the weather, ARGH!

[splatgirl]

So I've been planning this big, official WFO inauguration party for like a month. Pretty much everyone we know and most of my neighbors got invites, so it's BIG, as opposed to the 15 or 20 people we've done pizza with before full WFO completion. And because it's been an insane busy summer that is just now calming down, and because I get the most accomplished in the shortest amount of time when I am under a deadline, my plan was to get my enclosure finished up in the weeks preceeding the big party. That should have been absolutely NO problem. An easy day for the framing and another couple of days for the roofing and siding, and times two because everything always takes twice as long as I think it will...which still should have put me in the completely finished except for the mosaic tile work on the front (which will wait until spring) category.
To say the weather has NOT been cooperating with that plan would be an understatement. It's been either raining or snowing just about every day for the last three weeks. Hello weather? Have you forgotten it's only OCTOBER?!
I spent part of yesterday...sunny but freezing...getting the formwork built and set so I could pour my landing countertop today. But here's what I woke up to:


what you can't see is that it's pretty much a full blown blizzard out there.

Argh. A blizzard on October 12th? Really?

On the bright side, my ash rake worked great for getting the three inches of snow off my shadesail and I'm just back from the welding shop with a very nice new insulated door that I wasn't expecting to have for another week.

but sigh.
Minnesota weather. Whataya gonna do.
At this point I'll be thrilled if the weather straightens itself out enough to keep me from freezing my butt off (or getting snowed on) while I girl the oven and everyone else hangs out inside the house.

[mfiore]

Re: the weather, ARGH!

I sympathize with you!

[Fish Wheels]

Re: the weather, ARGH!

Look to your neighbour Canada where its Thanksgiving. Be thankful you didn't get a foot of snow

Sorry it messed up your party plans
I like the slop of your roof maybe you could ski off of it?

[paulyboy]

Re: the weather, ARGH!

Oh good lord......and I thought I was hard done by as I was concreting posts in last night in the half dark and it was bucketing down.
You poor thing, I don't know how you guys cope with the weather. Me thinks we are spoiled here in Australia.
Paul

[splatgirl]

Re: the weather, ARGH!

working after dark in the rain. pretty much the story of my last three weeks, except ours was 40F. degree rain.
and yea, happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

so it did stop snowing long enough to get my countertop poured this afternoon, but the downside is the cold temp means it takes forever to be able to finish. babysitting concrete in the dark in winter and rigging tarps to try and keep it warm enough is something I REALLY don't miss. I tented it in with our gajillion watt shop lights for some heat but I could be in trouble if it gets much colder out.
We'll see. The forecast isn't getting any better, that's for sure.

[acbova]

Re: the weather, ARGH!

Ha, "Girl the oven!" That's great!

[RTflorida]

Re: the weather, ARGH!

Where is James or one of the moderators? This is a PG rated forum, obscene language (the usage of the word SNOW) and graphic photographs (again, SNOW) are shameful, sinful, and strictly prohibited.

RT

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Re: the weather, ARGH!

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/18/t...html#post67420


Hey SPlat..... Ive had to man up and Girl the oven a few times,, standing in the rain with a patio umbrella as everybody watched is the windows waiting for fresh hot pizza... On the bright side it wasnt cold and snowing.... Very impressive build.. You are a talented woman, Did you do it all yourself ???

P.S. did you see my turkey ?? came out great

[egalecki]

Re: the weather, ARGH!

I got snowed out of my oven last November- I think it was about the middle of the month- we NEVER get snow that early! I still remember how irritated I was about it, so I can sympathize.

Good thing is, if it's dry, it works really well even if you don't get it finished all the way for a while!

[splatgirl]

Re: the weather, ARGH!

my apologies for the bad language! No more S word.

mark, your turkey looked AMAZING! I am definitely doing ours that way for Thanksgiving. Did the aluminium pan hold up OK? I think I would have been a little worried about putting that in the hothot WFO, but it musta been ok? did you do anything to the turkey ahead of time, like brine or anything?

re the build: mostly just me, yes. I usually try to recruit Boy for the stuff I REALLY don't want to or can't do by myself...yucky heavy stuff like loading/unloading/mixing mud, so he helped me with that for the foundation and hearth and then helped me put together the framing. (I'm with mfiore...I've been reminded how much I dislike carpentry). And his rock climbing skillz from days gone by got put to use up on the roof to seal and screw down the chimney flashing thingie in the dark. What a champ. (That silicone boot with the alum. flange=totally worth the $55). He's a typical helper...he'll do whatever I ask but tracking him down usually takes longer than just doing it myself...and I'm impatient. So my "we" project turned out to be about 80% the me part of we. But he paid so I guess I'll call it even
I think it'll look cool once it's completely trimmed and painted. I framed the upper part with the return so that I can put doors on to keep the weather off the forthcoming mosaic tile.

[Archena]

Re: the weather, ARGH!

What RT said!!!!



Snow is evil.





Ya might try the summer clearance sales - you might be able to snag a canopy or table umbrella cheap.

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Re: the weather, ARGH!

Hi Splat,

Did the aluminium pan hold up OK?

the pan held up fine, I dont know if you can see in the pic, there is a cookie sheet under the pan...

? did you do anything to the turkey ahead of time, like brine or anything?

nothing much really,, a little EVOO, lime, salt, pepper, seasoning, etc...
well, you have done a great job on your build (and boy,sometimes) keep up the good work,, you must have a very high energy level
Cheers
Mark

[splatgirl]

Re: the weather, ARGH!

thanks, Mark. I'm looking forward to it being donedone, but glad that I'll have the winter to ponder what kind of tile work I want to do on the front, etc.
Just pulled the last bit of formwork on the counter slab today. It came out OK, but it'll look a lot better once it's a bit less green and I can really give it good working over and polishing with the diamond pads. Hopefully the weather will cooperate with that yet this season.


I wanted to have a nice landing spot, but now that the counter is in place I think I might need to make myself a little step stool to be able to reach in and set up my fires.

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Re: the weather, ARGH!

Splat,
have you polished any concrete yet ? and where did you buy your pads ....

Nice job again
Cheers
Mark

[splatgirl]

Re: the weather, ARGH!

I formed and cast 100+sq. ft. of tops for my house a few years ago and have done a few other slabs here and there since. This was the first cast in place slab I've done, but my past history includes lots of ordinary and 3-D flatwork and a big concrete soaking tub (ofuro) in my master bathroom which makes everything else seem downright simple.
The finishing supplies I used are what I had on hand from before and IIRC, they are all from here: Diamond tools - polishing pads, polishers and core bits
but probably only because they had the best prices at the time. I haven't looked at any of that stuff for a couple of years. I have the set of hand finishing pads as well as a set of grinder pads and a pneumatic wet/dry grinder which is completely unecessary for small to medium projects. If you are thinking of just a few countertop slabs, or even more than a few, you can do a great job with just the hand pads. I would buy them individually because 1800 and 3500 grit are overkill for concrete, whereas you could go through a couple of each of the sub-400 grit pads with a few projects. Takes a bit longer than with a power grinder, but more control and you're not into them for $500.
If you're casting in place in fair weather, patient and handy with the mag float, you wouldn't really even need more than a 400 and a 600 grit pad unless you want exposed aggregate.
This was also the first time I've done anything that's curved. I used 1/2" plywood with some kerfs cut in it for the radius edge because that's what I had in the garage. Worked great.
If you want more info let me know. I could totally make a career out of screwing around with concrete, and now that I've done both molded and cast in place stuff I have some definite opinions on the pros/cons.