Re: Spencer\'s Pole Barn Project
Spencer, first let me say that I love to see a construction project in process, so thanks for sharing. Next, I'd have to say I am green with envy. All that space to park your equipment out of the weather and a workshop to boot. To me it is very rewarding to put the sweat equity in something like that. Having the sides off the bldg also sure helps when it comes to dropping in the concrete. I'm sweating just looking at the work....as I used to get into some of that back in my college days.
As for the vapor barrier, the slower drying of the concrete will make it stronger. I can relate a story of my own when I built my home 20 yrs ago. I have a basement/garage built into the side of a hill, and when we excavated, we stopped at a layer of sandstone. I put a foot of fine crushed limestone on top of this rock layer (no dust), plus went overboard on drainage pipes , etc. When it came time to pour, I decided to leave the vapor barrier out. Well, the pour went well, as I had several of my family members helping. After everything was floated off, it was just my brother-in-law (lots of construction experience) and myself. Later in the day, my wife brought us a meal...consisting of fried chicken, and lots of good stuff. Before we ate, my brother-in-law said "I think I'll check how the concrete is coming"...well needless to say, all that fine limestone was quickly wicking away the water from the concrete. He said "I think this stuff is going fast!!" We quickly fired up the power trowler and he was running it like a mad man , while I worked the edges looking something akin to a hummingbird on crack. An hour later, we collapsed at the edge of the garage....too tired to eat our chicken which had long since gotten cold. Another adventure/memory in construction. Good luck with your continued work.
sassafraspete
