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July 3, 2003
42 bags of Quickrete (non-fast setting) concrete delivered.
I calculate 32 bags will be needed for foundation slab, but
haul 35 down to the site just to be sure.
July 4, 2003
6:30am - 8:45am
Melanie and I mix and pour foundation slab. Concrete is mixed
by hand in a wheelbarrow. Instructions call for 3/4 of
a gallon per bag, not to exceed 1 1/4 gallon per bag.
3/4 seems too dry, so we start using about a gallon per
bag.
Rebar is tied together ahead of time, and mesh is secured to
rebar ahead of time. When 16 bags of concrete have
been mixed, we put the rebar and mesh in. Doesn't seem
to need to be supported by stones, but inner ring is.
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July 12, 2003 Looks like I might have over-troweled the top, as there is dusting. I put a coat of concrete sealant on. This coming week I will order cinder blocks and firebrick. #17
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Week of July 12, 2003 Get specs for what is sold as fireclay. Looks like it will work. Ordered 60 cinder blocks, 16 pavers, 50 red brick, 225 firebrick, fireclay, sand, mortar. Week of July 19, 2003 Brick, etc. delivered. July 26, 2003 Put down 1 and a half rows of cinder blocks with the help of my sister-in-law's husband. 22a:
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July 27, 2003 ... almost there #22e
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Aug 9, 2003 Finished up the third row of cinder blocks, cutting lath strips to provide a base for the concrete that will go into the voids in the top row. #23
Aug 10, 2003 Finish putting down cinder blocks. Top of third row get a row of rebar and a layer of lath. Top row is filled with concrete (4 bags, if I recall?) #24
Aug 23, 2003 Cut the wood for the hearth form/platform. Compensated for being a slight amount off-level by making one side about 1/4" taller than the other. Aug 24, 2003 Set up wood form for vermiculite layer, press fitting rather than using screws/nails. Plywood base itself doesn't run exactly to to sides, but rests on a frame. That prevents vermiculite/cement mixture from running down the sides. Set plastic down on plywood, then 6x6 steel mesh. About every foot, one of the wires was clipped, bent up in a random direction, and then turned to a hook at the end. Also checked to make sure that none would end up above the top of the concrete. Chisled out notches for the front-to-back rebar. Laid out 5/8" rebard and wire-tied them together Made the ash slot form 12" wide and the rebar at this point 14" apart. At the other end, the rebar is just under 12" apart. Used a carbide masonry blade (which is basically a wire embedded with carbide) on a hack saw. Along with a masonry chisel it worked like a charm. Made hearth form. Used masking tape under rebar to prevent concrete from running out of the slots for the rebar. Vermiculite layer and hearth get poured. Used about 3/4 of a 6' bag of vermiculite and about the same proportion of Portland cement. Mixed it until it was wet but not soupy. Hearth needed 9 bags of standard concrete, about 1.25 gallons of water per bag to be workable, and some much-appreciated help from a neighbor. #25
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This is my neighbor, Mark, who - unbeknownst to him at this moment - is about to learn more
than he ever thought he'd want to know about mixing and pouring concrete. Actually, he got
quite a kick out of it...
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Aug 30, 2003 Took hearth form off. Needed to break it out as some of the spacers had swelled or broke off (note : don't use wood. If need to, make sure grain is running along the length of the wedge not the width.) Also, some of the screed concrete had gotten down between the wood form and the cinder blocks, making for a too-tight fit. (Yup, this is me, looking ready for a tryout with the "Village People"...) 50:
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Took the underside form out next (wanted the hearth form off first so that there was no chance it could get wedged in if - for some bizarre reason - the whole thing decided to sag!). As all the supports had been press-fit, they knocked out fairly easily. The most difficult two were those in the center. Here, it would have helped to shape the bottoms to a point. There were no problems once the form came out - the vermiculite held, despite it appearing like some spots could have been better mixed. All in all, it looks okay. #54
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Aug 31, 2003
Did a partial mock up of oven. Need another 40 or so firebricks.
Red bricks are too red, so I'll get different ones along with the
firebricks. Can use these elsewhere anyway ...
A question comes to mind though : is the space that is left enough for
the cladding? (It's about 2.5") Keeping in mind that firebricks
are wider than standard red brick (longer, as well), I think that
I'll have enough mass.
Inside dimensions look like they'll be about 32.5" wide and 40" deep.
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September 7, 2003
Fireclay mortar is spread on the hearth ...
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Place-holder for the hearth surface thermocouple. Note : don't inadvertently try to drill a hole through the rebar!
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Hearth is down. Now the real layout begins ...
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The wall are now mortared together, but before it can set, it starts to rain...
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September 14, 2003
Test fitting the template ... The wedges allow for it to be removed after each arch is set up. The form of the template is basically an ellipse. In other words, the top is not flat and there is an odd integer number of bricks used, so that there is a center keystone.
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September 30, 2003
Starting to mortar this puppy up ...
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I used masking tape to provide a temporary form for mortaring the large joints around the walls...
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While everything seemed to be going okay, the problem at this point was the fireclay mortar. It didn't really seem to be setting up like the mixture did that was used on the walls. Nevertheless, here are pictures of that arch.
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I thought the difference might be due to the fact that I had now dry-mixed a large (100+ lb) batch, whereas before the amount had been relatively small. As a result, the proportions might have favored more sand than cement.
As a check, I weighed out one quart of sand, cement and fireclay and found the ratio to be roughly 4:3:4. So while I was mixing out 10, 3 and 1.5 "quarts" of dry ingredients, by weight I was using too little cement. I ripped this arch down, added an extra quart or two of cement and an extra quart of fireclay to the existing mix, and started all over again. Things went much better!
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October 1, 2003
Yippee!! The arch holds. After I took this picture, I stacked a half-dozen bricks, one on top of the other, over the center brick. It held.
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The second arch is done ...
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The third arch is done. Do a mock up of the lintel and chimney supports.
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Saturday, October 4, 2003
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Sunday, October 5, 2003 #158
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164: My neighbor's son, Andrew. Way to go!
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What appears to be a successful stress test : 170:
The last time a live bird gets this close to the hearth of the oven : #171
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Monday, October 20, 2003 The cladding is poured! 177:
Mocking up what the support structure for the chimney will be. The flue liner is 8" (inside diameter; 9 3/4" outside diameter) by 24". That puts the smoke comfortably above my head when I'm standing at the oven. For what it's worth, the flue liner cost about $9 at a local lumber and building materials supply yard. (It did take some calling around to find someone both stocking them and open on a Saturday.)
The front edge of the flue liner is resting on a piece of spare rebar. I was really puzzling over how to support this without having to build or pour another arch. Then I spied the rebar sitting in the garage and it all fell into place. At least that's the game plan at the moment...
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Sunday, November 2, 2003 #181
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Sunday, November 9,2003 Form for the back of the facade. Fireclay here seals up the throat of the chimney, provides a mortar backing for the top of the facade arch, and protects the rebar. #199
The keystone ... #200
Putting the final brick in place! 201:
Finished facade arch ... 202:
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Sunday, November 16, 2003 Okay, the PVC was a bad idea. Each time a hole was drilled to insert a spacer (to maintain a 6" distance from the cladding), the PVC snapped. So I decided to go with a conduit skeleton, pipe flanges, "TapCon" screws, sheet metal screws and aluminum braces. Not the cheapest alternative (and if I was willing to spend a month or two scrounging around I could have probably gotten similar pieces for free). But the point is to get the darn thing done ... For anyone curious : 5 ten foot lengths of 1/2" metal conduit were bought at Home Depot. A conduit bender was also bought (~$30), since I didn't know anyone who owned one. After much fiddling, drinking of beer and scratching, 4 45-degree bends were put in the conduit - two beginning about 31 inches from each end and then another two about 10 inches closer to the center. Finally, a roughly 10+ degree bend was put in the center. This was to provide some tension, as well as a peak for the dome ridge. Plumbing flanges were anchored to the concrete, spaced about 9 and 1/2 inches apart. Two were also placed on the back part of the oven. Each arch template was placed in its respective position. Then I "eyeballed" how much they each needed to be trimmed down to give a rough rounded profile. (I'm figuring that all this will get smoothed out once the lath is attached and the stucco is applied ...) After this, thin strips of aluminum were screwed on to provide some support. And to all of this, metal window screen was screwed. This will keep the loose insulation in place, as metal lath has holes that are too large. At least that's the game plan at the moment ... 218:
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Saturday/Sunday, November 22/23, 2003 Today the insulation was poured in. Because of the time of year, it was tough to find coarse vermiculite. I ended up buying all the vermiculte (fine and medium) and perlite that a local Agway had. The fine vermiculite went in first, as we figured that the top and sides needed the most "dead air". The perlite went in next and then the coarse vermiculite. Over this went metal lath, screwed and tied together in such a way as to maintain (as much as possible) the rounded shape that was the goal in the first place. (Not pictured below. Also not shown is a change I later made to where the metal meets the front facade.) Also, a form was made for the chimney and the remaining extra concrete I had on hand was poured in. The only purpose of this is to provide a surface for the "Quickwall" finish. Anything that could stand the heat of the flue could have been used - I just happened to have this on hand. (Not pictured below) In the evening, the first two pizzas were made, after having gotten the bricks up to a bit over 1000F during the day. These suckers cooked fast and came out a bit well done, but they were quite satisfying. The next morning at 7:30 even without a door the bricks were reading 280F. All that remains now is to finish attaching the last piece of lath, shape the front of the facade and apply the exterior coat. A door, a meter and a bit of landscaping and that should FINALLY finish this project. 230:
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November 27, 2004 Chimney structure is poured around the flue and dome sub-structure is almost ready for the final weatherproofing coat of masonry/stucco. 239:
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