took the plunge!

[Lousdepot]

Re: took the plunge!

stopped at all local pool company's and they said they use masonry sand or something besides vermiculite. they said the product i needed was called pool base or something. I have more money in the vermicrete layer than i did in the block stand!
Anyway my mind is on setting the floor, i am going to cut bricks tomorrow and then take a long weekend off and start dome next week. there is plenty of reading to do and pictures to look at to prepare me.

[Tscarborough]

Re: took the plunge!

Or masonry supply houses. You could get about 60 cubic feet of perlite for 200 bucks around here.

[countryboy]

Re: took the plunge!

Musta knocked you silly... all your pics are sideways!!

Yeah, I saw those bags at Lowe's and figured, no way I was paying that price... (Might be worth looking into a repackaging business!! Those pretty packages are pricey!) Had to look hard, but the key is pool supply houses. You'll need more to insulate later if you have an enclosure and you will know where to look to get a better deal next time.

The slab and prep work looks great!! Keep it up!

CB

[Lousdepot]

Re: took the plunge!

Well that was a funny experience! bought the six bags got back to house and realized they were not even close to what i needed. I modified my form and shrunk it down, and went back to garden supply to get 6 more. Back at home started to mix first batch 5 bags mixed with the portland and realized i had roughly half of what i needed! so i raced back to store and bought all they had and went to another place and bought all they had! 23 bags of vermiculite! at $7.95/ bag!!! Almost 200 bucks! anyway its done and i can rest for next couple of days and really start to figure out the dome and the cuts i need to make. Here are some pics of todays progress

[Neil2]

Re: took the plunge!

Stick to the 5:1 or 6:1 ratio. More cement is not necessary for strength and will reduce the insulating value.

When you mix, mix gently by hand. You do not want to break down the vermiculite particles.

[Lousdepot]

Re: took the plunge!

i found vermiculite at local garden supply. i bought six bags actually all they had. is there room in the 5:1 formula to play or will it not work. seems i may be heavy on the cement. i have no idea what this stuff is going to do when i mix it!! this could be a $75 experiment gone wrong

[countryboy]

Re: took the plunge!

Pool supply business is a good source for cheap vermiculite. Here it is about $19 for a HUGE bag of straight vermicultie, or $24 for same size bag premixed with cement. Had to talk to a couple pool stores and explain what I was doing before one would help me get the stuff, then I simply pulled a couple bags out of a tractor trailer load they had at their supply yard.

CB

[dmun]

Re: took the plunge!

ps get some heavy aluminum foil and use it under your insulation and under your floor ''[shiny side up!].

Aluminum foil rots out in contact with the corrosive portland cement. It can be used to form a slip plane where you don't want mortar to stick to an adjacent surface, but it has no insulation or waterproofing function in oven building. My advice is to skip this step unless you have a specific reason for doing so.

[fornax hominus]

Re: took the plunge!

The local building dealer had a skid of used firebricks for sale ... he wanted $4 each!!!!!! I declined .
The vermiculite is available at the building supply under the name '' block fill'' [ for filling in hollow concrete blocks .
ps get some heavy aluminum foil and use it under your insulation and under your floor ''[shiny side up!].
happy building
tim

[Lousdepot]

Re: took the plunge!

I am going to do both if i can get my hands on some vermiculite or perlite, mostly for added insulation but also for the height. i put down a piece of board and a brick on my hearth last night and realized its way too low. locating the stuff is my goal for today

[dsgreco]

Re: took the plunge!

I just used the FB board under my oven and kind of wish I had some additional insulation. The bottom of my hearth gets warm which is telling me I am losing some heat out the bottom. Have fun with the build.

[Lousdepot]

Re: took the plunge!

Thanks countryboy! I find it funny how, now that i have started i seem to have forgotten everything i read and find myself in panic mode reading threads all over again!! the patio and slab was easy part! i have to decide if i want to add a layer of perlite or vermiculite or just lay floor on fb board that i ordered and should be here in 2 days. found heat stop 50 and firebricks. heat stop was $50/bag and bricks were 1.35 a piece. 8 1/4" firebricks.

[countryboy]

Re: took the plunge!

Good luck!


Seriously, you are going to have a great time. Enjoy the process and its many ups and downs. Think well in advance and have a clear picture of where you are going... though it appears you already have with your massive patio!

CB

[Lousdepot]

Re: took the plunge!

here is the hearth. sorry for the multiple posts it took me a while to figure this out, hope i have better luck with the dome than uploading pictures

[Lousdepot]

Re: took the plunge!

sorry posted wrong pics. here's my stand