Before they poured the concrete yesterday, they put PVC pipe "sleeves" through in the places we think we'll need things going through the wall. For example, in the front of the house (under the office) we have two 2" and two 4" openings for telecommunications (Comcast, Verizon, etc.) lines. There are openings for water and gas service, the sewer connection, where pipes will run to the geothermal loop field, etc. Around these openings and anywhere else the foam wasn't present, spray foam was used to fill the holes
Then they poured the concrete for the walls, working their way around the walls three times so that the concrete had time to settle before the next layer got poured on top of what was already in the form. If you use too few "lifts," the concrete doesn't compact in the wall properly and you have voids leading to structural weakness. Then, on Saturday, they came back to remove the bracing and work platform they built, as well as to apply the waterproof dimple membrane to the outside of the wall. (See the entry from August 5th for more detail about the membrane though I've included a close-up of the membrane with a dollar bill to give you a reference as to the size of the dimples.)
Then they poured the concrete for the walls, working their way around the walls three times so that the concrete had time to settle before the next layer got poured on top of what was already in the form. If you use too few "lifts," the concrete doesn't compact in the wall properly and you have voids leading to structural weakness. Then, on Saturday, they came back to remove the bracing and work platform they built, as well as to apply the waterproof dimple membrane to the outside of the wall. (See the entry from August 5th for more detail about the membrane though I've included a close-up of the membrane with a dollar bill to give you a reference as to the size of the dimples.)
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