CONCRETE FOOTINGS TRUCK STUCK

We used a transit level to plot the foundation for the footings. It is how we leveled the concrete footings. We could not decide if we should buy a transit or rent one. It turned out to rent a transit level it had to be ordered weeks in advance. We went to an auction where a used transit was for sale. Everyone was bidding on this old transit. We ended up buying a new one.

A transit level is a tool set on a tripod that is calibrated to find true horizon, give a reading of the angle of an incline in degrees, minutes, and seconds. The transit is leveled first, the telescope part is rotated on a horizontal axis that can point in any direction. Another person helps position the graduated rod, the transit operator can then sight the transit on the rod to ascertain the relative height of the grade or the object on which the rod is located. We calculated how many yards we needed for the concrete footings. We decided that it was to much to pour by hand.

Footings thickness (1.25 in ft.) X Footings width (1.5 in ft.) X Footings length (140 in ft.) = Total cubic ft./27 cu ft =9.72 cubic yds.

This calculation was done rounding up. Our footings were 8" on the east side and 18" on the west side due to a slope. The west side footings had to be thicker to level out the concrete footings. The footings in the center of the house are 24" as it was a weight bearing wall.

We called around and got the best price for concrete mix for the footings for our dry stack concrete block home. We ordered the mix to be delivered and poured the following Saturday. Finally our home will be started.

Ron was already at the property. I was in route just about to arrive. He called me to say it was raining and did I think the concrete truck could make it down our road. Spurred by my optimism and desperate need to see the house started, I said "sure, he can make it. Tell him to come on in." as I went sliding in my AWD van around the corner of the property.

Our property is located 2 miles from the highway down a dirt road. It had rained all night and our off grid home site was sliding clay. The concrete mix truck got stuck in the mud 100 yards from our offgrid site and was unable to get out for 2 hours. We lost the mix for the concrete footings and the money. At this point I just wanted to start our dry stack concrete block home.

We hauled water in 20 gallon barrels from the city in a trailer each trip to the property. We did not at that time have a well. My husband, son and cousin mixed and poured approximately 260 bags of concrete to do the footings with a small mixer on a weekend.

When building off grid, measuring concrete footings for dry stack concrete block is not the same as measuring for a stick built home. You must average the block size 15 1/2" to 15 3/4". There is no mortar between the joints to make up the 8" X 16" block. You can run over or short very easily. I did an excel spreadsheet of blocks counting out how many full and half blocks were needed for the windows and doors. This also gave us how many blocks we needed to build the house.

When we were done we averaged the size of the concrete block to get our overall measurements for the footings. Even then we had a 2" difference.

Ron checking measurements


George checking Ron's measurements

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