36" in Seattle

[kebwi]

Re: 36" in Seattle

Big day!!! Woo hoo!!!

Continued in next post...

[kebwi]

Re: 36" in Seattle

Continuation of previous post.

[vintagemx0]

Re: 36" in Seattle

That's great! I bet you're your relieved to have that milestone behind you. I remember preparing our site and pouring the slab to be one of the most brutal parts of our project. No stopping you now!

Ken Morgan

[kebwi]

Re: 36" in Seattle

Since this thread is the official record of my build, I will briefly reference another thread I posted last night in which I expressed some concern about my resultant foundation:

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f28/...tion-8120.html

Bottom line, I think I made the concrete a tad bit on the dry side...and if one were interested in aesthetics (I'm not w.r.t. the foundation since it will all be covered eventually anyway), floating it probably would have helped. I didn't float it because I couldn't imagine what floating would do...which in turn resulted from the dry texture I got in the first place: I just couldn't see how swirling a little toy plank around that dry crud would have done anything. If it had been wetter to begin with, it would have both reduced surface crumbling and motivated me to float by permitting me to believe such an endeavor could have a tangible effect.

So, I'm keeping the surface constantly misted and covered by plastic for several days. I think it'll be okay, if perhaps a bit gritty and ugly as all heck.

Lessons that will be applied to the wall cores and the hearth.

<Sigh>

[kebwi]

Re: 36&quot; in Seattle

250 medium grade fire bricks, purportedly 8lbs according to the place I got them (I-XL Masonry in Bellevue WA), but I haven't weighed them myself. 159 in my friend's truck, 91 in my Forester (which is 200 lbs lighter than the concrete I ferried home in my Forester).

Nobody cares about this but me, but they're just so pretty.

Cheers!

[vintagemx0]

Re: 36&quot; in Seattle

Gauging just how many bricks you need is hard. We decided to start with 200, and ended-up with about 12 full bricks left over (36" semi-sphere and floor). We just threw all the left over rubble in the hollow voids of our concrete ficade walls.

'Morgans

[kebwi]

Re: 36&quot; in Seattle

Well, I'm modeling mine beforehand so I actually have a pretty precise prediction of my eventual brick count. The variable for me is more that my design may actually evolve before I'm done. Namely, I haven't decided whether to build a significant portion of the vent with brick.

[papavino]

Re: 36&quot; in Seattle

If you got them from I-XL, then they are the correct brick. The Lowe's down in Renton carries them, too, but they cost about 30 cents more per brick. Imagine loading the bricks into a 1998 Civic and you'll see what I had to deal with. I made 4 runs down there and I was worried that my car would make it back up 148th a couple times...

[kebwi]

Re: 36&quot; in Seattle

Wow, 148th? You're really near me. I'm at 120th in Lake City. I should come see your oven sometime...if you don't mind.

BTW, for the price you paid, about $1.45 I gather, you could have gotten them much closer than Renton. Salmon Bay in Ballard sells them for about that price.

[papavino]

Re: 36&quot; in Seattle

I did get them from I-XL. Although up until about the time I was ready to buy bricks, Lowe's was only 5 cents more expensive. If I had been able to get bricks on the way home from work, it would have been cost effective for me, but then they jacked up the rate. I was talking about the 148th over in Redmond. I'm actually a little closer to you, on 104th.

[kebwi]

Re: 36&quot; in Seattle

Here's a preliminary dry-stack of the stand. It seems pretty obvious that the foundation is not only not level, but not even flat. I've had quite a few amateur problems with my foundation. <Sigh>

I'm open to suggestions. My initial thought is to not make any attempt to fix this in the stand, to just pour and fill the stand cores in their current arrangement, frame up the hearth, then pour and level the hearth as per the basic Pompeii directions without any specific changes to compensate for the uneven stand. My thinking is it shouldn't matter whether the bottom of the hearth is flat so long as the top is flat. I'm curious if this would risk distributing the weight unevenly in a way that would compromise the stand.

What do you think?

On a separate note, my neighbor suggested filling all the cores with concrete on the argument that the wall might shift otherwise (he wasn't commenting on the unevenness at all, he just thought I should fill all the cores anyway). Meh. Thoughts?

[Afterthought: Another option is to grind out a bit of the foundation. It would only require a small amount, 1/8" might be sufficient...although I would need the right kind of grinder blade, maybe one of those "cup" blade things.]

[vintagemx0]

Re: 36&quot; in Seattle

We think it would be wise to fill the corners, and then every other hole with concrete. Then, while the concrete is fresh and wet, insert a piece of rebar into the center of each one. Cheap insurance to ensure that the structure is locked together. You'll need to work-out how you're going to tie-in the structural slab's rebar into the blocks before hand though. I believe there is a lot of threads on here concerning this.

As for it being un-level, I wouldn't be too concerned. Your plan to level the forms and screeding the hearth pour level is good. When you have it finished, you won't be able to detect any imperfections in the blocks, but you will want the hearth to be as level as possible.

Your OK, you don't even need to think you're comprimising. It will work just fine.

Others? Please chime-in and comment and tell him your thoughts so he can carry-on!

Regards,

The Morgans

[kebwi]

Re: 36&quot; in Seattle

Just to clarify, my plan does include vertical rebar in the poured cores (in addition to a gratuitous abundance of rebar in the hearth, especially around the lintels; see my CAD designs).

Thanks.

[vintagemx0]

Re: 36&quot; in Seattle

Sorry, you did say you're filling the cores... Assuming you're insulating the hearth from the structural pad, I really think you'll have enough over-all thickness to absorb any irregularities. I think you're thinking is sound and that you don't have anytihing to worry about.

Too bad we couldn't dxf out our CAD files to somehow make the practical work go as smooth as it does on the screen, eh?

Definately wait for more advice, but I beleive you're fine. Best of luck!

Ken

[kebwi]

Re: 36&quot; in Seattle

Is it fairly easy to insert rebar all the way to the bottom of the core once the core is filled? I was going to try to pour around the rebar while it was held in the center of the core out of fear that I might not be able to push the rebar down through the core after it is filled.