Concrete!

Well they said it couldn't be done. You can't get concrete a quarter of a mile down a mountain (with two steep inclines), across a creek, and in the bottom of a hollow. Well, "they" were wrong. :) Sorry. When I write "they" or say "they" anymore I think of my nearest and dearest who always says, "I have always wondered who "they" were/are." Too funny.

Now back to the important stuff - concrete. Well, I have the best general contractor and back-up general contractor ;) there is, and neither of them would say quit. Because of that, I now have a gorgeous concrete foundation, slab, and the walls will start going up on Monday. Can you believe it? Well, it is okay if your first answer is "no" because that has been the majority's consensus it seems. Good thing I never listen to the majority :) No offense. I have found when you are fulfilling a dream - whatever that dream is - that you are going to have people who don't believe you can do it. Maybe that is what makes it a dream and not simply a task on life's to do list....hmmm...well, it is a thought. Sorry, I digressed again.

Concrete...it is gorgeous. Because it is so gorgeous I am now re-thinking all the flooring for the bottom floor, and after you see a future post (Doors and Windows) you will know the second reason I am re-thinking the flooring :) Anyway, it really does look amazing. I worked in heavy industrial construction right out of college so although pretty stupid about residential construction (by my own admittance), I still remember a little from my past life. Our concrete work never looked this good :)

I have to tell you how they did the concrete, and I promise to post pictures after I finish this post. I am not sure you would believe me if I didn't have proof. First, lets just say that whether or not a sub-contractor has to do extra work or not, be aware that when they see a "challenging" jobsite there is (more often than not) "hazard pay" added in somewhere to their bid :) I say this with a smile on my face because I fully understood this possibility and hired a good general contractor to help mitigate that as much as humanly possible. That said, when the concrete company bid my job there was one price, and after they saw the site that price changed. Now bear in mind that they mixed the concrete and delivered it to the same exact spot (the top of the hill) in both scenarios, but...well, you know how it is. Anyway, my GC rigged up a pump system from the top of the mountain, down the side of my road (about a quarter of a mile), down the side of the mountain, across a creek, and to the building site. Now all that is enough, but then there is the "side of the mountain" part....a tree had been cut down to make room for the future driveway...that tree landed across the creek and up the side of the mountain...the GC made good use of it by strapping the concrete pump to the tree all the way down. Impressive I know...at least I was impressed. Use what you have is what I have always heard, and he did.

Now it would be great if the story stopped there, but weather delays pushed the pour off several times. Then, the concrete company (those people who were making double on my job for doing the same amount of work) sent the wrong concrete, and as hard as it is to believe considering the angle it was shooting down...it was stopping up the pump line. The whole truth is that it wasn't all of the concrete company's fault - for some reason the concrete finishers did not communicate with them and work out the consistency needed for my job. Here is a lesson boys and girls - communication is the key to everything in life - even concrete.

So finally the concrete is done, the concrete finishers do a fabulous job, and I get to walk on my floor for the first time. Yes, I cried, but not much because I was too busy smiling. Wesley, Aunt Doretha, Treva, and Junior were with me on that first day...it was very special. Of course everyone seemed worried that I would think it was too small, but I was too happy to worry about that. Now on to the next challenge :)