Form Foibles

This week was less productive than we had expected. The main reason was that the form stakes would not come out and the forms would not come off!

The first step to removing the forms was to remove the 4 ft. steel form stakes that we rented. It didn't take long to figure out that these do not pull right out! After attempting several methods of removal, my grandpa and I were able to use the following system with moderate success: break the stake loose by twisting it with a pipe wrench, cinch a chain around the stake and use a pry-bar over the foundation to raise the stakes. This sounds a lot easier than it was as evidenced by several broken chains, broken bolts, bent stakes and a bent 6 ft. steel pry-bar! With help from my father-in-law I was able to finish getting the stakes out on the 4th of July.

The next step was to get the forms off. Again, this proved to be more difficult than expected. They did not just pull off. The problem appeared to be that concrete had pushed up around the bottom form and now held it securely in place. The bottom forms, if you remember, were 20 yr. old used forms that were badly deteriorated. Any prying on them only caused them to break apart. We were able to get all of the top half of the forms off and decided to just bury the old ones since we couldn't get them out and they were well underground.

The foundation is now back-filled. We were hoping it would use more dirt to fill all the trenches since we have piles everywhere, but we weren't counting on the forms taking up much of the space. Also, we fixed a leak in our laundry room. The drain for the washer was rusted through inside the wall and had rotted some of the floor joists that I need to tie our new floor to. Now that the leak is fixed I can proceed with fixing the old floor and building the new one.

This week I will be setting the mudsill and building the floor. The progress may again be a little slow since this Saturday is my brother's wedding.