More Concrete Woes, Plus White Line Syndrome

Well, I will never disrespect the concrete gods again. I really like concrete as a material, but I've had my fill of working the raw stuff, so I'd like to pass that opportunity on to someone else to enjoy. Especially after this week.

Two weeks ago I worked on basement slab that was ground improperly and dusted up the whole house. This week I ended up helping a contractor pour a slab for my new shop. The crew he had for helpers was less than worthless, and things were far from ready when the ready-mix truck arrived at 4:45. They poured about 12 feet of footing, then formed up for the slab (while the truck sat churning slowly.) I finally donned my boots and got involved about 6:30 as they (I say "they", but the help really was worthless) started pouring the 15x30 slab. The truck finally left at 8:30 after sitting again while the contractor formed up the front edge of the slab... so much for 10 minutes per yard truck time allowance. And so much for getting the finish I wanted in my shop floor. And so much for my back. Now I might get to do more grinding and even some filling.

But all was not lost for the week. I got to look at some white lines in the joints in a floor. I think this floor was discussed on one of the forums recently. Darkly stained red oak with white lines at side and end joints. Repeatable squeaks and movement in spots. I know what I found. What do you think?

And I got to visit the big house again. We got one area, unrelated to the floor issue, fixed. Next week they will start fixing the floor issues. Then we start on the other issues.