In this segment, we formed the south wall for gunite. The video, details and pictures can be found below.
The Video
Details
Order of the layers
We had formed previous shotcrete walls with steel studs and lath and steel studs with XPS insulation. We liked the idea of combining the insulation in the form because it saved us the step of attaching it, however, the steel studs caused “void shadows” in the shotcrete and water could travel thru those voids, etc.
For this south wall, we decided to use the steel studs to form the XPS, but we would put the shotcrete outside the insulation, on the opposite side from the steel studs. We could then use just a single layer of XPS and then backfill between the Studs later to increase our R value.
If this were a load bearing wall that needed to incorporate rebar in the shotcrete, we may have come up with a different idea.
Curved Bucks
To make the curved bucks, I used CAD software to figure out the size and angles of the little wood blocks, making sure that the longest side was something easily measurable on a straight edge. In this case, I used a 5 inch length (4.999 is close enough to 5) and an angle. I setup the miter saw with a stop block so I wouldn’t have to measure each one. Then I would just need to flip the wood board for each cut so the blocks came out with the right trapezoid shape to assemble into the circle.
Gallery
A picture is often the best way to tell a story, so here are a bunch of them.
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- Here David is a little annoyed because he is digging out the footings while Michael (on the right side) is having fun welding in the rebar for the last vault.
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- Yes, I know a screen capture is a better way to get these sorts of images, but my work computer has all sorts of “security” features that make it easier if I just take a quick photo of my screen. In this case, it was just to have some reference in my pocket while I was out there.
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- The elevation view of the front of the house…
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- Since we would soon need to put in the door buck for the front door, we really had to nail down the choice of which size door we planned on installing. We decided to go with this cheap and standard front door instead of the larger entry with sidelites that we had originally planned.
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- I had bought a new compound miter saw, but I bought a cheap “performax” one from Menards. It was impossible to align. I couldn’t even get the two sides of the fence to align with eachother. I ended up taking it back and getting a Dewalt, which I was very happy with.
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- I welded on these little brackets to attach the steel studs to the steel Ibeams
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- I had told the boys not to touch the bucks if they could help it, so Michael usually ran thru jumping like this.
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- We took a mini vacation with friends during this part of the build…
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- For the blocks we were cutting, I would often get a screen shot like this to remind myself of the angles and dimensions. In this case, I had made sure that the longest dimension was a nice and easy 5 inches.
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- Putting that ring together… We used glue and then screwed the blocks together
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- I liked the look of the end grain…
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- David getting some extra screws into the circle window buck.
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- I thought this pic of the boys helping to lift the window buck into place was pretty cute…
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- Windows bucks in, but still lots of work to go
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- Setting up the last curved wood ledge…
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- Brody doing some final adjustments as he attached the steel studs to the underside of the curved wood ledge.
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- Michael likes doing this thumbs up pose for the timelapse when he walks by
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- The XPS formwork is pretty much done here
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- DCIM101GOPROG0022660.
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- There is always maintenance to do. In this case, the new Kubota I bought needed a hydraulic line replaced. I took this pic so I could remember what fittings I would need.
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- Part of life includes stopping to sharpen your blades. That lawn mower had a rough life on that construction site. The three blades on the left are the ones I took off it and the new blade is on the right… Ouch, I have never seen such wrecked blades, so I took a pic and then had a conversation with the boys about riding the mower over rocks.