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Basement Work Project Details Last Updated 12/21/2005 |
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When we outgrow our largest room upstairs, we plan to hold services in the
large (for us) room in the basement. It only measures 33feet by
19feet but we can "easily" squeeze 100 people into that space in
Kazakhstan. Our room at Alpha Omega was half that size and we had
attendance of 55-60. I have been to rehearsal dinners for 50 in
rooms half that size! Americans need their space. Kazakhs
like to be close to each other. Below: Sanctuary Room Before work begins. All we have done is
added 2" of crushed stone over the dirt floor. Note the level of
the stone. |
Below: Here we have added about 10 more inches of stone throughout the basement so that the finished concrete is at the same level as the garage doorway and the two doorways between the two rooms in the basement. We shoveled stone through the basement window and wheel barrowed it around (16 yards of it) for a week to bring the level up to where we wanted it. This is the first of 8 slabs that we poured to make the basement floor. Each slab took 4 hours to pour. Noah never missed a pour and the girls made it for 2 of them despite school.
Each slab required 36-40 mixer
loads of concrete. (Each load was 100 liters.) That makes the
total for the basement about 30 yards of concrete.
Job Descriptions of our Concrete Czars: Lucy, Amanda, and Noah: "Pile Pirate/Bucket Wrangler". Fill 4 five gallon buckets (2 with stone, 2 with sand) for each mixer load of concrete. Carry the four 40lb buckets from the pile to the mixer. Catch the empty flying bucket as it rockets from the Mix Master's hands. Repeat the process every 3 minutes.
Byeram: "Wheel Barrow Barron/Shovel King". Catch 200 lbs of concrete in a 20 lb wheel barrow without spilling any. Wheel barrow the concrete along slippery, wobbly, makeshift plank bridges to the forms, pour it in, shovel it to the area we are working on. Level it to prepare it for screeing. Repeat the process ever 3 minutes.
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Kevin: "Mix Master/Floating Fool/Trowel Treasurer". Pour all of the buckets into the rotating mixer without getting your arms ripped off. Add cement and water to taste. Cut open the bags of cement (not your hands) with a box knife. Dump the cement from the bag to the bucket. Spit out the concrete that fills your mouth and blow the concrete dust from nose and glasses. Refill the water bucket from the leaky hose without getting your hands too wet. Dump the completed concrete into into Byeram's wheel barrow while occasionally absorbing a 380 volt shock from the mixer because your hands are too wet. Float and trowel the concrete. Repeat the process every three minutes. |
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Right: Noah in work room near garage doors holding our fox terrier (Dotty). She managed to stay out of the concrete due to her superior intelligence! |
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Above: Noah and I standing in the last two sections of the sanctuary. |
Above: Byeram and Noah at end of the 8th (and final) slab. Whew! | |
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Below: After the concrete we still had to install 6 radiators and pipe. 2 more in the sanctuary room and 4 in the work room. The plumbers were welding for a week. The photos below are of the sanctuary room with the finished concrete and 2 more radiators. We purchased this ping-pong table in December of 2005. This photo was taken before we had used it. Noah and Amanda patiently waited until after the photo! |
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Right: Misha stoking the coal fire in the furnace room in the basement. We had to pour a slab here too. This is our second winter heating with coal. We hope that the gas pipe will reach our house by next winter. Coal is very dusty and dirty and you have to light 3-5 fires a day to keep the house tolerably warm. Even if you do that the indoor temperature fluctuates 15-30 degrees throughout the day.
Below Left and Right: The work room after the slab is finished and the radiators have been added. The large white Styrofoam sheets are covering the metal garage doors to keep the heat in. |
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Left:
last two sections of the work room. 
