day . 31

so today we poured concrete and mother earth poured rain. i got to the site around 8 this morning and got the site and building ready. there were little last minute things that needed to be done. i foamed some last areas that needed to be foamed and walked around with adrian to see if there were any last places that need to be braced. about 10 the trucks got there and it was super exciting! our job for the day was to be at the ready when something went wrong and only had 2 mishaps all day. the first was within like 5 minutes of starting and we had a small blowout but it wasn’t that big of a deal then the second was not long after that. i was on the porch cleaning out the foam gun and robert hollers out my name, and i freak out and run over, well apparently a horizontal rebar was forgotten under a window, but i found some scraps and the crisis was averted! so the rest of the day went well except that around 12 it started to pour rain and it was so cold

day . 3o

bracing bracing and more bracing went on today! i helped adrian cap the ends of the 13 course wall and also brace either side of the wall to the ground to keep it from racking out. that was quite and interesting task. i worked with cody and gabe and to get to the brace that was being secured onto the outside wall….i had to literally hang over the wall and drill upside now. i made cody hold my feet, because it was super scary. once that area was stable cody, gabe and i went to the front suite are and braced that wall like the atrium walls. it was able to be done with less hanging.

concrete pour tomorrow…it is very exciting.

day . 29

i spent the day finishing rebar with josh. it started off super frustrating! we were putting the rebar in for the 13 course wall and some fit and others sat about 5 inches above the icf! i was not happy. so we had to get down and cut about 8 inches off at least half of the rebar. after we got that figured out we finally got it all installed. it took a lot longer than it should have but the problem was diverted we got it taken care of!

also an amazing ice cream truck came today! it was hilarious, a beat up grey van that not only sold ice cream cones that were obviously “not for individual sale” but also pickles and the kicker – newports! haha

day . 28

so today i worked super hard and got a lot done! cody and i started off the day by talking to robert about our internship for this summer. we discussed the things that would be different from studio and it got me really excited but also a little overwhelmed for the responsibility that i would end up having. after that i moved to rebar of course. Ha. It was perfect timing when we got done talking to robert, denise and Candice had just finished putting up the last course on the front of the building so i was able to come behind them and start putting in vertical rebar every 36 inches for the 8 course wall. i moved around the front courses without much hold up until i dropped my phone AND the rebar ornament into the ICFs. ahh it was no good. so I recruited cody to help me fish it out. once they were out i moved to the matron suite to see how katie and lauren did with the vertical rebar in that area. i only had to fix a few but other than that they were good. i moved on to measuring above all the windows for the 8 course walls and counting how many of each measurement i would need. there were only about 20 that needed to be cut and bent so it didn’t take me very long to get that done. i hustled once they were cut and bent to get them all installed. at the end of the day everything but the 13 course wall was complete! we really hustled today and got a LOT done!!

day . 27

i thought i would feel more refreshed after having a whole weekend off but i felt more tired today on site than i had in a LONG time. which was no fun. but we started off the day by volunteering for groups and i was in the plumbing group. i had a moment and thought that it meant plumbing like bathroom plumbing and it was actually plumbing like level plumbing DUH! haha. so adrian showed us how to make sure that the walls were level and what to look for and how to fix it. once we got our instructions our group went to the matron suite and began to plumb. we got them all done quickly except for about 4 braces in one corner that were being difficult. thankfully right as i was getting extremely frustrated with them, adrian came around to help us. so he and i got the last 4 firgured out and plumb. they were all locked up so he had to use his man skills and move the wall by brute strength instead of the turning braces that were locked up. once we got them to a place that adrian and i agreed on we moved to another section of the site. caroline was up on teh top scaffolding cutting down tree limbs so once she got to big ones i got up there to help her catch the big limbs, and pull them down onto the scaffolding to be cut up and thrown off the side. one in particular was super scary and i caught backhanded! i was impressed with my catch. i then moved on to help cody and his team with some window bracing and other small tasks. it go super cold super fast so we started packing up a little early today.

tomorrow we have to push it hard to get everything done! i def. feel the pressure!

day . 26

today we again had lots of little tasks to finish. the short side curtain wall that serves as the main entrance into the site right now needed to be made. so i jumped on that for the start of the day. the ICFs jsut needed to be cut at half height and rebar tied to the top chair that is left. putting in the rebar was a little difficult because it had to go into either wall on either end, so it was ahrd to guide it in. after they were in we had to brace the short wall with 2x6's on either side that were flush on the top. once that was done we built an amazing ramp complete with 'chicken cleats' to go over the short wall so it was more safe to climb over since it is the main entrance and so that the ICFs wont get all beaten up. cody and i then moved on to putting the last handrails up on the scaffolding just to get it up off the ground so it will not get stolen. at the end of the day we had to wait for a load of lumber to get there that was around 4 hours late. so it finally came as the sun was going down and it was getting super cold. we got the truck unloading and were off to rest up for the upcoming week.

day . 25

rebar was here today! yay! so we got right to cutting and bending the last pieces that needed to be bent for the 8 course wall and the horizontal rebar that was needed for the 13 course wall. it took a little finagling and calculating on adrian and i's part to get it right but we figured it out! we wanted to have to horizontal rebar all cut and figured out so when the ICFs were here and starting to go up there would be no running to get rebar but we could out them right in. after the rebar was all cut and bent cody and i finished installing the roof trusses. with 2 people working on them it went super fast. we also had to go around and fix a LOT of the vertical rebar that was not directly in the center of the horizontal rebar but was sitting up against the interior walls. so that was just not going to do so a good many had to be untied re positioned and re tied. but it all was fixed and good to go for the pour.

day . 24

it rained super hard all day today so we had today off. it was nice to have a whole day off in the middle of the week. chalk it up to a little birthday surprise from mother nature i suppose. [:

day . 23 [my birthday!!]

so today was my birthday! yay. it started out bad but ended up very good. denise brought robert and i a cake. and eventhough it was dropped in the grass we ate it anyway and it was marvelous.
so today we were slam out of ICFS and rebar so we sorted through trash and did various other small tasks. robert and i toward the end of the day installed the first about 20 something roof truss holder things. we had to cut into the ICF and push the steel plate into the wall and then tie it in with a 2 ft piece of rebar. the plates hold the truss system into the concrete which will later hold a ledger strip for the trusses to sit on. i got as many installed as we had and the other 15 or so will arrive with the rest of the rebar.

day . 22

so today was more of the same, marking for vertical rebar, and making sure that it was getting cut and bent correctly. robert wanted a final count for how much more rebar we were going to need, so josh and i got that calculated. also we went around and measured over every window where the courses were complete for vertical rebar. once that was cut and bent we were able to get the front wall rebar totally complete.

at the end of the day we had run out of ICFs so we will have to wait for another shipment so who knows when the pour will be. and we have to wait for more rebar too.

day . 21

today was a good day! my dad followed me to site this morning to see the progress. he had not seen the place since it was just footings. i gave him the tour and he got to meet robert. i brought muffins [blueberry] and they were a hit! once we started working [about 9:30] josh and i went to the sides of the front wall and took out the vertical rebar and took off the top course. we had to do this because there is a slight 2 percent grade on the roof and had we left the top course the front would have had to been built up 8 inches which would then dwarf the church. we took the band saw up on the top of the scaffolding and pulled the rebar out and cut it. once those were all done we moved to putting the vertical rebar in the walls that were 7 courses and we got to the walls that were 9 courses!!! robert also informed me that i was the "rebar boss" and he was not going to check behind me but hear from me when the vertical rebar was all in and done! i feel like i am finally finding my place in a leadership role, and i like it. it is a lot of responsibility to be counted on by robert and not mess up, but i am up for the challenge!

this was another long week, but the pour was moved again to thursday so i feel like i can breathe! and that also means a long weekend! i need it thats for sure!

ALSO the crack house got busted up with 12 cop cars and police everywhere with their weapons drawn. it was quit intense. i dont think i have ever seen robert climb up the scaffolding that fast to get a better look.

day . 20

i woke up late this morning. i blame it on the nyquil that i took last night for my throat. it knocked me out!

i got to site about 9:30 and shortly after me renee w. got there with heart shaped krispy kreme doughnuts! they were motivation. so after 2 doughnuts we got to work on the scaffolding again. we finally got the last bays on the front finished and the 3 bays on either side of the front wall also finished. that was the morning work. we walked to skip's for lunch which was amazing! after lunch robert gave me the task of placing all the vertical rebar. every 2 feet on the 11 course wall, every 3 feet on the 8 course wall, every foot on the 13 course wall and so on. i counted them all and then robert and i calculate how long they would need to be to have a 4 inch bend and sit in the top chair. it felt good to have responsibility and know that robert was counting on me to get it right. once they were all calculated and the ones for the front 11 course wall were ready cody and i started to put them in. it was difficult considering they were 14 feet long. at the end of the day we had all of the front and one of the side walls done!

the 8 hour day flew by today!

day . 19

more courses we blown off last night! ahh the wind needs to stop, and we have to tie with zip ties better! so today again began with redoing what we did yesterday! doing things twice is not fun! i think this will definitely make us be more careful. once they were fixed more scaffolding arrived and we all unloaded it off the 2 trucks. once it was all unloading gabe and i started assembling it on the front wall. it took all day. and we did not even finish. it is taking way longer to get the scaffolding up than it will take to finish the top 2 courses! we put up about 5 or 6 bays that were 3 stories up! it was smooth sailing until the last 2 bays that did NOT want to cooperate. so that will have to be left until tomorrow. we had a field trip for the lighting class so we all had to get out of there before 6. some of use are coming in early to finish the scaffolding in the morning.

day . 18

today started out very frustrating. when we arrived at site we saw where the wind [which was blowing with a fury i have never felt] blew off the top 5 courses of the side wall onto the ground. we had tied them together but i guess not to the course below. it blew off with such force that it broke some of the ICFs at the corner! so we began the day by fixing that wall. after fixing that wall i got up on the scaffolding on the front wall and started on that again. we got up to 9 courses on the front which was all we could reach from teh scaffolding we have. we get new scaffolding tomorrow that will go on the front. after that we went around and helped put up the rest of the scaffolding that was not finished. and made sure all the walk boards were secure before we left so that no one would steal them!

day . 17

today again was gorgeous! i really hope that winter is over! it is so much easier to work when you are not shivering! so today we continued with the scaffolding. adrian explained how the 45 degree bracing worked, so got to work putting it up. denise and i went around and tightened all the bolts that held the bracing in place while everyone else put rebar through the base so they would not slide when someone was up there. we then moved on to tightening the bolts for the walk boards. after they were all in place we hoisted the walk boards up and i got to get up on the first one and help pull the 2x12s up that we were also using as walk boards. it was a very windy day today so it was a little scary at first. once i found a gopher, cody handed me ICFs and rebar and cut the ICFs that needed to be cut. we were able to do almost all of 2 more courses on the front wall. it goes so much faster once the windows are totally in and covered.

we are going to have to push hard to get everything done by friday. it is our first deadline so i REALLY hope that we make it. robert put the word on us today so time to work hard for the rest of the week!

day . 16

today was a beautiful day, but i had zero motivation. i think the six day week last week is taking its toll. i got to site really early and took at nap in my car waiting for everyone else to get there. once everyone was there we waited for robert and novem to get back with the scaffolding. while we were waiting caroling megan and i continued cutting and bracing the gaps in the ICF's so they would not blow out and spew concrete everywhere. the 2x12s were super heavy and hard to manage on my own. by the time they were done my arms were super tired! once the scaffolding got there we unloaded and placed them every 8 feet. once they were all unloading we moved to screwing them into the interior walls and making sure they were level vertically. we took our time and by the time we finished the back corner it was 4:30. the last task of the day was to brace the window that we lowered on saturday. the walls were fanning outward like a trapezoid so we had to push them in and tie them with 2x4s. on to finishing the scaffolding tomorrow, it takes much more time than i thought it would.

day . 15

today was our first saturday, and also our first major on site design decision. we decided to move the window that looks out into courtyard down 2 courses of icf. so we had to take it out and cut the icf's so we could lower it. i think it will be really neat when the floor is in. the way the window will now be the sill will be about a foot from the floor were as before it was going to be almost 2 feet off the ground. after that johanna and i went around and counted how many pieces of strapping or bracing that will need to cover the cracks in the icf so the concrete doesn't bust out when it is poured. we ended up needing a lot. after that i moved to help icf the front wall and put in the last window buck. it is really coming along!

day . 14

i got to have a break from putting icf's up today which was nice. caroline and i went around the building to take exact measurements of the structure. we then drew a plan that had all the measurements on it. we had to do this so that the roof trusses an be ordered. i was surprised that the measurements were not that far off from what was designed. we had to make a big push at the end of the day because apparently we forgot to put vertical rebar under the window bucks. there are SO many icf rules i am surprised that i can remember them all!

day . 13

today was more of the same like yesterday. putting up icf's and leaving spaces for windows. and it was cold again.

day . 12

it was really really cold today. we continued to put up more icfs. we had to backtrack though for part of the day and tie the icf's vertically. i suppose somewhere we missed the memo that we were supposed to do that. but we went back and got it done. we have gotten up high enough that we are laving spaces for the windows. it looks really neat now that something visible is forming.

day . 11

today we continued to put up icf's anywhere that we could reach. we then covered the tops with plastic to keep the rain and snow out. gabe also taught caroline and i how to use the survey level thing to make sure that the icf's are level around the structure.

day . 1o

today we did more icf's in what will be the matron suite in the back of the structure. we had about 4 or 5 rows up and we had to make sure that it was square. we started by measuring the diagonals and trying to fix it that way, but robert taught us a much quicker was with 6,8,10 rule. by the end of the day we had the walls above our heads! today was nice because we worked the whole time and had a task to do the whole time. it made the day go faster and i felt acomplished when i went home.