Foundation Concrete Pour Is NOT Smooth

Today was the day. It was not raining so it was finally time to pour the foundation slab for our house. I left campus after my morning class and drove up to see the pad being poured. When I got to our cul-de-sac I saw a concrete truck AND a big tow truck. I wondered if the concrete truck in the cul-de-sac had mechanical problems...If only things were that simple. As I drove down our driveway it became obvious that there was a far more serious problem – a concrete truck had gotten stuck at the curve just after the crossing over the marshy area. The back wheels were buried beyond the axel on one side. As you can see in the photo, this meant the truck was leaning precariously. A towing crew had been summoned and they were trying to figure out how to get it unstuck.

In the meantime, the concrete crew was working on the part of the slab which had been poured. Three trucks had made it through, so most of the outer wall and interior footings had been poured. For the floor, the front part of the great room and part of the area by the islands was poured. According to the crew, there are about 4 or 5 more truck loads to go to finish.

Back at the stuck truck scene, they winched it back a few feet and got it more thoroughly stuck. Now the wheels opposite those that are stuck are raised up off the ground. The risk of it overturning increased. So, the next step was to stabilize it. That was done attaching a pulley to a tree and running a cable to Mr. Graham, our neighbor's, tractor. An additional cable was run from one of the tow trucks.

Lightening the load by dumping the concrete was the next step. Unfortunately, the truck sat too long and the concrete hardened inside. That sent the concrete truck mechanic ordering a chisel crew to be ready to go to work on the mixer when the truck is unstuck. So now they had to get it out fully loaded. With two tow trucks winching and the concrete truck in gear, they slowly pulled and slid it out of the soft part of the road.

The road is trashed. Steve, the foundation contractor, did a quick smooth job with his bobcat, but the road is still mushy. To fix this we expect to have to dig out the soft dirt for several feet, like what was done on the section crossing the marsh. A culvert will need to be placed to drain the water under the road. On top will go lots of roadbase. This worked great on the other section which handled the concrete trucks without a dent.

So now we have a partially poured foundation. Plan B is to come back during the next dry spell and use a series of three pumpers to pump the concrete from the trucks down to the house. Basically the concrete trucks would stop at the turnout just above where the road is bad. A hose would go from the truck to a pumper to more hose to another pumper and so on down to the house. Plan A is to spend the same money and get the road fixed so the concrete trucks can go all the way to the house. Since the road has to get repaired so we and other trades can get down to the house, we'd save money by not adding the cost of the pumpers.

We have decided to continue with our party up at the property this Saturday. Guests will have to park above the bad spot and walk down. Not what we'd hoped, but doable. Hopefully, the good karma of our friends will help us overcome this misfortune.

One thing's for sure, today's mishap was worthy of an HGTV "Dream Home" episode.