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The day started out with the arrival of a concrete boom pump truck from Hartington Nebraska. Since the house is so long, and the lot so narrow, this was the best route to get the concrete into the forms from the Ready-Mix trucks. The pump truck was pretty impressive. For interested broadband users, click here to see a video of it in action.
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The concrete was placed starting at the rear dome, and moving forward. Here the guys can be seen working the concrete into the footing and starting to manually screed it. Meanwhile, some final pieces of needed rebar were cut (video here) and positioned.
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The pumping (video here) then continued on the forward two domes. At this point, you might notice the concrete is a little different than normal. That's because the homeowners chose to use an integral stain in the mix. When dry, it will be a warm Southwestern Buff color. And once it's embellished and sealed, it will become the final flooring of the home.
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Next, a keyway was cut around the perimeter, which will allow the dome shell to form a mechanical bond with the footing. Once the keyway was in place, the crew was able to insert the rebar uprights. These will be embedded in the dome shell when it's sprayed.
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Finally, the entire surface was power trowled (video here) to get a nice smooth surface. Watching Matt and his crew, it's obvious they care about the quality of their work. Everything looks like it's been done with care.
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Amazingly, the forms were able to be stripped by the end of the day and the foundation is revealed. The rich color of the floor looks nice already, but it will likely evolve some as the concrete cures. Now, on to the airform and beyond!
Wow!
That floor will be beautiful! It is beautiful already. I am starting to really want a dome for myself now.
Drew
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