Shop Update

Hi again! I'm here to share part of our shop with you today. The Hubs did the majority of the prep work but I did help...I swear, I DID! First The Hubs laid down insulation on the dirt "floor" (aka the ground inside the shop), leaving spaces in between the sheets for concrete to flow into. I think I heard him say that it helps the concrete dry faster??? Maybe, sorta, oh who knows...but that's what he did. Then he laid this metal "lattice" looking stuff down on top of the insulation. This is to act like the rebar that is normally used in concrete work; I believe its a form of sorts. 

Our pex (that red tubing below) came from New York city! And with free shipping it cost substantially less than going with a local manufacturer/distributor.

The Hubs laid this out in a 'loop' sort of design. Let me tell you though, I tried to help at one point to keep this stuff from rolling on itself and it is near impossible. It resembles the tubing we used for the sprinkler system-what a pain! But it is totally worth it. This is for the radiant floor heating and I even believe it can be used in regular plumbing in a house (ie-the bathroom) in place of copper.

Above is a picture of the manifold. It is where all the tubes of red pex comes in and out and this bad boy is then connected to the water heater.

Ha! there is the 'loop' sort of blueprint that The Hubs created. He is so amazing! What a guy, I tell ya'. Not for his artistic abilities, although he has them even though they aren't showcased here, but because he gets things done. You need something done, he is all over it!

Next up is the part that I helped with. See those fun lil' zip ties on the pex?

See them now?!?! Yah, every foot we had to tie the pex to the rebar so that the pex wouldn't rise up through the concrete. You see the pex had air running through it for the pouring of the concrete and seeing how air is lighter than concrete (I know, shocker!) it would rise and create issues in the future if we accidentally hit it with something. I say this because I was the BIG WHINER curious person asking why I had to do this dreadful job.  

Now the fun part...the part where The Hubs and I sit back and let the professionals do their work. Below is the picture of the first concrete truck at sometime around 8am on a Saturday.

Lots of hoses are needed for this job.

And as a side note: these hoses are HEAVY! The folks that work with them day in and day out must have massive muscles. I tried to pick up one section and I almost threw my back out. Kidding...kind of. : )

Just pictures of the concrete being poured into the pump so that it can flow through the hose into our shop.

And here comes the 2nd concrete truck; it was only about 8:20 at this point. These guys move fast!

They started pumping the concrete into the shop. I believe there was four guys for just this job. Its the dirtiest job from what I can tell.

Look at the spiffy garb that they get to wear though! I need a pair of those awesome boots for truckin' out in the pasture or on those nasty spring days when everything in sight is ooey-gooey mud. The best part about these boots is that you can wear your regular shoes inside of them. Awesome! What a time saver!

Aww, the lovely concrete floor. It looks like glass. And it really didn't take as long as I thought it would to pour it and get it looking like this. Maybe just a little over an hour. The majority of the work is when 3 of the 4 crewmen had to get on all fours and sand the son-of-a-gun. Hours of back breaking work! Blech! No thanks!

The shop door comes on Friday; so stinkin' excited I could pee my pants. Not really...that is a joke. But you know what a shop door means, dontcha?!? It means I get to move crap out of the house and into this space...thus meaning I get to FINALLY start work on my home office.