The started off slow enough - managed to get a post in this morning showing the previous day's work. Rain on and off all morning, finally ending around 11am. Got some stuff setup to be ready to get some blocks on those footings. After lunch - we were off! As you can see, the day ended with one side high enough to start with the above-ground blocks. These are a textured block known as a split-face block.
Figured out why they are called "split-face" blocks yesterday (and it is so simple you'll probably be as upset at yourself as I was). The blocks are cast with two facing each other and then a machine splits them apart. This is done in such a way that where the blocks are split it becomes a rough, textured surface. Since is the side that points to the world (the "face") we get "split-face". Fun.
Anyway, it wasn't all sunshine and heat stroke (though I came close). The first course (masonry term for "row of whatever") was made up of some left over 10" blocks my dad had. Many jobs are setup so that the trade is responsible for ordering the materials, so anything extra is theirs (they paid for it). Sometimes some demolition has to be done, so the debris is discarded. However if some is salvageable, the owner doesn't mind if someone takes it away as they have to pay to remove it. So this is how we had some odds-and-ends.
Just realized that most people probably don't know what I mean when I say 8 inch or 10 inch blocks. The measurement is the width of the block, so the resulting width of wall made out of the block. A standard 8 inch block has two holes in the middle, with bits sticking out of each end. Back in the day, there were three holes (so the gaps were smaller) and the blocks weighed more. There were also solid blocks which, as it sounds, had no holes at all. My dad said that working as a labourer and piling 12 inch solid blocks onto a plank above your head makes you tired really fast. Yah.
Anyhoo, some of these 10" blocks were of various types, some even being split-face blocks. The thing with a split-face block is that the face is twice as thick as a standard block, so it is much heavier. And 10" means more volume and so on and so forth. Some were old enough to have 3 holes instead of two, but luckily there were not many of those. Plus they got put in first, so no ones back was aching by the end of the day.
Also had much fun with the second mix of the day (we did only two). Got the proper instructions on the measurements needed, but we both forgot that there was already some water in the mixer. So I followed the instructions and the mixer looked like soup (not a good sign). I was wondering what I should do when all of a sudden it just tips the load onto the ground! The mixer reject the mix! How could I screw up so bad??? Looking at what happened, the pin that holds the mixer at the proper angle fell out, causing the load to force the barrel of the mixer over. That in turn was likely caused by the mixer being too low on one side. Luckily, we were able to rescue some of the truant mix and, using alchemy and experience, my dad was able to create a workable result. It wasn't soup, but rather pasta-sauce quality. Picture if you will, a wall held together by last nights dinner.... Dumping shovelfuls onto a mortar board resulted in something that looked like ladles of sauce blopped on a plate. The magic of hot direct sunlight saved the day, reducing the sauce back into mortar within about a half-hour.
Tomorrow is set to be a full day of blocks. Hopefully we can get lots done before the weekend...
No comments:
Post a Comment