Building Larry's "Desert House" -- 3

First a Caterpillar D9 bulldozer leveled the pad.  Then we dug trenches with a backhoe, jackhammer, and pick and shovel.  Hard work in the high desert "Caliche" soil which is actually almost a natural concrete.
 

The foundation ready for "real" concrete.  Note upright steel bars.  "Rebar" was required every two feet horizontally and vertically.  There's plenty of steel down in the footings, too.

Also note forms & screeds.  The form boards established the walls' 16" thickness, and were left in place after the pour to serve as "nailers" for the wall-form sections to come.

The horizontal 2x4 "screedboards" established the height of the floor slab, and facilitated leveling and smoothing it.

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