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Thursday, September 12, 2013

Let's Talk About Rebar

re·bar
/ˈrēˌbär/
noun
noun: rebar; plural noun: rebars
1. a steel reinforcing rod in concrete.

And that's our topic for today.
Why?
 Because I'm inside doing more of this...
 ...and this...
 ...and this.
We've been over this.
 This is rebar.
Not exactly decorative, huh?
But that's okay, you aren't going to see it ever again.
And this is steel wire.


 
This is surprisingly simple to do 
 Mark carefully measured and cut several 8 foot lengths of this stuff
using the cutting blade on a grinder.
 He then stacked them...
...cut and twisted the wire...

...and size it for the footing forms.
 There are two different sizes.
You can see how this will drop perfectly in the box.
 Now before we can destroy the existing, uninteresting porch...
 ...the footings have to be set.
 This is a laser level.
This fun little toy is helping Mark line his boxes up flawlessly.
 All he has to do is point the red stream,
 and he knows exactly how high to set the tops.
 Actual levels help him keep the tops in line.
 Rebar through the bases anchor the whole affair
so they won't budge when the concrete is poured.
 As for those stacks of squares?
 They get snuggled right inside.
 So while the ducks are waddling...
....and the music's blaring...
...and Mark is working on tanning his tattoos
(The man has more ink than a volume of Tolstoy)...
...would someone sneak inside and get me
the hell down from here?!?!?!
(Never, ever step on the top of a ladder. This is very dangerous.
I'm just a middle aged bad girl.)

8 comments:

Deb said...

You guys have come a long way with this property! I'll bet your mom is thrilled :)

Joy said...

hmmm... will you also be painting the outside of the house?

Life in Rehab said...

We WILL be painting it...brown and tan, according to the HOA palette. Blech. My Ringling Brother's color sense is offended.

PJ @ Planned in Pencil said...

what color is that blue? I love it!

PJ @ Planned in Pencil said...

what color is that blue? I love it!

Life in Rehab said...

PJ, that is Spa Pool by Valspar, available at Lowes. It's deep and tranquil, perfect for the master suite.

Susan said...

I admit I have no idea what rebar footings are for but the tattoo comment made me literally LOL. I just got a chibi Alistair from Dragon Age done on my ankle and despite being in my 30's got the mom glare of disapproval. :D

Life in Rehab said...

The mom glare of disapproval...God, I live for those, and I'm 52. If I can make her uncomfortable, I'm not old yet.