It's Done!

The shotcrete is over.  Thanks go to Dan, Jeremy, Chris, Damon, and Mark, and of course, Bill and Carol.  Here are before and after pictures.

The tunnel that is a deadend

 And just in time, as Hurricane (now tropical storm) Sandy approaches.  
Damon is a real trooper.  He withstood a lot of grief.  He was the inside man, taking any impact of shotcrete that broke thru the mesh.  Nobody else wanted that job. Bill and Carol started out doing it and were rather covered in concrete splatter. Here are some pictures of Damon and what he was up against.

As the shotcrete was applied on the East side on Thursday, a scary thing happened. Damon came running out, and immediately they stopped the shotcrete.  The props on the West side of the second floor where Damon was, all started crashing down. The arches had been weighed down on the East by the shotcrete, adjusting themselves a bit Westward, and the props came loose. At that point, they moved the lift to the West side and continued with the process. Imagine being there with things falling around you, realizing it's a massive load above you, and those things falling are to help keep that massive load up there.  You get out of there as fast as you can! I'm surprised he didn't jump out the second floor window or door.
Everybody, especially Bill and I, are very happy that we have accomplished this milestone.
Clean-up is happening now - the mess that shotcrete sprays.  Then, while storm Sandy is around, we shall rest.  After that, the window installation will start.  One last shot from above -

Some of the Shotcrete "Shots"

Jeremy and Kim about 60 ft up

 Prior to the shoot, a trip in the lift!

Spectator Greg and Dan and Bill

Jeremy and Chris

  Spraying the lowest part was made easier than what they did on the garage.  The lift helped in carrying the weight of the hoses.

Somebody's up there - Jeremy, is that you?

Jeremy and Chris

Up Against The Wall watching the action - Mark, Dan, and Damon

 They were not up against the wall all the time...but there was think work, and ground work.  And they did enjoy their work.

From inside looking thru a break in the burlap

Also thru a hole in the mesh

Thru a hole looking down into the house - second floor to the left, first to the right

Oh, what a hole! And what a mess!

Shotcreting the Parapet

Skylights?

 Well, we didn't want any holes in our ceiling...They have assured us that they will be covered up and with the waterproofing, will not leak!

 These are all views looking toward the South end of the house.

With the hurricane/tropical storm Sandy headed up the East Coast, we will surely have a test of the waterproof-ness of our roof.  The shotcrete company is saying that the rain is the best cure of the 
concrete.










The grout (morter without stone) first layer is now all over our house.  It has left some holes, but now the crew knows where they need to hold a support on the inside to hold back the shotcrete.  They are now back on the East side, shooting the regular mix of shotcrete, and all is going well.  The latest photos:

 

Pictures of West Retaining Walls and the Beginning of the Shotcrete Process

The dirt in front of the West Annex will one day disappear so that the doors will actually look out at level ground.

Danny, our excavator, was here Monday and did some backfilling on the garage.

This is the endwall of tunnel before shotcrete. The white pole is 1" PVC that was used to initially mark where Danny should dig out for the house.

 Here is the AFTER picture with Jeremy, the nozzleman, shooting shotcrete on the East side of the house.  

As you can see, he is on a lift.  Our friend, Greg, is looking on and later helped out when the lift wasn't moving as it should - the hoses for the shotcrete were hooked around a stake in the ground.  Thanks for seeing that, Greg!  At the top of the shotcrete on the tunnel, our problem looms.  The Burlap has not held up over the months it has taken us to get this far. Actually, over a year! They had 3 trucks that were ordered that needed to be used before the idea to use shotcrete without the stone in it - just mortar.  And that coat, just to lightly hold the burlap together for the later shoot that would layer-it-up to the amount of concrete needed, it still broke thru the mesh. No waterproofing is in that layer of mix. 

 The carpenters came Monday and Tuesday and made props and put them in place to hold the 6x6 mesh up so it didn't sag with the load of shotcrete.

   Bill, Carol, and I got to take rides in the lift before the shoot started.  I got some BEFORE pictures and will show them when I get the AFTER pictures.  But here is one of the spectacular views. 'Twas the season for it!