already the main support. But I am looking forward to finishing the five new posts and new pressure-treated beam.
From the day before yesterday — I already posted this on facebook — we “finished” the dual hutch/coop and got the chickens into their new home.
They have a roosting area and we’ll enhance a brood box on the other end. We’re hoping at least one chick is not a rooster ;-O
But they’re much happier here than in their little travel crate. Marsh brings them treats all the time, “training” the momma hen to regard her as friend not foe. Seems to be working! And we have competition for a lot of our compost — the chickens will eat many vegetable scraps.
Sunday Eye Candy
On one of three trips to pick up our concrete (in non-Prius-busting 5-bag installments), I found a small classic car rally in the Unity plaza where we sometimes do our laundry.
