Finishing pouring the concrete piers

So the next time we had availability to work on the footings was two days later right after work. I decided to try and save a trip to the tool rental place and attempt to mix the cement by hand, in a plastic cement tub. Surprisingly, although that was harder work than using a cement mixer, it did go a lot faster. We pretty much had mixed and filled 3 tubes in about an hour. Much more meaningful exercise too than going to a health club :) Using the mixer, it took us half a day for 6 tubes. Afterwards, we went to return excess materials and to exchange the 4 x 4 Simpson post anchors for the 6 x 6 size. To my surprise, though the 4 x 4 ones were spendy for a little piece of cheap metal at almost $8 per bracket, the 6 x 6 ones ran at $20 each + tax. I would have been close to $200 on brackets alone! And remember too, we'll still need brackets that connect the posts to the skids. That was more than I wanted to pay, so I went online. There were a few places that sold the brackets cheaper. I chose an Amazon seller with good reviews. All and all, I ended up spending $135 for 10 brackets (one extra as they’re sold in 10 packs) shipped. They should come in a week, which is convenient for me as I need a week for my concrete to fully cure :) 

Finally finished pouring the footings. The leftover mockup of the sauna is now only there to protect from my kids getting in to the wet cement :)

Now, hopefully the next step of building the floor should be a little more interesting and rewarding.