Monday they stripped the retaining wall. I thought it would be dramatic and exciting, but it was mostly noisy. It is alot harder to get those bolts out when they have a thin coating of concrete on them, and they forgot to spray the forms with "Pam," so the forms didn't want to let go of the concrete.
When they got this section stripped, I couldn't decide whether it was cool, because it looked like the wall of a ruin or problematic, because the concrete didn't look very uniform here.
Before I could decide, along came a fellow with a bucket of concrete to patch things up. I thought his job of rubbing more concrete into it made an excremental difference, but no matter. It will all be buried under several feet of fill dirt, anyway.
Soon they had it stripped. The wall still bears the marks of the forms and looks a little raw, but it is a good start.
The workers got right back to work adding rebar and setting up forms to make the uphill retaining wall.
I love the way the curve makes this shot look like it was taken with a "fish eye" lens. It wasn't. That's just the shape of the curve.
I went home for lunch and then on my way to the hardware store, I saw this beautiful sight. I guessed correctly that the inspector had come, he had seen and he had approved.
They were getting close but hadn't quite finished when I left.
The pumper truck got into position, and they began.
They started with the sub wall for the carport.
It was a bit of a wild ride, because the pump truck owner was letting his adult son operate the remote control. This fellow holding the hose is a former coal miner and he had some choice words a time or two. Luckily his accent is so thick that nobody could understand him.
Before long they had a line dance going with the tube guy in front followed by the guy with the vibrator, "Killick" who was holding the cord for the vibrator, the guy who likes to poke things with a stick, and the smooth operator.
It was a disco inferno.
I think I said something to offend "Killick." Maybe it was the disco comment.
At any rate, they finished the sub wall and moved to the curve in the uphill retaining wall.
Tomorrow they'll strip this wall and start the walls of the basement.
I'm starting to feel like we've spent more time and money on foundations than Mae West and Dolly Parton combined.
Just sayin...
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