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AG, you okay?????

eclark53520

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I'll bite... why were you in a tree during 50mph gusts?

Hunting...I thought it was implied

I don't hide from MC. I wipe it on his face towel, smack his wife on the ass, grab a beer from the fridge, and walk out the front door. He says "thanks for coming"

BA-DA-TISH!

I already know he's going to edit this post....so catch it while you can!
 
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limpalong

limpalong

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AG can confirm, my town has been hit by tornadoes twice in the last 5 years!
Glad your okay!

Haubstadt not Bloomington!
What the heck did you do to AG??? You say your home town was hit twice by tornadoes in the past 5 years. AG, then, "likes" that post!!??!!?? Have you been "visiting" AG's wife while he's at work?? :D
 

anonymous golfaholic

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What the heck did you do to AG??? You say your home town was hit twice by tornadoes in the past 5 years. AG, then, "likes" that post!!??!!?? Have you been "visiting" AG's wife while he's at work?? :D
Just confirming what he said. I'm only about an hour and a half from him.
 

TheTrueReview

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Unbelievable ...

Two questions. Is there a recognised "tornado alley" in the US? If so, why the feck does anyone live there?
 

TrickyPutt

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We have one northwest of Birmingham. Low property values. The Jones Valley. Pleasant Grove and Hueytown. I learned an ugly phrase recently when the weatherman described " Debris Plumes" on the tv radar. The 'nadoes were super F5s and were removing much material from the face of the earth and throwing up huge amounts of chop the radar could see like bombs going off. My brother had stuff in his yard from the Tuscallosa F5 and he lives an hour away. That process of getting things back to the original owners went on a while, and there was unfortunately a number of deaths.
 
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limpalong

limpalong

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Unbelievable ...

Two questions. Is there a recognised "tornado alley" in the US? If so, why the feck does anyone live there?
As with many things we blame on Mother Nature, the "alley" has become substantially wider. When I was growing up... and tornadoes were in their infancy :>)... Northern Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas was the geographical area tagged as "Tornado Alley". Other areas of the Country seldom saw them. That was why the 'Wizard of Oz' movie was set in Kansas. Dorothy and Toto were whisked up by a tornado and transported to the Land of Oz. Back then, wouldn't have happened in Alabama, Arkansas, Minnesota, etc.
We still see some extremely deadly tornadoes here in Kansas. Much damage has been inflicted over the past few years. Oklahoma City area has been hit recently. A town in Oklahoma that was hit hard this past summer had just rebuilt from a similar tornado like 4 years ago. Joplin, MO would have, some years ago, been on the very east fringes of Tornado Alley. It was nearly wiped off the map. Minnesota has seen twisters during the past few years. Illinois was hit a couple weeks ago. Louisiana and Alabama have endured loss of lives and property damage from some violent tornados.
I supposed one could move to the West Coast and escape the threat of tornadoes. There, you have to put up with earthquakes. The East Coast can see hurricanes. While the kids lived in D.C., they saw tornado warnings... hurricane warnings... and even the threat of a minor earthquake. Florida has hurricanes and the highest STD rate in the Country. (Can we also blame that on Mother Nature?)
What it boils down to is the weather can bring devestating storms... anywhere. Today's technology isn't perfect, but does a fairly good job warning those in the path of such storms. I just heard, recently, the deadliest storm issue in the U.S. is traffic deaths during adverse weather. They said more people die each year from traffic accidents during snow and ice storms that die in tornadoes. When it's your time... it's your time!!!!
 

nututhugame

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An unknown aspect of Alabama living is the fatalistic viewpoints that people here develope over time toward 'Nadoes. Its almost a "its their time" outlook. People are rabid weather watchers.

I have had a lot of tornado shelter installers in my store with their new boats and trucks.

The next land improvements I am involved in will have a lower or sub grade story level that is built of steel reinforced concrete. They make foam forms you drop your rebar into and pour. And mine will actually use steel mesh, like expanded metal if its above grade.
All basements that I know of are made of concrete and all concrete I know of is steel reinforced (really, it has to be). I am familiar with the foam forms (ICF's), so long as you're careful with the rate of placement (pour) they're a decent product. The major benefits being that there is virtually no stripping except whatever plywood you use in areas where you're not comfortable with just the foam forms and the fact that the insulating is already done. Just backfill right up to it. When you're talking walls there is no need for mesh, just more rebar if you are trying to build "extra strong". See also the wartime fortresses the Germans built... 12' thick walls that were 95% rebar. The French tried to blow them up repeatedly and unsuccessfully. Literally bomb proof. The only mesh i've used in walls is this stuff called stayform that we'll use for shutoffs (where you want a pour to stop for a pocket or something...). I'm not real sure what expanded metal is either. I've done a bit of concrete and have never heard that term. Perhaps up here what you're talking about goes by a different name.
 

nututhugame

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Unbelievable ...

Two questions. Is there a recognised "tornado alley" in the US? If so, why the feck does anyone live there?
What is referred to as tornado alley is kind of vast for nobody to live there. The better question is why the feck is concrete home construction not more prominant in this area? It's really not that hard and I can't say for sure, but it can't be that much more expensive.
 
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limpalong

limpalong

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Yep, don't know why a person would use expanded metal. I've probably placed somewhere in the area of 200,000 CY of concrete, over the years. Expanded metal will not have large enough spacing to allow the full concrete mix to flow. It would serve as a "strainer", allowing only the cement and sand through. The aggregate would be "trapped" on one side of the expanded metal. You would have no strength close to the expanded metal.

Lots of concrete paving and/or slabs on grade use paving mesh. Paving mesh is sort of like extremely heavy fence. I've never seen it used in walls. It would be almost impossible to keep it perfectly vertical. If you get any sag, you would lose significant strength. The ONLY way to place concrete walls is with reinforcing steel... rebar. An engineer should do the calcs to see just how much steel is required for the walls. I've seen some above-ground walls with #4 bars on 12" centers. I've placed concrete up to 50 FT in the ground, with 24" thick walls. Those will have #7 or #8 bars on 6" centers. You can get too much steel in a wall. The concrete has to flow around the steel and have its own mass thick enough to retain strength.

One of the main areas where homebuilder installed concrete fails is that they add too much water. Contractors will tell you concrete does two things... It gets hard and it cracks. That's B.S. !!!! I can take you to a number of water treatment plants where I have deep water basins and the concrete walls don't leak... or crack. I have parking lots where tractor-trailers unload and they are not cracked. Concrete slump needs to be kept at a maximum of 3". No water should be added on site. Any increase in slump should be done on site with super-plasticizer. If you place concrete too wet... with too much water... that water hydrates out. The concrete will shrink as the water evaporates and that's where you get cracks. Super "P" allows you to add ounces to increase slump instead of gallons of water. A lot of contractors hate working with low slump concrete. They have become accustomed to being allowed to place it almost to where it seeks its own level. And they wonder why basement walls and floors crack!!!

I've had one concrete vibrator thrown at me and have ducked two nail hammers. I've been cursed and called every name in the book. One one project, about 5 years ago, I rejected over 300 CY of concrete. Don't think that didn't get someone's attention. I love concrete and what it will do... if placed properly!!!
 

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