We had a job that included the excavation of some fair-sized pier footings under an existing house, and when it came time to pour we were looking at the unpleasant task of moving a half yard of concrete in buckets while crawling on our bellies. We’d done this before, and were resigned to the inevitability of it all. But this time I saw a way to simplify the operation by using a 4-in by 14-in heater register installed in the floor about 3 ft from our pier excavation.
From below, my colleague untaped the galvanized boot that led to the register, and put a bucket under the opening. Up top, I taped a protective layer of cardboard to the floor near the register, and made a cardboard funnel to better direct the concrete through the opening as I shoveled it in. We worked the job with a pair of buckets I filled one while Gary emptied the other one. We finished in a jiffy, wiped the boot with a rag and taped the duct back in place.
—John Campbell, Santa Cruz, CA
Edited by Charles Miller
From Fine Homebuilding #71
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We just make a cart with caster wheels with two ropes. One guy mixes and puts on cart. Other guy pulls rope and pours. Once done. First guy pulls other rope and takes it back to fill.