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We did a spur of the moment pizza party this weekend (16 pizzas). By the end of the evening, the temps were dipping back into the high 40's. Observing the traffic flow of my guests and where everyone was huddling up, its led me to my next project.... a monster fireplace unit made of ferro-cement (hey, its worked for my pizza oven, so why not?)... Think basically a huge Chimenea on steroids.
I've got a lot of terrain issues to deal with around the party area: Last year, this was a totally unusable slope on the back side of my pond's dam. Through a little judicious cutting, digging and terracing, I've been creating flat space for gatherings. The pizza oven is part of a larger oven complex with countertops that now form a retaining wall holding up part of the dam. Just beyond the oven complex, I've created a a small terrace about 16 feet long and 10 feet wide. Right now the terrace is held up by a temporary system of pine logs and it?s always been my intention to replace them this spring with permanent construction. The working plan up until Saturday has been that a small metal Chimenea (we've had for years) would sit in the middle of the terrace.. The idea has been that seating would be built into the uphill and lower terrace walll facing the chminea for those cooler evenings.
Well, the little chimenea was roaring away Saturday, but it didn't really attract the party. Looking at how people were gathered, there simply is not enough room on that portion of the terrace for the number of folks with the chimenea plopped in the middle of the space. That, and it doesn't throw enough heat to allow people to sit back from it...so after a few quickie measurements and a beer-fueled consult with one of my engineer friends at the party, the decision was reached to construct a fireplace in the upper terrace wall so it would radiate heat out onto the space. The fireplace and counters on either side of it will form a retaining wall for the remaining section of the dam in that area.
Initially, my thought was to get a couple cubes of bricks delivered and do a full masonry unit? but I learned to really hate laying brick when I built the oven complex because I don?t have the patience to do it right. A little more thought about the amount of concrete I would need for the size of foundation that I?m envisioning (plus, it has to all be transported down there by hand) and just the sheer cost of a brick structure convinced me that?s not the way for me to go.
Sunday morning it came to me?use my old favorite ferro-cement. From my pizza oven, I know it can take the heat plus this won?t be running anywhere near as hot. After a few sketches, I headed out to garage and started bending some hog-wire into the preliminary frame. Between the time Sunday and a little bit of time this evening (maybe 4 hours total), I pretty much have shaped the armature into a close approximation of the final shape. I?ll have to spend a few more hours fine-tuning the shape before I cover it with chicken wire but everything should be ready for the concrete in a couple of weeks.
The monster ought to weigh in around 600 pounds once its finished. I?ll do the wire framework in the evenings in the garage, but I?ll have to set it up in its final place before I do the concrete. I figure it?ll probably end up costing ~ $150 for wire and concrete for the fireplace and chimney?and I?ll have get wire mesh doors made, but that shouldn?t be too bad.
I?ll take a few photos once its covered with the chicken wire because the hog-wire frame doesn?t show up too well on pictures. With everything else that is on the to-do list, it really won't be finished until late Summer, but I probably don't need that amount of heat again til Ocotober.
I've got a lot of terrain issues to deal with around the party area: Last year, this was a totally unusable slope on the back side of my pond's dam. Through a little judicious cutting, digging and terracing, I've been creating flat space for gatherings. The pizza oven is part of a larger oven complex with countertops that now form a retaining wall holding up part of the dam. Just beyond the oven complex, I've created a a small terrace about 16 feet long and 10 feet wide. Right now the terrace is held up by a temporary system of pine logs and it?s always been my intention to replace them this spring with permanent construction. The working plan up until Saturday has been that a small metal Chimenea (we've had for years) would sit in the middle of the terrace.. The idea has been that seating would be built into the uphill and lower terrace walll facing the chminea for those cooler evenings.
Well, the little chimenea was roaring away Saturday, but it didn't really attract the party. Looking at how people were gathered, there simply is not enough room on that portion of the terrace for the number of folks with the chimenea plopped in the middle of the space. That, and it doesn't throw enough heat to allow people to sit back from it...so after a few quickie measurements and a beer-fueled consult with one of my engineer friends at the party, the decision was reached to construct a fireplace in the upper terrace wall so it would radiate heat out onto the space. The fireplace and counters on either side of it will form a retaining wall for the remaining section of the dam in that area.
Initially, my thought was to get a couple cubes of bricks delivered and do a full masonry unit? but I learned to really hate laying brick when I built the oven complex because I don?t have the patience to do it right. A little more thought about the amount of concrete I would need for the size of foundation that I?m envisioning (plus, it has to all be transported down there by hand) and just the sheer cost of a brick structure convinced me that?s not the way for me to go.
Sunday morning it came to me?use my old favorite ferro-cement. From my pizza oven, I know it can take the heat plus this won?t be running anywhere near as hot. After a few sketches, I headed out to garage and started bending some hog-wire into the preliminary frame. Between the time Sunday and a little bit of time this evening (maybe 4 hours total), I pretty much have shaped the armature into a close approximation of the final shape. I?ll have to spend a few more hours fine-tuning the shape before I cover it with chicken wire but everything should be ready for the concrete in a couple of weeks.
The monster ought to weigh in around 600 pounds once its finished. I?ll do the wire framework in the evenings in the garage, but I?ll have to set it up in its final place before I do the concrete. I figure it?ll probably end up costing ~ $150 for wire and concrete for the fireplace and chimney?and I?ll have get wire mesh doors made, but that shouldn?t be too bad.
I?ll take a few photos once its covered with the chicken wire because the hog-wire frame doesn?t show up too well on pictures. With everything else that is on the to-do list, it really won't be finished until late Summer, but I probably don't need that amount of heat again til Ocotober.
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