melev

It's hard to believe that two days ago, the fishroom was there, and today it is gone and ready for the big expansion. I'm sharing some of the pictures I took with my Nikon (rather than those taken with my iPhone 4) tonight, so you'll see a little repetition.

I began tearing out the walls while Bobby worked on the plumbing on 9/28.






The black foam is the sticky kind that seals against itself to keep the copper safe. This foam is being used instead of plastic sleeves (we couldn't find any at Home Depot or Lowes) to keep the concrete off the copper. All of the pipe was wrapped, except for the 3/4" line you see. It is the emergency overflow if the T&P valve of the water heater burst. Water would flow out on the back patio, which is city code.




The first wall came down.


Bobby trying to stay out of the camera's range didn't work.


Water heater in place, hooked up temporarily for the night.


On 9/29, I ran more copper lines for the fishroom's utility sink. I changed out the copper to flex lines on the water heater at the same time.


The form was nailed down and should hold the concrete once filled.


Hot & cold water for the sink. The drain will pour out into the french drain and down the driveway.


9/30: Two trips to Home Depot resulted in 50 bags (80lbs of 3000 PSI) concrete. The second trip, the bags seemed heavier. This picture is only half of the total in the garage right now.


Rebar was hammered into the holes I'd drilled previously, and I rented the drill again today to drill even more holes along the kitchen side and down into the garage floor on the two outer walls-to-be. Hammering in the rebar, I now understand better how it will hold the new slab to the old one. I used 5/8" along the step, and 3/8" for everything else.


A lot of measuring went on at Home Depot with the two french drain options they had, and finally I blew off their method and came up with my own. A 3" PVC pipe was cut in half to be the french drain, and five of their grates snapped on perfectly in succession.




The french drain was wrapped to keep it clean during the concrete pour. Once it is firm, I'll cut away the visible plastic. I'm toying with the idea of trying to pull out all the plastic and pressing it back into the moist concrete, but that will just get everything messy. I could pop it out once it is nearly dry, and glue the drain to the concrete slab, perhaps. Thoughts?


The rebar is all tied and ready. I'll elevate it 1" with small somethings when the concrete pour commences. The slab is 3" at one end, and 4.5" at the other. It should be nice and level. I added extra rebar near where the tank stand will be.


I bought a gallon of glue to apply to the concrete floor before pouring in the fresh mix, and I bought a can of tar to paint some exposed copper elbows, but my neighbor suggested I just seal in any copper with Great Stuff, then dump the concrete on top. I think that would probably be perfect as that foam will go everywhere better than trying to brush on a thick tar-goo.

The mixer is gasoline powered, so I'll run it during the day time. My son called to talk with the rental guys, and they said it holds 7 bags per batch. Sounds good to me. By tomorrow night, it should be poured and smooth.