Concrete Anyone?…. A Friendly Visit!

One does not simply walk into Mordor….It’s walls are guarded with evil that does not sleep. The very air you breath is a poisonous fume. Not with 10,000 men could you do this. It is folly.

Okay so Rego Park Queens is no Mordor…but man has it been feeling like folly. I haven’t worked this much overtime in a while. It really sucks the life blood out of you at times. But we must take the Ring to Mordor and cast it into the flames from which it was forged many thousands of years ago. One of you must do this.

The Lord of the Rings nerd in me just can’t help it. So sorry.

Just a few words about Rego Park. I’ll apologize now  because I’m also a concrete nerd as well if you haven’t noticed. I mean you don’t get to see stuff like this all the time in high rise so I took a couple of pictures to give you an idea of what we’re doing. (Sorry if I lose anyone along the way.)Anyhoo we set this job up with a pump to get the concrete up to the deck. We’re pouring about 550 yards of concrete every other day now so the day we pour runs about 9 to 10 hours straight up of concrete. Just so you know, that’s a lot of concrete to pour people. So what we do is bring in a pump truck and boom it up to the seventh floor and connect the pump to a diverter valve. From there the concrete goes to a riser pipe which comes out on the deck. Here’s the boom hooked up to the diverter valve.

Tip of boom pump truck hooked up to the diverter valve.
Tip of boom pump truck hooked up to the diverter valve.

We built a blow back box next to the diverter valve, that’s that thing you see to the left with the hole in it. So after you’re done pouring,  there’s concrete still in the line. How do we get that concrete out of the line you say? Well pull up a block of concrete and lend an ear. So we’re done with the  pour right? Okay that’s easy. Now the pump operator comes down to the seventh floor and we switch the diverter valve over to the blow back mode. So now the riser pipe is connected to the pipe that goes into that box to the left. When that happens you can hear the concrete start sliding down  the pipe from the force of gravity into the box. Unfortunately it doesn’t all come out. So up  on the deck they cap the riser pipe with a special fitting that you can hook  an air compressor to. Like a really big air compressor not a rinky dink one you get at Home Depot. They put a pig into the pipe followed by a wet sponge ball. They put the cap on and then pressurize the line and send the pig and the ball shooting into that box. It usually makes a really loud bang when it comes out and the excess concrete flies all over the place (if you’ve never heard a pig really squeal you’ll never forget the sound it makes when it comes through that pipe). That’s why the box has a cover all the way around it. The pig is usually a bit shaken up but one or two good meals and he’s usually ready for the next pour. We give him a good bath as well….. you know clean him up a bit. Pigs are actually very clean animals you know. Okay, we don’t put a real pig in the pipe that’s just what they call this thing. I’ll try and remember to take a picture of the pig next week. I bet I had one or two of you going there for a while didn’t I. A little concrete humor there.

One yeah the flying wall. If only this one really could fly. Just a bit more Rego Park fun and we’ll move along.

We have a flying wall on this job but it’s been giving us a lot of trouble. Just relax a bit more on that concrete block if you will this won’t take long. Unfortunately this flying wall isn’t a really good one to learn on. I don’t know who detailed this thing but it was ridiculous. Anyway so what’s a flying wall? Keeping it simple it’s usually a wall on the outside edge of a building that the crane picks up and “flies” to the next floor. Once the wall is flown you crank it into place and set it up for the next pour.Like I said we had a lot of trouble with this one but Friday we were finally able to fly it in 35 minutes. There are three sections so that was pretty good. Here’s what it looks like.

Flying wall at Rego Park, Queens.
Flying wall at Rego Park, Queens.

We had to put cargo netting and debris netting all over it so nothing falls off and cracks someone in the head below. I’ll have to bring my camera to work more often so I can show you some other stuff we do.

Back to Hobbit houses shall we?

Like I was saying before, I got home late Friday night from work  around 10:30. (The over time is always a double edged sword isn’t it?) Well Terence and Georgia were up watching the first Star Trek movie directed by JJ Abrahms. If you like sci-fi  and haven’t seen it go and get it on the Netflix. The scene where Spock loses it is great. Man, getting off topic here for some reason.

Oh yeah, that’s why I got a late start Saturday. Anyway, we really got a lot accomplished. I had Ethan and Jude there most of the morning doing the detail work mostly on the two bedrooms while I finished detailing the living room, kitchen and dining room. Here’s a couple of pictures.

Jude working the guest bedroom.
Jude working the guest bedroom.

 

Ethan working the master bedroom.
Ethan working the master bedroom.

So my wife, Georgia and Terence all went on a walk a thon to raise money for college scholarships in the name of a teacher who passed away at the Middle school last year. They said it was really nice and a lot of people showed up. After that they picked up sandwiches and had lunch with us and that was nice. While we were finishing who pulls up but my wife’s sister Lisa and two of her children, Shea and Luke. (Travis was home sick. He’s visited before but not for a while.) They came to take a look to see how the house is progressing. So we gave them a tour of the roof and a rundown of what’s going on. Luke was a little nervous being on the roof. He was afraid the brakes were gonna go and he’d wind up in the stream. Here’s a picture.

An Aunt and cousins stop by.
An Aunt and cousins stop by.

Luke is a huge Miami Heat fan. He’s also a Knick and Jets fan. We all have our crosses to bear. Maybe this year will be the Jets year. Here’s hoping, eh Luke?

I think they liked it. It’s kind of hard to get what’s going on when you first see it.

So Georgia is moving into an apartment up in North Adams Sunday so she and Jodi headed out to try and get some furniture at a tag sale.  Succeeded in securing a TV stand for $20 bucks. Hmmm. The whole bed bug thing is in my head now.(It’s now going to be in my editor’s head as well.) Do they hang out in wood furniture? I’m thinking no. I hope I’m not gonna have to get one of those white Haz-mat suits and hose down my daughter every time she comes home for a weekend. I gotta talk to my friend who used to be in pest control. Maybe I’ll get one of those sniffer dogs that can sniff for bed bugs. (Georgia secured a job working at Mass MoCa which she is really excited about.)

So they headed out and Terence stayed with us. I set up him and Ethan on the router table. Man, did we go through a lot of material on that table….and we’re still not done. I think you’re going to really like what we put together when it’s all finished. I’m very happy with the designs so far. It’s really cool to see what you come up with.Here’s Ethan and Terence on the table again.

Router Table.
Router Table.

Oh yeah, for the record. The editor showed up with a decent dessert for lunch. About time I might add. Snickers and Twix bars. Two of my favorites.

Here’s a few shots of the detail work we did.

Guest bathroom.
Guest bathroom.
Guest Bedroom
Guest Bedroom

A bit hard to see what’s going on there.

Master Bedroom
Master Bedroom

Not 100% but very close. I’m gonna make a couple of adjustments.

High Hat detailing for house
High Hat detailing for house

This isn’t secured or wired yet, but this is how we are going to do most of the lighting in the Hobbit house. Recessed hi-hats inside an oversized diamond. I hope to start the installation of these next week.

So we are on the brink of finishing the detail work. I’m hoping if I get enough help we should have everything done next weekend and possibly get a good start on the electrical. Thanks so much for stopping by!

I will take the Ring to Mordor….

If the way was easy anyone could take it there….but the way is not easy and it can be a bit confusing. You can make it.

So long for now my friends….enjoy your week and stop and smell the roses if you remember!

Jim

 

 

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