Getting Ready for Stairs for Art Studio

Every job has a beginning, a middle, and an end.  

Pouring an 8 by 22ft. concrete pad begins the task of preparation for the spiral staircase to the studio. 

Soon, friends and family can visit the studio,  and no more climbing the aluminum ladder.   

Here are some photos of the concrete pour . . . as it happened on a 100 degree day.   

In the background is our big old barn. 

I have every reason to believe the barn is the same age as the house--120 years old. 

Good Friends:

Al gives a nod, that everything is going well. 

Steve begins raking the first concrete pour.

First section is poured, and 2nd section begins. 

My husband Jon is the fella in the white t-shirt closest to the building.

My husband Jon and his friend Al strike the poured concrete.  I can't help but notice how well Steve has raked the concrete, making the back and forth motion of the strike perfect and very little waste over the edge of the wood form. 

The last section is poured as Jon and Steve tap, shift, rake, fill concrete to a level perfect for striking.  These boys have poured a lot of concrete in their day.  

Then, I quickly climbed the aluminum ladder to get to the studio to take some aerial views of the concrete pour.  Stepping through the studio door onto the south balcony.

The view from the balcony to our back yard.  Notice the huge 8 ft. high fence Jon built for the garden.  Looks like a pen for giraffes doesn't it?  We had failed gardens 2 years in a row, and gave up on putting in a vegetable garden this spring.  That was a good choice--a terrible drought this summer.

Looking over the edge of the balcony, I took this photograph of the boys finishing the last section.

A hour after the pour and strike, Jon magged the concrete. 

Every locale or concrete crew has a different term for handling concrete. 

Magging is smoothing the surface, taking out the ridges made by the strike.

Later than evening Jon used a concrete saw to divide the concrete, making relief cuts.  Freezing and thawing causes concrete to heave and twist from season to season.  Relief cuts help stabilize the concrete pad.

This weekend Jon glued down a rubber membrane flooring on the balcony--and now it looks (better) quite different than this photograph. 

After the staircase is installed Jon will finish balcony area with exterior clapboards on ceiling and walls.  A steel balcony railing will be installed too. 

This weekend we took a trip to see Jake who is building the spiral staircase.  I'll post those photos too.