The Rebar Adventure

Julie here this time. So we were ready to put the steel rebar in the trench for the footer to reinforce the concrete, but we had to bend it first. Eric looked up on the Internet how to do it. Here’s his explanation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gg7gUl7K0Eg

Then here’s the video of us doing it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyrliGrgntw

It was hard work, although fun making the video. We got four pieces bent. After awhile, we started making stupid mistakes because we were so tired. So we made up a new rule:

Rule 1: Always check to make sure you haven’t worked too long and gotten too tired. If you have, you will make bad decisions and/or could hurt yourself.

We decided to go home and finish the other four pieces later. Good thing we did, because after we went home and looked at the book we realized we had bent the rebar in the wrong place. This meant we would have to UN-bend it, and re-bend it correctly. Ack!!

Rule 2: Re-check your instructions before you start.

So unfortunately the next day we were both free to work it was blisteringly hot: 99°. Naturally we didn’t get started until the hottest part of the day. We unbent the four pieces and then bent all of them in the correct spot. Unbending was nearly impossible, so Eric came up with a brilliant idea. (We always come up with the brilliant ideas on the second try.) He bolted a pipe vise to a piece of wood, then drove his car over the piece of wood to hold it down. Way easier than me trying to hold it down by standing on it! It actually went really well, and was much easier using the vise. I could even do it myself:

My sister said "If you can bend steel rebar, I'd better not #*$! with you," which made the whole ordeal worthwhile. The bad part was that it was so unbelievably hot we nearly got heat stroke. We worked for an hour and a half, and then took a break for lunch, which was a good thing, because I was getting sick to my stomach. I mean, we took plenty of ice water in a cooler – some of which I poured down my back periodically, but you have to have food. After lunch we went back and finished. Yay! 16 pieces of rebar bent correctly, and placed in the trenches. Now we can pour the concrete!

P.S. You will notice I am wearing goggles. So was Eric. I read two things somewhere on the Internet: One, that steel rebar is made from low-grade steel, and therefore very brittle. They encouraged us to wear eye protection, so we did. The second thing it said was "Bending rebar is not for the faint of heart." I suppose that's true, but, you know, it really wasn't that difficult.