Field Stone for Stand and Hearth

[mnshel]

I have access to as much field stone as I want. I have been thinking of building the stand using this stone. I have also considered building a solid stand out of the field stone and skipping the wood storage area as I have firewood storage. I also plan to build a stone firepit on the same foundation that I pour for the oven. Its free and would look great.

I do question the ability to transition from a stone stand/base to a poured hearth with square edges. If the stand is solid field stone how much hearth insulation would I want and can I just layer it on top of the base without pouring a slab first?

I am new to this and am in the designing stages. I like the idea of using as much stone as possible since it would cost me nothing. Only the mortar ...

[dmun]

Re: Field Stone for Stand and Hearth

If you have unlimited free stone, and are not adverse to mortaring it up, why not just build up the base to oven level, and make your slab inside the fieldstone walls. A couple of dry-laid stacks of block would support your stand from below, or you could just use bigger stones up to slab level to create a step to hold your slab. Then when your dome is built, you could just continue your stone walls upward to complete your enclosure. I think it would look great. Pouring your slab within a fieldstone enclosure would require some fancy cutting of the form below the slab, but any gaps could be stuffed with junk before the pour. Or if you really didn't want to use the space below the oven (why not?) you could just fill your enclosure with random rubble fill up to concrete level.

Good luck with your project. Keep us posted.

[Carl]

Re: Field Stone for Stand and Hearth

I too had a lot of free stone, and managed to find a way to transition from the rough stone wall base to a poured slab. I built a timber frame for my slab, then lined it with a 'skirt' of black plastic before pouring the slab. This filled the very uneven gap between the stone walls and the slab form. There's a few pictures on my blog that illustrate it better than I can describe, but it's certainly possible.

[Wlodek]

Re: Field Stone for Stand and Hearth

If you look at my album you will see a stone base with bricks around the front opening. The base has a single brick backing - it is all very strong.

A lot of mortar went into it, admittedly, but I am pleased with the result.

Top of the base is finished as level. No problems with further construction.