A Firm foundation....

As of today,  the foundation is done!  Our maintenance crew is amazing and with out them we would have never met our deadline for the building to be up.  

As you read over this blog (or maybe just look that pictures) you may think you are having deja vu,  Don't worry you're not!   The first couple pictures are of the second half of the foundation.  We had to pour our foundation in two different stages because of the cold weather.  Here. We Go.

 This is the North west (facing the paintball field) wall. The side that has the 2x4 is considered fixed and the side opposite of that is considered floating.  Don't let the names fool you though,  they are both nailed down to the footer.

This is the same wall just looking the opposite way.  Each one of those pieces of metal that are attached to the ground and the wall are actually turn-buckles. They are used to push or pull the wall into alignment with the building measurements.  One of many of the challenges to this part of the job is getting the foundations set exactly how they are supposed to be.  If we don't have properly built or aligned foundations the building will suffer. Pastors, once again,  perfect sermon illustration. Your welcome.

Here they are pouring the wall.  I think our Maintenance director said after the foundations are up,  we will have had 14 cement trucks worth of cement into the building.  We haven't even poured the floor yet either!  

We also poured the electrical room footers when we poured the last foundation walls.  The great part about this room is that it will be accessible from the outside.  This makes it alot easier to work on because our electricians can get in with out interrupting a group that may be in the gym.

This is one of the workers for the contractor putting up the building.  He is carefully setting the anchor bolts for the pillars that will hold up the building. They offered to come over when we were pouring and set those for us.

This is the last time we will have to fill the forms with cement.  This is the electrical room from above.

This is the final product of all the work.  A Wall.  In this picture one of our maintenance guys is pulling off the 2x4 that the forms would get nailed into prior to pouring the cement.  The little pins sticking out of the cement are what held the forms at the right thickness to create a uniform wall.  They are designed to be broken off with a hammer after the cement cures.