Little progress this weekend thanks to having quite a few things to do on Saturday and coaching at a swimming meet on Sunday. I did however manage to drill holes (in both ends) of the lower blocks for each pier:
I’ve labelled them so I know where they belong once I make up the jigs for placing the threaded rod in the foundations, just in case the holes wandered a bit and they aren’t completely identical.
I started with a 5mm pilot hole and opened it up to the required size afterwards. Initially I just used my corded hammer drill in “non-hammer” mode, but there was a casualty:
Having no more 5mm standard masonry drills that I felt like breaking, I moved to the SDS drill with the hammer mode turned off. That worked nicely and my SDS drill bits remain unscathed.
This evening I took the shuttering off the pads in the middle of the long sides of the floor and sorted through what I need so I can re-use it for the three pier foundations. I’d really like to pour all three in one hit if I can, so I’m hoping I can get the new shuttering made up and in place and the jigs and threaded rod for fastening down the lower blocks sorted for Saturday morning.