Brad called me this afternoon to let me know we passed the inspection. He'll be pouring the structural slab first thing tomorrow morning. This is a major milestone!

The concrete forms for the structural slab are complete. In these pictures you can clearly see the ribbon of Greenstreak PVC Waterstop as well as the anchor bolts for the basement walls. The last picture is more detail around the sewer ejector. They're using a Sonotube Round Concrete Form to keep the concrete out of the sewer ejector.

The water- proofing inspector checked the water- proofing materials and workmanship this morning and gave his okay.

Right now, the plumber and the electrician are finishing up their work in the light wells. The plumber has to install the drain pipes for the sump pumps and the electrician has to install the wiring for the lights and outlets in the lower courtyard.

This afternoon the city inspector will come to check everything and (hopefully) give us the approval to pour concrete first thing tomorrow morning.

I saw Brad at the job site this afternoon. The crew from Jim Giancola Concrete was just finishing up -- picking up all the loose nails and scraps of wire on the floor of the basement with a magnet. They were also putting a ribbon of Greenstreak PVC Waterstop around the edge of the forms. This material will be embedded halfway in the structural slab and halfway in the middle of the basement walls. Yet another layer of waterproofing material for added redundancy.

Brad was waiting for John, the structural engineer from John Ou & Associates, to come and look over and sign off on the rebar work. John's only comment was to move a couple of the curved rebar pieces closer to the edge near the lightwell in the back left of the basement.

Dennis, the field foreman from Jim Giancola Concrete, estimates his crew put down about 10 tons of rebar for the structural slab! There are probably about six more tons of straight rebar sitting in the street. That rebar will be used in the foundation walls.

Brad will be meeting the plumber and the city inspector tomorrow morning. The plumber is going to put in some piping for the drains in each of the light wells. If the inspector signs off on all the work, then Brad will be pouring the structural slab at 8:00 AM on Wednesday.

Brad will let the concrete set for the rest of the week and through the weekend. Then Dennis will be back out next Monday to start building the forms for the walls.

I stopped by the job site this morning and took a few pictures.

It looks like the crew from Jim Giancola Concrete is almost finished constructing all the rebar. You can see there are two layers of steel down in the basement.

Those small concrete spacers between the rebar layers are called "Dobies."

The crew from Jim Giancola Concrete continued their work on the rebar today. They're almost done with the first layer, and they just started the second layer.

Brad is going to check the sewer lines early next week. See that long pipe sticking straight up (on the left side of the second picture? That's for creating a ten-foot high column of water to pressure test the sewer lines.

Early next week Waterproofing Associates will bring out an inspector to check the installation of their materials. The city inspector will also be out to sign off before the concrete is poured.

Dennis and his crew from Jim Giancola Concrete continued their work laying out the rebar (that's Dennis on the left in the first picture). Because there's limited access to the site, they have to hand carry all of the rebar down into the basement. They're using ASTM A615 grade 60 rebar. The pile of fishbone rebar delivered in the street, weighed eight tons!

Today they completed much of the bottom layer. When they're done with that layer, they'll construct another layer right above it. He expects we'll be pouring the concrete next Tuesday.

In case you're wondering what's inside the Baker Tank, the last picture shows you what it looks like. I sure wouldn't want to fall in there!

The plumber installed the sewer lines for the basement today. The second picture shows a close-up of the sewer ejector.

The crew from Jim Giancola Concrete also started laying the rebar for the structural slab today.