Framing the Stem Walls

After a week of rain the crew is back on the site and framing the stem walls.  We are going to have Cast-In-Place stem walls that will run from the footings to just below the wood siding of the house - at their tallest point they are about 7' high.

First the crew nailed down wood runners with a special gun and nail system that uses gunpowder to drive nails into the concrete, the nails are called redheads.  Then they will frame the walls with wood studs and attach 2x12 board to them on the inside face.  This is what they call the formwork and is what will hold the concrete to form that walls.  When the concrete has had time to set they will pull off all the wood.

framing the formwork for the stemwalls...

Pete the contractor nailing the formwork for the wall that will support our existing house...

Here the foreman Chillo is using a surveyor to locate the top of concrete height to make sure that it is the same at all points around the house - this way our house will be level.

 Surveying...

View of formwork from inside the trench...

 the youngest member of our crew - "Giovanni"

Formwork at the corner...