Florida Igloo

[Les]

Re: Florida Igloo

"Generate the fires of hell" is one of the best quotes I've seen in the forum. LOL!

Hey, I think I own that one, but then again - I named my oven Diablo's Den...

[zeker]

Re: Florida Igloo

I know its old thread.. but I,m new.. this is a very inspirational thread.. ty for all the pix and your patience ..

[leemc]

Re: Florida Igloo

Hello again everyone!

It has been a loooong time since I posted any updates. I frankly kind of got 99% done with the oven and was so burned out, I had to take an extended break. Not long after my last post, I finished the landing and the top around the outside of the oven. I also did a pretty cool granite prep table next to the oven. I still need to do the tile band around the outside of the oven - and the main reason that isn't done is because I haven't found a tile I like yet. That will be another post though.

So I wanted to show you how I did my top and landing at the mouth of the oven. I will start by saying that I am not real satisfied with it. I did it with colored concrete but it did not come out as strong or smooth as I would have liked - even after attempting to densify and polish the top. If I had to do it all over again, I would probably just spend the money for granite.

My initial plan was to break the top up into 5 separate pieces and precast the each piece and set it into place. I experimented with concrete mix quite a bit until I got it the color and strength that I thought would work. I then made a masonite template which I cut to the size of the piece of top that I was making. I used that template to place my edge forms on another piece of masonite. The idea behind this was that the face of the masonite is pretty slick and I would oil this real well and cast it face down - that way I would theoretically have a very smooth top without having to be an expert concrete finisher - which I'm not. That turned out to be a massive pain. When I went to install it, it was a nightmare fitting it flush to the round face of the brick. I ended up having to saw out a recess in the brick to get it to fit well. After that experience, I decided to cast the three side and back pieces in place and finish them as well as I could figuring these were not going to be as visible as the landing. For the landing I went ahead and did a precast piece as you can see in the pictures.

I reinforced all the pieces with some light gage metal fabric as you can see in one of the pictures. The pieces were only 2-1/4? thick so they would flush out with the oven floor so I didn?t want to use anything really heavy. This is causing a failure in my landing. I will take some pictures and post how the pieces look today (about 4 years later).

[leemc]

Re: Florida Igloo

Here is what the top looks like today. As you can see, I'm getting cracking in the center of the landing piece. You can also see how rough the surface came out. When I made the mix, I tried to reduce the water cement ratio as much as I possible. But I wanted a really high slump mix to avoid any air pockets. I even bought a gallon of plasticizer admixture from the local ready-mix plan so I could keep the slump high and keep the water cement ratio low. I must have still not had enough cement in the mix though.

[Toomulla]

Re: Florida Igloo

The horizontal crack looks like a cold joint from when you poured. If you support it with some temporary props you could inject some epoxy

[leemc]

Re: Florida Igloo

It definitely wasn't a cold joint. I poured it all in one piece. I think the mesh I used was too small with regard to the spacing of the wire. It just gave a spot for the concrete to crack.

[leemc]

Re: Florida Igloo

Here is the last thing I did before calling it quits for a while. I built this very functional prep table that you see here. I got the home plate shaped piece of granite - which is about three inches thick - at an architectural salvage store near here. This was marble that they salvaged from the old Orlando City Hall building that was imploded back in 1991 (you can watch the implosion at the beginning of the movie Lethal Weapon 3 if you're interested). I Bought it for $75.

I started by poured a pretty good size footing - probably 3'x3'x1'. I wanted to oversize the foundation because I wanted zero movement of this pedestal table once I was done. I poured the foundation with 2 #5 dowels in it and dry stacked CMU up to a comfortable elevation for working pizzas. I drilled two holes into the bottom of the granite and epoxied in two pretty good size pieces of all-thread rod. I then threaded a nut, fender washer and toggle anchor (the kind for hanging stuff on a flimsy drywall wall) onto the other end of the all-thread. The idea I had was to fill the cells of the block with concrete then immediately wet stick the top with the all-thread and toggles onto the top of the block. The combination of the all-thread, fender washers, and toggle anchors would make it pretty close to impossible to pull out once the concrete set. I also put a pretty good bead of epoxy on the top of the top block that would mate to the granite - just for good measure. And unfortunately I did not get any pictures of this - sorry.

But move it does not! I haven't tried to tempt fate and jump up and down on the edge of the granite top to see if it will move, but I have no doubt that it wouldn't budge. I will also tell you that it's highly functional. I just bring out my dough and flour and work it right there (after cleaning it really good of course) and it keeps the mess out of the kitchen. After I'm done, I can just hit it with a hose to clean it off. If I had it to do over again I might make it just a shade bigger but it still works fantastic.

I went around and around on how to finish the block on the bottom and finally settled on wrapping it in copper sheets. We have a place here in Winter Park called Skycraft, that salvages, or somehow gets a hold of, all kinds of stuff from odd metals, to oscilloscopes, hard to find old electronic equipment etc. - I can't even explain how cool that place is. Anyway I bought the sheets of copper there. You can buy it on the internet also but it is a little more expensive. I basically used liquid nail and clamped the sheets in place. I figure it will eventually patina to a really nice green but it's not there yet. I planted some fig ivy at the bottom thinking it would climb up the stand, but those plants refuse to climb up the copper. I need to dig them out and put something else in their place.

The last improvement I did was put a sweet bottle opener on it. Because beer.

So the final thing I have left to finish is the tile band around the outer dome. As you can see in the pictures, I recessed a 1/2" deep by about a 6" wide band of brick to receive this tile. I just haven't found a tile I like that fits this area exactly. What I would like is a Mexican type tile with a blue glaze - but haven't found it in the size that I need. I have a friend that has an art studio with a kiln, and I don't need very many tiles, so I am seriously thinking about just casting the tile myself by hand. If and when I do that, I will post about how it all goes.

Thanks guys - you've all been a great help. I hope my experience helps some of you with your build. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.

Lee

[1812]

Re: Florida Igloo

Have read you thread with great interest and love the finished product. We are just getting started, and are in Longwood. Would you mind sharing information on your supply sources firebrick/vermiculite and particularly the architectural salvage place you mention?

Thanks very much

[leemc]

Re: Florida Igloo

Yes - Fire brick and fire clay from Rinker which is now Cemex, old Chicago brick from Harwood brick in Longwood (now Oldcastle), and perlite from Blodgett's nursery which is on Edgewater. The salvage yard is Florida Victorian Antiques up in Deland. They probably still have some of that granite. Pretty much everything else came from Lowes or Home Depot.

Make sure you post pictures of your build. I would love to see it. You will get a lot of help (at least in the form of advice) from a lot of folks here. Check out my videos that I put up in the video's section. I still have to put part three together which I will soon.

Thanks!

[1812]

Re: Florida Igloo

Thanks, that is great. Sorry it has taken a while to reply, "stuff" going on, being out of town, car getting rear ended at a traffic light...so progress has been slow. Only have a couple of pics so far, and only of the start of the stand so far, but hope to get the stand finished this weekend, and then get started on the rest. We like what you did with the sand as a support for the brick, but as we ( this is a family endeavor!) have limited masonry skills, we will search the forums for plans for an easy to build "indispensable tool"