After WEEKS of rain delays, we finally have footers poured!! May was an extremely rainy month, and we had several weeks of delays, but FINALLY, we were able to get our footers poured!
Multiple phases
This wasn’t all done in one day. Over the course of about three weeks, the crew dug trenches, installed rebar and bolts, and poured concrete.
Bible Placement
The night before the first pour, on June 11, I invited my family and our early elders, John Crawford and Steve Marks, to place a Bible on the north footer. My dad chose one of his Bibles to place here as the real foundation to our new building. We read a Psalm and prayed together there. It was a really special moment.
South footers
On the night before we poured the south footer, June 19, I invited our staff and current elders to join me in placing a Bible and praying together.
The Bible we placed in the south footer was the one I used when we started The Orchard. It was my first print ESV Bible. I used it to preach from in the movie theater and at the Ellijay Elementary School. Again, we read a few verses and prayed together.
The concrete footers are 18″ thick, reinforced with steel rebar and rated at 3000PSI. The piers range from 3′ to 8′ deep, depending on location.
Here is a very short video of the very first concrete to hit the ground. You’ll see them pour one of the piers near the middle of the building.
Getting Ready To Pour Slab
This concrete needs a few weeks to cure before the concrete slab can be poured over the footers and the piers. That should happen in the next few of weeks or so. (target date is July 22.) Meanwhile, the crews are finishing up the under-slab plumbing and electrical conduits. Steel to start going up in August!
Check up on it!
You can always access our job site webcam… Not exactly “live,” but updated every 15 minutes or so. It is on the VISION page of our website right here.