The second pour

In snakes the hose.

These pizza boards get stuck to a pole, and ...

Bam! Paddles are ready to spread the sauce.

Let this cold lava flow into every crevice!

$250 per cubic meter.
4.5" thick and 1200 square feet.
16 cubic meters to do the job.

Movie!!!

Videos are taking a long time to upload, but here is a brief look at the hose as it pumps out the concrete.

http://youtu.be/sp76vGNj3Vw

This curved trowel works for beautiful edges like this next one, below.

These flat trowels are used to smooth the edges, where floor meets wall and the buffer machine will not reach.

Once the cement is poured and leveled, it is polished every 45 minutes, for a total of 12 hours. Each sanding works like a finer grit of paper. The friction of the surface diminishes and a hard, darkened, and slick surface emerges.

Slick drain lines are carved into the new patio (basin taped in red).

Oh, Max!

Wanna dance?

Prepped for the pour

Plastic is the prerequisite. All floor surfaces of sand were leveled and then covered with this moisture barrier of polyethylene (plastic).

Even the shed gets its layer of vapour barrier.

Bring on the trowels!

Laying the base

The yin and yang of dirt and sand.

Road base compacted over sand prepares us for the cement slab. Below is Hans' compacter. 

Not a scary monster, but black city sewer on the left and bright turquoise water on the right! 

Peek a boo! 

Pipe solutions

Here is our difficult pipe corner looking drier than ever! 

Hooked in to the shed's perimeter, the drains will save us from puddles.

The beast is back...

...exposing various layers of soil, clay and rock.

Here is the end of interior pipes today - a clean, sandy little little pond that reminds us water is close!

We've been framed!

Here is the cute little shed with a couple of windows framed in.

Slick flashing in bright blue makes for a cozy interior with dry sand and a warm light.

For you Bingo players, 88 is two fat ladies. We ladies are fat in debt, hitting 88K today as the cords were coiled.

Sand storm

"Sand blows!" said the hummingbird, as he made a quick escape.

It's time to fill the shed floor with sand to support a concrete slab.

Hans carves out a side door for the shed.

If you ain't Dutch, you ain't much!

Odds and soggy sods

The tent is down and drying 'inside'. Thank you to our dear friends, Simon and Julie, for sharing their outdoor shelter!

We were soooo lucky with the weather!

The sand and drain rock don't quite dry us up completely.

Here is a catch basin that will sit beneath the suite patio. These are good because they catch any 'gunk' that falls in and allow only the water to escape from the pipe, higher than the bottom of the trap.

It is nice to see our new level attached to the old one.

I think these are called straps.

This toxic glue is used to stick pipes together.

Good thing we are installing a wood-burning fire place - these odd ends will burn beautifully!