Getting started in Arkansas

[Neil2]

Re: Getting started in Arkansas

"I know it was overkill,"

Maybe, but in all my years around construction sites, I have yet to hear anyone say "Damn, I put it too much rebar".

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: Getting started in Arkansas

[QUOTE=...I ended up doing was cutting a million little slits about 1/4" deep through the 1x4 to make it more pliable[/QUOTE]

Ingenious (well at least to me ) Glad it worked.

Regarding your dry concrete, others 'parged' their imperfect concrete. You could do that to fill any pits or cracks and then an acid stain to give it a mottled, rustic look. Or you can put a tile or stone facade on it.

[benny361]

Re: Getting started in Arkansas

another attempt

This was a direct upload and not a link to my picasa pictures. Any hints?

This is now 5 courses high and I need to get rebar and concrete to fill the voids instead of doing the mortar trick.
I would like to learn how to pour the insulation layer on top and leave a void for the firebrick cooking surface like I have seen done with other builds here. Its a clean look I think I would like to have.

Anyone else building a Vault style oven for bread/pizza?

Hello, ArkansasOven!
I am a newbie and was just about to start.
I was hesitating how to start when i see your work, which inspires me very much.
it is pretty cool, guy! Good job.

[ArkansasOven]

Re: Getting started in Arkansas

Dino,
Im not sure if I understand the 'parged' idea unless its like spackling over drywall screws or something similar. I like the idea of acid staining, but not sure about how I could polish it. I have read threads here on the idea but not seen any pictures.

Benny,
Im glad that I inspired you to start. I wanted to get started last year then things came up. I started buying materials this year and then found it difficult to get the slab poured and then all of a sudden everything came together. I sure hope I have this done and buttoned up before the cold weather, looking forward to pizzas and bread!!

Progress so far... I do have the hearth and insulating slabs poured but at the moment I cant find the pictures. They will be uploaded ASAP tho.
Thanks to everyone who have made this site possible and to those who continue to share. Seeing what others have done have not only inspired me but it has inspired me to try things I otherwise would not have.

[Tscarborough]

Re: Getting started in Arkansas

Parging is simply stucco. The actual term differs only in that is generally used to denote stucco done with less care for appearance, and more as a utilitarian method. That is, you parge the smoke chamber of a fireplace, but you stucco the chase.

[ArkansasOven]

Re: Getting started in Arkansas

Pics showing the vermiculite layer...

[ArkansasOven]

Re: Getting started in Arkansas

Its been 9 days since the vermiculite/concrete pour. I have read numerous times that this stuff takes a long time to dry and when it does it has a cork like consistency.

By cork like, does that mean it is soft and can be scraped away with a finger nail or did I do something wrong? I am asking before I get on with the oven floor which brings me to another question... If this mix is so soft how do you use a notched trowel to spread the firebrick mortar to lay the brick?

Thanks in advance!