Playing with Blocks

With the pad cured for a week, we were ready to do the concrete block (aka CMU) foundation.

Troy started with the four corners.

Then onto the walls

You have to "tool the joints". They don't look this pretty by themselves.

A project we did while waiting for the concrete to cure was a Heat Pump Hutch.  During cold weather the heat pump freezes up.  Water from the roof drips right down into the unit. We've talked about doing something to protect it for a few years.  Last winter was mild and we didn't have many problems.  This year we've had several snows and had to replace the fan motor which probably burned out when the fan blades froze up.

Our Hut solves the problem.  We did add roofing tiles to the roof.  The lattice lets air in but keeps leaves out.  We had some more snow and sleet later that week and our Hut worked like a charm.  The unit stayed high and dry.

Now for a confession -  I have to admit that I helped very little during this part of the job.  I have discovered that I really dislike block work especially in the cold!!  Instead of doing block work, I took a class on working with chalk/clay paint and learned several finishing techniques.

Here is a picture of one of the projects I did that day.

Next comes framing!!!