Construction: Cement
The foundation of our house is made of cement that, in most cases is hand mixed by the team on their site. If you would like a slab pre-poured for you, please note that on your registration form.
How do we get cement (& Rebar)?
We have yet to find a “Materiales” (hardware) store that does not have cemento and for about the same price as everyone else. Currently the price is between $US 8.50 and 9.00 per 50 –60 kilo bag.
Take your pick up to the store (the closest one to the orphanage is about ¼ mile out the gate to the right on the right hand side directly across from the school; there are probably ones on the main roads closer to your site) and ask for the number of bags of cemento that you need. On average, teams use 17 bags per foundation but twenty is not uncommon. (Sites that dig deeper footings or make richer cement will use more.)
Take your pick up to the store (the closest one to the orphanage is about ¼ mile out the gate to the right on the right hand side directly across from the school; there are probably ones on the main roads closer to your site) and ask for the number of bags of cemento that you need. On average, teams use 17 bags per foundation but twenty is not uncommon. (Sites that dig deeper footings or make richer cement will use more.)
Delivering Cement to Build Sites
The F250 pick-ups handle 20 bags well. Try to place the main load over the axle and keep your speed down. The F150’s should take it slower and consider smaller loads.
Cement has a tendency to quickly walk away from sites where it is left overnight, so it is usually necessary to bring cement out on the morning it is needed.
You may want to send a crew out during breakfast to pick up and deliver 2 or three bags of cement to each site so that each team can start as soon as they arrive.
On hill sites or other difficult to access sites consider taking another team or two from other sites to help unload or “chain” all that sites cement at one time.
Cement has a tendency to quickly walk away from sites where it is left overnight, so it is usually necessary to bring cement out on the morning it is needed.
You may want to send a crew out during breakfast to pick up and deliver 2 or three bags of cement to each site so that each team can start as soon as they arrive.
On hill sites or other difficult to access sites consider taking another team or two from other sites to help unload or “chain” all that sites cement at one time.