Sweatshirts and jackets came off as the morning wore on, the temperature rose, and that heavy concrete hose was dragged all over the church. When I returned to the church at about 11:30 that morning, I saw the last of the concrete truck parade. One truck was emptying its load, another was cleaning up, and a third was pulling away to return to home base.
Inside was a surprise -- the floor was almost finished! The last of the narthex, office, coat room, and mechanical room was being poured. Here you can see the power screeding machine in action again. The reference laser it uses can be seen in the distance, fastened high on the door jamb leading to the sanctuary, visible just above Brian's head.
By now, everyone seemed to know exactly what to do and when to do it.
The pump outside is controlled remotely by Jeff Wikman, via the yellow control box he's holding. While Mark directs the hose, Jeff monitors the progress, ready to stop the pump if need be.
During the pour, the tubing in the floor has been pressurized with air. If at any time the pressure gauge goes to zero, you know the tubing has been punctured or cut somewhere. Patch kits are on hand in case this should happen. This manifold is one of several throughout the building.
A good sign -- still holding air.
I noticed Daniel still at his post. Since the pouring is happening right near the front entrance now, not far from the pump, not too many men are needed on the hose anymore. I thought I'd take a picture of him smoking a heater, but he busted me before I got the picture taken. "Don't let my wife see that picture!" I promised I wouldn't say anything.
There needed to be a bulkhead in place at the entrance where the slab would stop. While the pour creeps toward the entrance, Matt and Bob work to install the bulkhead.
Troweling against the newly installed bulkhead.
Inside, the guys from the concrete company are doing the finish work. Some of the finish troweling is done by hand, on hands and knees. Most of the floor is covered by one of the several power trowels. Here, one guy operates a walk-behind style, while his colleague is riding on another one in the background.
One of three such power trowels, the operator glides around the floor in what kind of looks like a hovercraft, except he's not hovering. The rotating paddles on the bottom smooth the concrete and simultaneously propels the machine across the floor.
Meanwhile, outside, guys start cleaning off the equipment before the residual concrete on it sets up. Some guys take their work more seriously than others. Loren and Aare are cleaning out the hoses. I wonder what is in the end of that hose?
There are three riding power trowels on hand. Here, one of the concrete company guys and Ken and Bob use the forklift to plunk the second one inside the back door, where a concrete finisher will hop on and join the troweling brigade.
Here's looking in the southeast sanctuary door after the finishers are almost...well, finished.
The wet concrete floor puts off a lot of heat and moisture as it cures. Ken and Bob mount a big fan in the back doorway to get some air circulation going.
Later in the day, when most of the crew has gone home and the evening shift of volunteers arrives, the last concrete guy cuts the new concrete slab. As a new concrete slab cures, it will crack. The cuts made in the floor will encourage most (hopefully, all) of the cracking to be at the cut and not some zigzag pattern across the floor. At the same time, the operator needs to be careful not to cut too deeply and damage the tubing in the slab. While the cutting goes on, Dave Wuollet sweeps the floor.
The big walk-behind concrete saw can't get into tight corners, so Phil and Glen get the angle grinder out to finish the cuts.
At the end of the day, the floor looks amazing!
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