This morning we had more rock to move and we made short work of it. We are clearing the way for a concrete walkway to the mechanical room.
Here you can see Dan meticulously cleaning the rock. We are preparing the rock for formwork and later concrete. Clean rock will bond well with the concrete.
We started with a batter board and plotted the course. We decided that a 4' wide walkway would be sufficent for the owners needs and tied in nicely with the existing pad at the mechanical room door.
Here are a few of the fasteners we are using to attach the 2x4 bottom plates to the bedrock. They are called coil anchors and have a higher "holding" strength than that of wire nails. The anchor and washer are reusable but the coils on the end will stay in the hole for good. The coils are bought in bulk along side the anchors.
With our first board attached, we seem to be on the right track. First things first, you start off by drilling a 3/8" hole with a hammerdrill, while keeping ample force on the 2x4 so that once the bit makes contact with the bedrock it doesnt jump around. Then you take the coil anchor and hammer it in to the rock stopping 1/4" before it's tight. This way you can use a wrench to tighten it up and engage the coil on the tip of the anchor.
With all that being said you can now transfer your string-line down to the bedrock in a few spots per 2x4 so as to keep the line nice and straight. Seeing as how your material doesnt come that way, you make do with what you can. We suggest accounting for your plywood forms while setting your string-line. We most commonly use 3/4" plywood so setting your 2x4 bottom plate (kickers) at 4' - 0 3/4" will give you 4' of concrete once the forms are stripped away.
Step one is finished and here are the kickers. Next is the plywood formwork for the walkway with two stairs. But for now we must go move all our material to a more suitable place, as the landscapers need the land to do some scaping. So off to some heavey lifting!! And stay tuned :)
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