Now it’s time to pour the concrete. For this job we’re using a line pump—it’s more cost-effective than bringing in a boom pump, and it saves us the hassle of dragging around heavy hoses. The mix we’re using is a 6-sack, 60/40 blend with pea gravel and fly ash. We’ve had this mix tested, and it consistently comes out much stronger than the minimum specs require. To place and level the concrete, we rely on aluminum concrete rakes, which make the work easier and keep us from having to bend over while rodding off the tops of the footings. I usually rough it in, Kyle fine-tunes the level, and then a couple of guys float the surface smooth. That finish gives us a clean, even base so we can snap lines and set clips without issue. Once the footings are stripped, we take the time to scrape down the form boards and sort them by length. Keeping everything organized means we can reuse those boards efficiently during the framing stage, cutting down on waste and saving money.