Saturday's Knock-Out Bond Beam Blocks

Our friend James came down to the farm to help us. We talked and laughed. And our third day saw another 55 blocks in place, a new type, knock-out bond beams.

Behold the brilliance. The rebar provides vertical support, and we will put grout (cement, sand, peastone) into each cell with rebar.

But for horizontal support, we have bond beams. These are concrete blocks that come from the manufacturer almost like normal blocks, but with some slits in the sides. Isaiah took a sledgehammer and knocked out the knock-out pieces.

These, lined up end to end, create a pre-made form work. With rebar inside, we'll pour grout into the space.

So for installation, we began with plastic mesh. This prevents the grout from falling into the lower level, reducing the grout we need. Of course, we needed to cut out little squares where the rebar poked through, as we do want grout into those cells.

Mesh first, then the 55 blocks, enough to do both shorter ends and more than half of one of the longer ones.