Tons of Steel

I came home at lunchtime to check on some details in the plans for Noel, and the guys had finished the bottom of the upper two layers of steel. There is a lot of rebar under our house. There is no other way to put it.

At around one, they told me there were about 98 bars left to install. News is they're pouring the slab Wednesday morning, as soon as the inspectors get on site to do the inspections.

By the time Noel got home, this was what was left of one of the stacks of bar in the driveway.

We're both inexplicably fascinated by the trimmed ends of the bar. Maybe I should grab some of them for use in a project next quarter.

It's hard to understand just how much rebar is down there without getting close to it, but when you get close to it you lose sight of how much there is.

The mat slab is two layers of crossed rebar, 4 inches or 3 inches on center, six inches apart. It's designed for a load of 2,000 lbs of upward force from possible cantilevers as long as six feet across. This is far more than we ever expected to have to pay for -- certainly it is beyond what is normally built in Alameda. But it should keep our house stable despite the damage to the soils.

It's just a lot of rebar. Feels like walking on a spring mattress, actually. Kind of neat.

The dog is very interested in what is happening under the house. With workmen on site all day, she can't go out and play like she prefers, so at the end of the day she has to check everything out. The rebar is keeping her from slipping under the wall and checking out the basement like she used to.

Not that she doesn't try.

Another thing I'm looking forward to never seeing again: the flapping tarps along the side of the house. Oh, I will be glad to see the end of them!

posted by ayse on 08/15/05