Merry Christmas

from our family to yours!

Happy 14th Birthday, Lexie!

Today my oldest child turned 14!

Wow! Where have the years gone?

Sixth and Seventh Days of Shotcrete

Due to internet issues, I have been unable to post these pictures when they were taken. What I do remember clearly is that there were many obstacles to overcome on those two days. There was freezing weather and equipment failure both on our end and with the concrete company.

Rick and Andrew standing in the doorway.

The walls drying.

Cleaning concrete off the floor.

Despite all the problems, they were still able to spray another batch on the ceiling.

Bruce spraying the ceiling.

What Bruce looked like when he got done spraying.

Fifth Day of Shotcrete

The crew took Sunday off for a much needed break. The blower was turned off over the weekend and will not be used again. The airlock was removed, making entering and exiting the dome much easier.

Rick standing in the doorway where the airlock used to be. This will be the location of my front door.

Andrew cut open the doorways for more ventilation. This opening will be french doors in the kitchen.

Andrew cutting open the hole for the back door.

There will also be a door on the second floor for the kids.

The scaffolding's motor was replaced and worked well, as did the pump. The crew was able to spray on 8 yards from the concrete trucks and make a bunch of their own batches in the Bobcat mixer.

Brian and Roger making a batch. The Bobcat will make a 1/3 of a yard of shotcrete.

The batch mixing.

Roger watching the batch being dumped into the hopper.

The outside guys: Brian and Roger.

The inside guys: Rick, Andrew, and Bruce.

My gorgeous husband, Andrew, in all his safety gear, so he won't get shotcrete in his eyes again.

Third and Fourth Days of Shotcrete

The concrete truck arrived with 4 yards. The crew started spraying and then the pump started acting up. Over the course of many long hours, they were able to spray about 3 yards before the pump called it quits. The crew had made a form to pour a pad for Andrew's saw mill, just in case the concrete had to be used. With the pump failing and concrete still left in the truck, Brian poured the pad.

Brian finished the pad. He even made the corners smooth so the kids could decorate it. Notice the turkey tracks to the left of Brian in the concrete.

Rick and Bruce watching Roger and Brian work on the pump.

Rick holding the hose while Andrew reconnects it.

The next day, Andrew and Roger continued to work on the pump. Andrew replaced the peristaltic hose and hoped that would fix the problem.

Brian giving Jack (dog) a ride in the Bobcat at the end of the work day. Roger walking down the hill behind him.

The inside of the dome on Saturday afternoon (end of day four).

Looking straight up the wall.

Second Day of Shotcrete

In the morning, Mitchell Scitern of Reliable Pump Service came out to install our submersible well pump and faucet, so the crew would have water up at the dome.

Here is Mitchell and Andrew.

Here is the completed, temporary job. As soon as the shell of the dome is done, we will dig a trench from the well to the dome for the water and pump electric lines.

Just after that was finished, the concrete truck arrived. We've used Carroll County Ready-Mix to pour the ringbeam, the pad and now, the dome itself.

Roger and Brian preparing the equipment.

Brian mixing the shotcrete in the hopper.

Another picture of Brian with the hopper and the pump.

Bruce spraying shotcrete on the inside of the dome. Rick and Andrew are pushing the scaffolding and keeping the hose out of the way. (The motor's starter, that moves the scaffolding, burned out yesterday morning.)

This is the top of the dome with its first coat of shotcrete. They spray from bottom to top.

The wall with two coats of shotcrete, notice the depth marker.

The bottom half of the wall with two coats and the top half of the wall with one coat. (Sorry, it's blurry.)

First Day of Shotcrete

Today, the crew sprayed the first load of shotcrete on the inside of the dome. Here is the wall by the kitchen door.

Here is the back door.

Here is the ceiling in the living room with the electric conduits.

Here is the pad the crew made from some extra concrete. This is our new well. Michael and Zachary put their hand prints in the wet concrete.

Chickens in the Freezer

On the day after Thanksgiving, we processed 20 chickens. Our neighbor, Bev, came and showed me how to clean a chicken. Andrew killed them, Bev and I plucked the feathers and cleaned out the innards. I washed them and put them in freezer bags. Andrew sucked the air out of the bags, labeled them and then, put them in the freezer.

Foam and Rebar Done

On day three, they continued to spray foam and hang rebar ties.

This the very top of the dome. The last part to be sprayed with foam.

The foam components comes in two barrels. The white barrel is isocyanite and the green barrel is resin. They are combined as they are applied.

On day four, they sprayed the top of the dome, hung the rebar ties, then finished spraying it. That concluded the foam spraying. Andrew hung all the rebar ties in the dome.

On day five, they began to hang rebar. Here is Michael helping Andrew tie rebar.

At the end of the first day of rebar hanging, they had hung 10 rings of rebar around the inside of the dome.

I didn't get any pictures on the second day of rebar hanging. Here is Roger, Andrew, and Jeremy hanging and tying rebar on the third day.

At the end of the third day.

The top of the dome on the middle of the fourth day.

At the end of the fourth day, they completed the rebar.

Ready for shotcrete.

Andrew admiring all the hard work.

For eight days, the whole team worked really hard. Thank you to Melvin, Roger, Jeremy, and, of course, my husband, Andrew.

After, Thanksgiving break, they start spraying shotcrete. Yeah!