Screwed up a curb pour in Phoenix last Tuesday

I had a small residential curb job out in Mesa and figured it would be a quick half day thing. But I got the forms braced too wide at the top and didn't catch it until the concrete was already starting to set. By the time I tried to pull the edge with the tool, the curb face was bulging out like a beer belly. I ended up having to chip it all off the next morning and redo it from scratch. Cost me an extra $150 in material and a full day of work I didn't budget for. Has anyone else had forms shift on them like that and found a way to check it faster before the pour? I feel like I need a better system for double checking my bracing.

3 comments

3 Comments

laura_wright15d ago

...and you had to chip it all off in the Phoenix heat? That's a special kind of hell, I can feel that sunburn just reading this. I've had forms shift on me once but I caught it with a level and a string line right before the truck showed up, saved my bacon that day. For faster checks, I started using those cheap laser levels clamped to the forms - takes like 30 seconds to run the line and see if the bracing is holding straight.

olivia_harris1915d ago

Wait, are you clamping the laser level right to the metal forms or are you using a separate tripod thing for it? I've been thinking about trying that trick but I always worry the vibration from the pour is gonna knock it off or mess up the reading. That string line method you mentioned sounds solid though, especially if you catch it before the truck gets there. I had a buddy who used to just eyeball it with a 4-foot level but that ended badly when the forms bowed out in the middle. Seems like a quick laser check is way better than relying on luck or trying to fix it after the concrete starts setting.

zarar6715d ago

One buddy clamped his laser to the form and it fell right into the wet concrete.