Building Update- Entry # 4

5/31/2013

To continue our story...the last time we met, they were spreading gravel. The building process is really getting interesting now! I know...spreading gravel is not very exciting when you think about it, but it's what comes next that is the exciting part!





Tying rebar is the next step in the process-

This looks like a long and tedious process. In fact, it took one whole day. They laid 3/8 rebar at 18" o.c both ways(contractor speak). It has also been reported that under the rebar they had to spread 236,976,500 grains of sand one inch thick. I saw the sand with my own eyes, but I think those contractor guys are telling us what's known as "a whopper".



               It looks really cool when it's complete!

On Thursday morning, we awoke to a wonderful thing!

Well, not awoke per se' because we did not spend the night here at the clinic. Let's re-phrase that: On Thursday morning, we arrived to work to find a big surprise! yes, that is more accurate. A big surprise! Don't you love when something out of the ordinary happens during the work day? Like, when flowers get delivered, or a nice client brings in cookies or snacks for us. That really makes our day. Anyway, back to our story. We arrived on Thursday morning to see this thing parked over at the property:

What kind of truck is that, you ask? It looks like something with a long snout, doesn't it? This is the cement truck, come to pour the slab. This long snout part is able to stretch across the lot and drop the cement into the structure, then the worker guys smooth it out. They started pouring the slab at 5:30 in the morning and were done before lunch. They poured 57 yards of concrete on Thursday.



I know what you are thinking: "Did you guys put your hand prints into the cement"? Well, we talked about it a few days before, but when the time came we were just too busy taking care of animals here at the existing clinic to be able to find time to do that. The good news is that there will be more concrete later. Maybe we can bring our pets that day and do their paw prints on the patio?

 

 

Today the framers snapped out the walls and started plating. With the outside temperatures reaching over 100 degrees today, the framing contractor had to erect and EZ Up so the framers could have some shade. The big boss contractor (Bruce Wirtanen) got a little worried when they also strung up a few hammocks and put a mister up on the shade canopy.
OSHA says you have to stop work if the outside temperature reaches 103 degrees. I am sure they were hoping to go home early, and probably did! I give those guys a lot of credit, working out in the heat like that.

The lumber was delivered today, and the framing begins on Monday. By the end of the week, the new place will start looking like a structure!

It is really great to see how many people this project is employing. Many of them are local, from within the Pleasant Valley area.

Some of these folks are even clients of Pleasant Valley pet Clinic, as is the man in the photo to the right. It will be rewarding in the years to come when these folks bring their animals into the veterinary hospital that they helped build!

 

TO BE CONTINUED.....