Time to finish the oven; add fireplace

[james]

Second stucco coat

This is the three coat method, directly on concrete block. We are putting it on with a trowel, then smoothing it with a float.

The final coat is the white, ultra smooth coat -- just before paint.

It's starting to feel like a wall.
James

[gjbingham]

Re: Time to finish the oven; add fireplace

Looks nice James! I love the wall's contour.

Hard to make good use of that space immediately adjacent to the oven, huh? I'm condsidering putting a sink there. Occasional use, but probably necessary.

[Xabia Jim]

Re: Time to finish the oven; add fireplace

Nice idea. Maybe we can add a little alcove in the wall if it starts feeling too massive.

XJ, we can hang Valenciano plates -- like your house.
James

I've used them to cover all sorts of things...like electrical junction boxes, old light wires....and outside the gecho's use them for houses!

my oldest....

[Xabia Jim]

Re: Second stucco coat

This is the three coat method, directly on concrete block. We are putting it on with a trowel, then smoothing it with a float.

The final coat is the white, ultra smooth coat -- just before paint.

It's starting to feel like a wall.
James

Hey, what's with those rusty paella pans.....mon dieu!!!!

[james]

Smooth stucco coat

Here is the start of the third stucco coat. Scratch, patch and smooth. We're starting to get the feeling for the new walls, and the neighbors have started walking by -- saying, "nice wall." :-)

Jim, those are our original pans from the Valencia market. They've got to be 15 years old. They've seen a lot of paella. Time to clean off the rust and cure them, and then I'm back in action.

James

[james]

Outdoor lighting

We went with two post lamps attached to the backsplash wall. They're live, so I will see how much light they actually give out this evening. Also, I bought a snake light for inside the oven.

This is not a drill; we have neighbors over Saturday evening, so hopefully the lighting scheme will work. The block party is still a few weeks out, so this is a dry run. :-)

I'll let you know how the lights work next.
James

[mannextdoor]

Re: Time to finish the oven; add fireplace

Absolutely beautiful. How long has this project been in progress?

[james]

Re: Time to finish the oven; add fireplace

Thanks. We started mid February and were ready for paint around March 10, so roughly three weeks for the bulk of it. Finishing something really takes time -- maybe you never finished. :-)

Great news. The outdoor lights work great. They give the outdoor area very nice mood lighting -- though not much light (almost none) inside the oven. I will experiment with my snake light this weekend.

I wonder if I can get a good picture of the oven at night. :-)

James

[SpringJim]

Re: Time to finish the oven; add fireplace

Continues to set the bar.....nice job James

[james]

Re: Time to finish the oven; add fireplace

Hey Jim,

I'm going to have to get used to you in a different time zone. Poor Frances, she's asleep and missed all the fun.

James

[gjbingham]

Re: Time to finish the oven; add fireplace

Wow, that was fun to watch go up. It seemed like it all happened overnight. You must be really pleased with the results. It looks great. Can you send your crew up here pro bono?

[Frances]

Re: Time to finish the oven; add fireplace

Hey Jim,

I'm going to have to get used to you in a different time zone. Poor Frances, she's asleep and missed all the fun.

James

Well as long as you feel reall really guilty about it, I guess its ok....

I love the way its all turned out btw. The archway on the oven and the shape of the roof are very beautiful. And I think all the materials and diffent hights etc tie in really well.

[james]

Re: Time to finish the oven; add fireplace

Here is the final photo (at least for now) with the block wall glazed. The wall, the oven and fireplace, and the house all match.

Phew.
James

[dmun]

Re: Time to finish the oven; add fireplace

I see you sprung for the patio heater. Good call.

[james]

Re: Time to finish the oven; add fireplace

Fog city. We had to buy two -- one on ground level, and an infrared on the wall of the house where the table is.

It's cooooold in the evenings here.
James