concrete

Concrete slab pour & power floating

Today saw the pouring of the power floated reinforced concrete floor that is both our foundation and ground floor finished surface. This forms a 'raft' style foundation, which due to the amount of reinforcement within it, allows our internal load-bearing walls to be placed anywhere, as the load is then distributed across the slab and down into the ground below over a larger surface area than with conventional perimeter strip foundations. Using a more conventional system would have required additional strip foundations under each internal load bearing wall. As almost all of our internal walls are load-bearing, we chose to use the Isoquick insulated formwork system which requires a raft foundation, as this removes the need for additional 'internal' foundations that penetrate the insulation layer and create difficult junctions to thermally break.

The concrete was pumped into place, spread, levelled and then finally, after several hours waiting, power floated. As we don't want a shiny surface or exposed aggregate it was not highly polished. At the end of the evening a penetrating sealer hardener was spray applied, which reacts with the concrete and helps the curing process, as well as providing a water-proof sealing coat over the whole floor. The whole process took place on a single day & evening.

Now we just need to wait a few weeks for it to harden and strengthen, then we can begin the timber frame!

These photos show the concrete pump on site, the pour and the power floating, followed by the spray application of the sealer / hardener. You can also see the tie-down straps around the perimeter, which will later pass through the sole plate.

The next morning we went to site to see our finished slab. It had rained over night and the water was beading on the sealer which is good!

Not much will happen on site for the next few weeks as we need to wait for the slab to harden before starting our timber frame, so it will just be a time for doing a little back-filling around the Isoquick to create a level enough area for scaffolding to be placed, and having a tidy up.

Back in the office we will be finalising the orders of the components for the next stage: as we are getting these from several suppliers there is a lot to be done in terms of quantifying components, checking prices and placing orders, so it will be a busy few weeks.