42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

[dvm]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

AT
I enjoy the exchange of ideas on these forums very much. Almost every thing I have done on my build I saw somewhere else (not that my execution is always on par with others). I am glad to share my results good or bad so other people can learn.

[dvm]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

Getting ready to pour my landing counter, fireplace hearth, and adjacent seating. I measured my (black) pigment into 80# sac allotments. And I wore gloves .... Thank You Russell!
I plan to put the finishing touches on the forms / re-bar tomorrow - and lug 25 80# sacs of quikrete shrink resistant cement to the back yard in prep for a pour next Saturday.

I have 3/4 inch red stones, Green glass (home smashed) and about 8 pound of (purchased) round blue glass beads for highlights to put into the top layer of the pour.

I plan to grind (diamond wheel) then polish with a wet grinder - I read that one should remove the forms and start grinding within a few days of the pour.... why not wait a couple of weeks for the concrete to have some strength and than start grinding?

[dvm]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

With the help of my wife and 2 younger kids, (my oldest is away at school) we poured 25, 80 pounds sacks of quikrete yesterday into the forms for the pizza oven landing the fireplace hearth and an adjacent seating area. The best part of the day for me was that my my children showed up with a good attitude ready to do some hard work. Their job was to add the colored rock and glass. Once it is really cured, I will grind it to expose the glass in rocks that we working into the surface. I'm not sure what it will look like but I am confident my kids will always remember the this project and the time we spent working on it together.

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

DVM,

Once you start to polish you will get a better feel for the glass. Mine concrete pour looked questionalble until I start polishing then it was 100 times better looking.

[deejayoh]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

My $0.02 is that you won't need to use the diamond wheel, only the polishing pads. I think you can do more damage than good with the grinding wheel. Too easy to get deep into the concrete. I think I started with either 50 or 100 grit, and that took off more than enough to get it smooth. I went all the way to 1500 because that's what came in the kit I ordered. BTW - you can get polishing pads as cheap as $30 off of AMZN.

My other tip is that there will be bug holes, but it's amazing how easily they are fixed with slurry. Remember to add stain to the slurry so that it matches.

[dvm]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

Deejayoh
Thanks for the tip on the grinder vs the polishing pads. I bought a a variable speed, wet grinder with 50 through 3000 grit pads and a 3/4 inch bull-nose grinding bit for the edges. I have about 50 sq feet of surface to finish. I will start with the 50 grit and see how it goes.. If I end up trying the diamond grinder I will use a light touch. I am hoping to have a finish which approximates (or at least does not clash) with granite counter (seen in the photo with the bonding agent).
Do you think that I could make my slurry to fill bug holes with cement, pigment and this bonding agent in place of water (and work fast)?
You can see from the photo we worked a fair amount of colored material into the cement.

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

DVM.

I used the same bonding agent when I made my slurry for the bug holes. I placed my slurry (cement, pigment, colorant) in after the 400 grit polish (I think). I used a cheap disposable plastic scrapper to work the slurry in. But I did let it sit for a few days before I polished. I did this twice.

[deejayoh]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

I used a latex bonding agent as the liquid as well. I can't remember if I used straight portland or concrete. I think it was the former. My observation was that color doesn't need to be exact - just close. The concrete has enough variability that you don't notice.

I am looking forward to seeing how this turns out!

[dvm]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

I removed the forms from the hearth, landing and seating pours Sat am. I had significant gaps around the 3/4 inch decorative stone which I had placed along the front edge of the form prior to the pour. I applied the the cement bonding agent then an application of S type mortar (mixed with pigment and 25% bonding agent 25% water). I plan to start on the top next weekend.

As that cures, I have turned my attention to making the veneer stones for the non-stuccoed parts of the project. I made a vibrating table from a retired electric lawnmower with an un-balanced washer on the shaft, and an unused metal stand. Springs to make the table "float" from HD.

I am using a S-type mortar with various pigments for the veneer stones. I can turn therm out of the forms in 24 hours then repeat. I need about 100 sq feet - several more batches to go.

[deejayoh]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

Very clever on the veneer stones and vibrating table!

[dvm]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

Today was a good day to start grinding the landing/hearth/seating area. The cement was poured 2 weeks ago. I removed to forms and Filled the gaps along the edges last weekend. Today I started with the wet polisher. The 50 grit was not exposing the amount of aggregate that I wanted to see - So I took about 3/16 to 1/4 inch off with the diamond wheel. Lots of water and mess - I see why this is not done indoors. Fortunately it was about 80 degrees here today.
The photo is after the diamond wheel - I continued on to 400 grit then stopped for the day. I will fill the bug holes tomorrow and grind / polish more next weekend.

[V-wiz]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

That looks really nice

[dvm]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

thank you. It's slow but at least it's progress.

[Gulf]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

Today was a good day to start grinding the landing/hearth/seating area. The cement was poured 2 weeks ago. I removed to forms and Filled the gaps along the edges last weekend. Today I started with the wet polisher. The 50 grit was not exposing the amount of aggregate that I wanted to see - So I took about 3/16 to 1/4 inch off with the diamond wheel. Lots of water and mess - I see why this is not done indoors. Fortunately it was about 80 degrees here today.
The photo is after the diamond wheel - I continued on to 400 grit then stopped for the day. I will fill the bug holes tomorrow and grind / polish more next weekend.
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DVM,
It is looking great! I will have to admit I, like Deejayoh, had reservations about that diamond grinding wheel. Looks like it did a great first pass. I'm watching with great interest. keep us posted .

[dvm]

Re: 42" FB Pompeii Oven with 19" dome, and adjacent fireplace, in the O.C.

I was sad to hear bout Russell's counter tops. As it Rarely freezes here I think (hope) that my poured, glass embedded counters will age well.
I did learn an important (embarrassing) lesson that I will share so that other might not do the same.
I expected that Cement which had cured (for 2 weeks) would be chemically inert (no reason to think this other than it looks inert). I am here to tell you that the slurry released by grinding is caustic to skin. It was a nice warm day - seemed like no big deal to wear sandals while grinding - lots of water everywhere rinsing the counters, rinsing the patio, rinsing me......

This is the top of my ankle where my jeans and cement grindings came together. Don't do this.