Here's the cornerstone of our new extension. I needed to place it so I could have a more tangible datum point from which to take measurements. Mason's line is alright, but it can be hard to get everything square with just a bit of string.
The fact that we couldn't get a normal poured concrete footing (from a normal concrete mixer truck) placed in such a crooked hole meant that I had to send back about half the block I ordered and instead get bagged cement. I also rented a much larger cement mixer.
We'll have to struggle to custom fit the footing to the contours of the ledge, a few feet at a time, pinning with rebar as we go, making eight inch steps to take in each rise of block. The big cement mixer will make lighter work of making that much cement by hand.
Luckily the ledge is nearly flat and solid for about one third of the length of the foundation wall, and has a well-defined natural rock trench for about another one third, so the amount of concrete needed is much less than for the planned footing, which was going to need three yards. I hope to get by with less than two now.
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Welcome to our Farm Blog.
The purpose of this blog is for Aimee and I to communicate with friends and family, with those of our students, and other folks in general who are interested in homesteading and farming activities.
The earliest posts, at the very end of the blog, tell the story of the Great Farm, our purchase of a fragment of that farm, the renovation of the homestead and its populating with people and animals. Go all the way to the last post in the archive and read backwards from there to get it in chronological order.
After getting tired of spam comments (up to a dozen or more per day), I required commentators to be Google "registered users". You can write me at mwomersley@unity.edu if you have a serious comment or question and are not a registered user.
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