Heat-pump Pad

September 12, 2021

This weekend I poured a pad for the heat-pump’s outside unit to sit on.

I used sand left-over from filling the electrical trench a couple years ago.

First I built a form out of 2x4s and iron stakes.

This is 100% more rebar than needed for this pad.

Then I added rebar, set on high-chairs. This was overkill, but we do have extreme winters and I really don’t want it to break apart.

We used four 80 lb. bags of concrete to fill the 36 in. x 36 in. x 3.5 in. slab.

We mixed each bag by hand in a wheelbarrow.

Given this was my first time finishing concrete, it came out very well.

I had to work out a lot of air bubbles, but was able to get it to settle and finish smooth.

It started raining about eight hours after pouring, but thankfully the top had firmed up enough by then.

I let it cure for a couple of days before removing the forms.

I may add more gravel later on, as this was the bare minimum to grade away from the sides.

Then I backfilled the sides with the displaced gravel.

The stand is secured using concrete anchors, ensuring the stand will stay put.

The stand fit great and bolted down very securely.

Thankfully this location isn’t visible from the house.

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