Stackin' Block...

As promised we started laying our block last Sunday. For this we didn't need to use our $25.00 cement mixer, all we needed were a few bags of ready mix cement, a garden hose for water, a cement mixing tray (at least I think that is what it's called) a hoe, a hand trowel, a 4' level and a 2' level, and some thin nylon rope to use as a guide.

First we took the mixing tray and added the ready mix and some water. With a hand trowel we mixed it all up like a huge vat of cake batter - just not as yummy. We then took our very first block coated or shall I say "iced" the bottom of it with our not so yummy batter and stuck it to our beautiful footing. We started at the corner and worked our way along the footing. I was told that you start at the corner so that the corner block locks together when it wraps around the house...this along with staggering the block adds strength to the foundation. If you look at the picture above you can see how the block is staggered. It sure is purdy!

We continued...or I should say "Our Wayne" continued to stack, stack, and stack some more. We had to make sure that the first row was completely level as this sets the tone for the entire foundation. We used the nylon rope and levels to guide us.

As my dad continued to mix the batter, ice the block and layer the cake...Ooooo cake:) - If we were making a foundation out of cake and icing I would totally make it chocolate batter, butter cream filling and vanilla icing **sigh** oh to dream~! Anyways...I digress...where was I again?? OK yeah...Cement, cinder block, and stacking! P sat and watched in amazement as the block went up, up, up (doesn't she look amazed???) lol. She assited my dad by handing him block or tools when he needed them.

We completed 3 rows of block in 3 hours! Not too bad! Stay tuned for more block!

TO BE CONTINUED.....