- Now we're onto the forming
process of our mow curb. We have one side of a form
set already, so let's do this. (hard rock guitars play) So we're going to use a string right here, and it's going to resemble
the top of the concrete form, which is also going to be the elevation of the concrete form. (voice echoing) Elevation. We are going on the inside of
our stakes all the way around. So we're going to treat
the inside of this stake, like the inside of the form. We got the string pulled tight. Now we're going to look down it. If anything, we want our concrete,
our mow curb concrete, just a little bit higher than the ground, so if it's a little bit
higher, that's fine. We don't want the ground, higher, and the concrete mow
curb down in the ground, because then it's just going to silt over, and your concrete's down here, and then your grass becomes up top again. And all it is is just a no
dig barrier for your dogs, but you still have to weed eat right next to your fence again. (audible booing) Again, find something
flat, preferably a level, but this is just what I have
right here and right now. See where your top of your
ground is hitting on that string. So right here, we're about
an inch and a quarter high. I would say that that's
going to be just fine. And on our next run, we do have
to have an elevation change. So we'll actually be
able to show you that. Since we already have this form set, this elevation, it has to stay the same, as far as this form. We want to make sure that those
two points match each other, and they're coming off
at the same elevation. (subscription bell rings) If you're going to do something like this, turn out to put a stake
right next to your hole so that you don't cave your
hole in for your fence post. And then too, you get
a nice solid foundation for your form stake. So I'm trying to hold the
form tight to the stake, so that way that string can move freely and I can see exactly what that string is doing to that form. Since we are in good ground, we want to go ahead and
drive 'em all the way so that they're flush, or just a little bit
below the top of the form. So that way, when we strip our forms, we can reuse these stakes. So we're just going to set the top of that form to that string. (drill motor spinning) If we're off, just a little bit, what we could do is we
could take our hammer, (hammer thumping the ground) and just kind of push that stake over just a little bit, packing the dirt against
the backside of that stake so that way it can't bounce back. (drill motor spins in bursts) We're going to use a wood stake
to join two forms together. (men breathing heavily) When all we're going to do here is we match these two forms up, is we're going to put one screw in and match those two points together. We're going to set one stake down here. As soon as we get that one stake set, then he'll put that other screw in. So then again, he's just going to go back through and then
put in a few filler stakes. If you could put a stake
about every three feet, I think that's plenty. But you know, that's how
much flex you could get, just on your concrete, if you don't put in some filler stakes. Put those stakes in and then
push on that board, and see if he can get some flex in between
that board and that string. And if you can't, I think you have adequate
amount of stakes in that. If you are going to go
thicker on your mow curb, say you're going to five and a half, definitely strength those
spaces down to about two feet, maybe two and a half feet. The more concrete you
have, the thicker it is, the more pressure you're going to have pushing on those forms,
trying to bow it out. The straighter is the
better it's going to look. (rock guitar anthem playing) Let's talk about this thing. It's a six inch T-25. Here's one that's just a two-inch and here's the one with the six inch. You have to have this one
so much closer to the dirt, that you get a whole bunch of dirt up in your motor and stuff. And this one, you don't have to have
nearly as close to the dirt. Make sure you watch out
for sprinkler heads. So since there's one right there, we're not going to go ahead and just drive a stake right there. But it's also a right against the hole. We don't want that either. So earlier we were talking about what if there is an elevation change? And there is an elevation
in change in this one. It's more like right here. When you're going to
have an elevation change, try to make it happen at a
post as much as possible. So that way your concrete and your fence, change elevations at the same point. And it doesn't have to
be very far in the ground because all we're going to do is we're going to put
a screw in that stake. We want our elevation to change. Let's call it center in this hole. And that just makes it so that now we can take this stake out. This is now holding our string down, so that we can go from this
point, up to our end point. And now we're going to get
set up for the inside form all the way around. Now that we're going
to run the inside form, we could drive a stake again right here, and then work around that
stake like we did right here, but we're going to try
something different. We're going to go ahead and
take some three inch screws. And we'll put these two
forms, on the inside here. Now we're at 12 inches, so
we're going to need two stakes. So what we're going to do is we're gonna use that level
to transfer from form to form, but before we're screwed off, what we want to do is we want to make sure that
we're 12 inches that way. We just assembled a 90
degree on the two forms. We're going to put a screw here, so that way we can attach our string. So what we did here is we took a stake, and we cut the point off of it, and we cut it to 12 inches long, because we don't want to sit there and measure every single gap. And it's easier to put something in there, and then hammer a stake to it. I can hold this, all at the same time, and push that direction. And then I'm going to use that
level, to set my elevation. I'm using the same stake right here to do my elevation change. (hard rock band playing) Before any concrete is poured, all disturbed soil has to come out. It's just not a good idea to pour concrete on top of anything that
has been disturbed, because then things can
start sinking, falling, and it's just not a good thing. I know we've already double
checked these like 10 times, but, we got to go again. All that loose dirt has
to come out of that hole because what's going to happen, that post is going to fall. All that loose soil that you disturbed with your ardor, that you were too lazy to take out? It's going to naturally compact over time causing that post to fall. We don't like flaws. Flaws are bad. And it is a good idea just to
leave a few odd piles onsite. So you don't have to bring dirt back in when you strip these forms out. You are going to create
that cavity from that form. You're going to want to use
your excess dirt to fill that back in, to make everything
look just, just awesome. A-okay. The next big step is concrete, and concrete comes tomorrow. So big day, big day. (rock instrumental playing) (flames crackling)
