On February 1^st, 2010 Ideal Homes started construction on an Extreme Makeover Home at 13650 east 120th St., roughly 12 miles south of Norman.  The builder, Ideal Homes, was tasked with completing the project in 106 hours, from grading the site, building a 2800 sq ft  home and installing landscaping. 

CEES graduate students Chris Davis, Mark Emde, Pat Crowder and David Frank helped Dr. Ramseyer refine the concrete mix used for this unusual project.  Due to the construction schedule the concrete was required to be able to make strength rapidly in 20 degrees Fahrenheit weather.  Typical portland cement concrete will not hydrate (i.e. become hard) at temperatures below 40 degrees Fahrenheit.  Also, this concrete mix was required to reach a minimum of 2500 psi within 6 hours to allow post-tensioning to occur.  Dr. Ramseyer's research team was able to develop a mix that would meet these requirements from an initial temperature of 50 - 60 degrees F.

Building a house in 106 hours would be a daunting task in the best of times.  But with record amounts of precipitation and snow coupled with a thaw at the end of January this task became vastly more difficult.  For instance, construction of a road into the construction site was originally estimated at 600 tons of rock.  Due to the site conditions, it's construction actually required almost 3000 tons of rock to make it moderately passable to the point a concrete truck only sank in up to the rims of the flotation tires.  This semi-organized sea of mud and muck was the site that our CEES students volunteered to help work in.

On Tuesday, February 2^nd, a team of OU CEES students left Fears Lab at 1:00 in the afternoon and joined the research team on the construction site.  The first Dolese Concrete truck arrived around 4:00 p.m. with a batch temperature of over 80 degrees.  The concrete was literally steaming as it was placed and finished.  At this temperature the concrete had less then fifteen minutes of workability.  Throughout the casting, the Dolese team, led by Gaylan Towle and the CEES team, led by Dr. Ramseyer, continued to adjust the mix to accommodate the temperature and workability requirements.   The OU-CEES students cast concrete cylinders to test at Fears Lab and placed all the thermal blankets on the foundation to help with the curing process.   The thermal blankets helped retain the heat of hydration and improved the rate of concrete hydration.  During the slow moments, Dr. Ramseyer held impromptu question and answer sessions with the students, helping to explain what they were witnessing.  The OU-CEES students returned to Fears Lab in good spirits at roughly 1:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning.

At 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning, Dr. Ramseyer and a group of volunteers returned to the construction site and removed the thermal blankets and test cylinders.  These were returned to Fears Lab.  By 6:30 am on Wednesday the foundation was at 1400 psi and framing could begin.  At the time of post tensioning, the concrete had achieved a strength of 4000 psi., well in excess of the 2500 psi minimum required, and by Sunday February 7^th the concrete had achieved a strength of approximately 7000 psi.

On Wednesday, February 3^rd, several CEES students returned to the site and assisted with the framing of the house.  This included working with the roof trusses and assisting Simpson Strong-Tie in using rock anchors to attach the frame to the foundation.

All in all, the OU-CEES students and Dr. Ramseyer were able to help the extreme makeover project in a small but very important way.  And, considering the number of questions asked during the trip, it was a beneficial educational experience for the students.  Both Fears Lab and Dr. Ramseyer are listed as sponsors on the Ideal Homes Extreme Build website.