NO MORE whining about the bond beam... I promise!

As you may have surmised from my previous whiny posts, I have been dreading starting the bond beam. It requires me to climb up and down the scaffolding gluing the AAC walls of the beam, tying the steel (rebar) and actually pouring the concrete in the cavity. The main reason I have been dreading the project is that the bond beam needs to be pretty close to perfectly level

 so the wooden plate can be bolted to it and the trusses affixed thereto. A top plate that is not perfectly level will make putting the roof on a nightmare. I have laid awake at night trying to figure out the best way to adjust any leveling error I have made in my previous 12 courses of block laying. 

Today Alexis helped me pull a string (with a line level attached) from corner to corner on each wall to see how close my efforts were to being level. Happily, I'm very close to level on all three walls except in a couple of spots where I'll have to rasp down the side wall of the bond beam just a hair (approx 1/4"). Additionally, we pulled a tape on all three walls with these results: the west wall was 1/4" short in 26 feet, the east wall was PERFECT (26') and the long north

 wall was 1/8" short in 56 feet. I was pretty pleased to say the least. It made me feel MUCH better about "gettin' it done!"... starting tomorrow morning.

Here is a mocked-up close-up of what the bond beam will look like before I pour in the concrete (over/under rebar to form a concrete "I" beam, vertical "J" bolt to bolt the 2" X 8" wooden top plate to, two 2" X 4" X 24" AAC side walls glued to the top course of blocks creating a cavity which will be filled with a loose mixture of concrete.

The duct tape on the tip of the "J" bolt will keep concrete off the threads so that the nut can be torqued down on the wooden top plate easily.

Time to build and pour the bond beam

This morning I tied the lower course of steel (rebar) on the north wall bond beam (visible just above the top course of block in this picture). I tied this horizontal steel to the bent over ends of the vertical rebar coming out of the poured cores. 8 inch "J" bolts get tied to this lower horizontal rebar and the top course of rebar will also be tied to these bolts. The threads of the "J" bolts stick out of the concrete beam and the 2" X 8" pressure treated wooden top plate gets bolted to them. Then the trusses are affixed to this wooden plate and we're off to the (roof) races.
I'm happy to report that I laid the last 8" X 8" X 24" AAC block today in the 12th course of the east wall. Hallelujah! I'll fill the remaining 6 cores with concrete tomorrow and tie the horizontal steel on the top of that wall. If there is time left in the day, I'll begin building the side walls of the bond beam. The difficulty of building the bond beam is still very much an unknown quantity. Nevertheless, here's a picture of the 12th course in the east wall finally being finished! You and I both were wondering if I'd EVER get these blocks laid, huh!? Here my grandson, Ethan, is doing a joyous "victory bounce" for me to celebrate the last AAC block being laid.

Pouring concrete in bored cores

Until the bottom of my left heel (?) started hurting today, I mixed and poured wet/loose concrete into the 3" bored cores that I had drilled as I laid the AAC block. These 3" cylinders are vertical and are located approximately every 4'. Each hole gets filled with concrete and a rebar is dropped down the hole to create a 3" steel/concrete column. These columns - which extend all the way down through the slab & stem wall into the footing - will be tied into the top bond beam that I keep harping about. When I am finished with the bond beam, the block walls will be tied together top-to-bottom and side-to-side with concrete & steel. This picture is a shot down the north wall from east to west (be nice... the wall is pretty straight). The rebar sticking out of the holes will be bent over and wired to another continuous piece of rebar that runs along the entire top course about 3" higher and parallel to the top (12th) course of AAC block. This literally makes a poured concrete/steel beam. Before the bond beam is poured, 8" "J" bolts will be wired to the lower run of rebar and a second horizontal piece of rebar will be tied above the first run (All new construction in Florida (I'm told) is required to have such a bond beam to stiffen/strengthen the house in case of a hurricane). A 2" X 8" wooden plate will be bolted to the top of the wall with these "J" bolts and the roof trusses afixed to this plate.
Here's a blast from the past... the buff kid kneeling in the center is me 90 pounds and many years ago (circa summer, 1966). As U.S. Naval Academy 2nd Class Midshipmen we were in Little Creek, Virginia being indoctrinated by the Marine Corps before our junior year (19 years old... and as I recall barely shaving). We (8th Company, Class of 1968) had just made an amphibious landing in very rough seas (we disembarked from a troop transport ship into tiny landing craft that bounced around like corks until we hit - HIT being the operative word - the beach). We were wet, cold and miserable.On a somber note: My dear friend the Honorable LT Spence Dry (over my left shoulder) was the last Navy SEAL killed in Vietnam (I was with Spence in the Philippines during the summer of 1969 the moment he made the decision to become a SEAL)... he was awarded the Bronze Star with "V" for Valor, to wit:
You'll be happy to know that back at the Academy your tax dollars paid for the following kind of frivolity. This is my classmate and friend, Scott McRoberts, who later became a Naval Aviator (P-3 pilot) and retired as a Captain (O-6):

12th course finished on west & north wall

Well today while running between raindrops I experienced a momentous occasion... I have finished cutting and drilling block... all that's left to do before starting the bond beam is to finish gluing the 12th course on the east wall (all the blocks are cut and fitted). I should be able to get those glued tomorrow and get all the remaining cores poured with rebar. Monday will start the "unknown" relating to gluing the bond beam sidewalls that create the cavity to pour the concrete into with the horizontal rebar. Hopefully it will go smoothly and we'll be ready to start building the wooden south wall very soon. Here I am too pooped to pop at the end of the day:
Here you can see the 12th course on the north wall... FINISHED!Here's my little man learning to crawl... Ethan is just too cute!

FINALLY... the lintels are in!

Today was primarily spent preparing to put the lintels up. I had to rebuild all the scaffolding on the inside of the north wall so David Musser and I would have firm footing to set the lintels. The lintels are 8" X 8" X 64" long, VERY heavy and awkward to handle so having a good platform to work from was important. The work paid off as David and I - with Tracy & Shane, David's helpers, assisting on the ground - were able to set the lintels in about 15 minutes. I'll be able to complete the 12th course on the north wall tomorrow and maybe finish gluing the 12th course on the east wall. Then it's time to build the bond beam, tie the rebar and pour the cavity created with concrete.

You can't see it but Alexis and I set the window frames with long screws today. The gaps between the wood and blocks still have to be caulked and taped with "Gorilla brand tape" to minimize unwanted air infiltration but that's pretty much a no brainer... then it's time to set the trusses and put the roof tin on!

Wall repaired... two more cores poured with steel

As you can see - except for trimming the jagged edge of the door opening - I have repaired the wall west of the front door that was out of plumb.  I also poured two more cores with concrete and rebar between the door opening and the dining room window (if you look closely, you can see the rebar sticking up vertically).

I had hoped to set the lintels today but I really needed one more day to prepare. Hopefully David Musser can come tomorrow afternoon after I get everything ready and help me lift them into place (windows set, block surfaces prepared, rebar bent out of the way, scaffolding built, etc.). Next, I'll finish the 12th course (filling in between the lintels) on the north and east walls and start the bond beam. David and his crew are itching to start (work for them is slow) the south wooden wall and set the trusses. He convinced me to hire a crane to set them even though the 29' trusses are very manageable with 3 men and one geezer (ME!). Setting the trusses with a crane will be much easier, will speed the process and may even save me some labor money. The prospect of "getting the roof on" is exciting.

Wall demolition and frustration

Here's a picture of the rubble following the demolition of the first 4' of the wall just west of the front door (I hadn't laid the blocks to a string - doh! - so the wall was significantly out of plumb and had to come out so the lintel over the door would line up). As you can see the block broke but the adhesive held when the wall was toppled. The glue, the poured cores & the bond beam are going to build a "very, very fine house."
After I gingerly tore out the 4' of wall I had to prepare the 1st course for the 2nd course to be laid on top of it. This was NOT easy as the glue does not scrape off easily with the rasp and I labored for over an hour trying to get the surface level. Unfortunately I was a little off in the middle and by the time I got the 4th course laid (see below) my error was magnified and it was out of level again (with a slight hump in the middle). I'll have to do more scraping tomorrow to level it out. Frustrating... KNOW that I'll be glad when these blocks are laid and the bond beam is poured. It'll be on to nailing nails and raising the roof! My Granddaddy was in the Navy... that's why I like to be surrounded by water. BUBBLES!? WHAT BUBBLES!?