Sealing the Foundation

Thursday was the day to pack up the forms from the outside of the foundation. After collecting them, their surface gets oiled prior to stacking and storing. The oil is necessary for the form to release from the concrete.

Once forms were off around the outside, we removed the part of the connector straps that protruded and Bert sealed the walls with hot tar. Once the tar has "set" overnight, gravel can be put in the overdig to cover the footing tile and then dirt backfill can close that trench around the house.

 

A bit of homeowner "sweat equity." Joel oils the forms as Bert brings and stacks them.

 

Inside wall. Forms removed. All the inside forms have to be put out through the windows or over the top of the wall on Friday. Then oiled and stacked. Labor intensive, heavy work.

The connector straps that held the forms need to be removed. These are removed in a very special way: You take a 3-foot 2x4 and whack the strap in a downward motion.  They pop right off after a couple of whacks (or maybe 3 or 4).

 

Outside of the house. Exterior footing tile that is visible will soon be covered with gravel and then the space filled in with soil.

 

Connector straps removed, Bert "paints" the foundation with hot tar to seal it from water infiltration.

 

In progress. 

 

A couple more loads of stone arrived. This will be used as the first layer of backfill.