Compact 36" in Seattle

[C5dad]

Re: Compact 36" in Seattle

Portable hearth eh?

The challenge is the weight of moving. Seeing that you are in a seismic area, code will require that the unit is tied together.

If it were me, I would not fill the blocks flush but leave about 1 inch of hole underneath and then put in a bond breaker so your hearth will be lego like. Either way, you will need a forklift for moving the hearth and or Heath/oven combo - easily looking at 1500 pounds.

If your neighbors complain, give them a few pizzas. If they continue to complain, drop some phenolphthalein (a pH indicator) in the crust - gives ya the runs and does not have much of a taste. That is pure evil genius and works - did it to a few of my "classmates" in college who screwed me during exams on several occasions (I ended up on the low end due to my integrity and not cheating.) - should have seen them running out the door at the end of a 3 hour final . Yes, I got the last laugh and my advisor/professor laughed about it and a brilliant technical way to get even. The stern lecture I received from the Dean, grinning the whole time, put it in perspective.

[ohthetrees]

Re: Compact 36" in Seattle

C5Dad, remind me not to get on your bad side. I don't expect complaints from neighbors, both of my closest neighbors are happy with the project, and it is on a corner, not adjoining anyone else's property. The problem is that the oven is too close to my lot line. However, it is in a little sunken area of our yard and doesn't "feel" close to the property line, so I don't anticipate any complaints. I think I'll just go ahead and tie it to the stand.

[Mike D]

Re: Compact 36" in Seattle

Wow, really? I can't imagine moving one of these things after its done. You might want to talk with your neighbors now if you think there will be a problem.

Mike

[ohthetrees]

Re: Compact 36" in Seattle

I'm confident I won't get complaints from neighbors. It would have to be an inspector randomly driving by. My yard is sunken, so it won't be very visible from the road, so I expect no problems.

[ohthetrees]

Re: Compact 36" in Seattle

Update on my progress...
Took the form off of the slab, drilled holes for stand rebar to slot into slab, dry stacked stand, started to build form, but then got rained out. Not a bad day.

[ohthetrees]

Re: Compact 36" in Seattle

Finished up my form today, and tied all my rebar. I've never done any reinforced concrete work, except for the slab last week, so I'd appreciate it if you more experienced folks would take a gander at my form, particularly the rebar, and make sure it looks reasonable. The most important picture is the closeup of the form. To orient you, the cantilevered portion of hearth slab is to the back and to the right. You can get a sense of it from looking at where the openings to the block columns are.

Thanks!

Cedar

[kebwi]

Re: Compact 36" in Seattle

Looks great. Keep going!

[mn8tr]

Re: Compact 36" in Seattle

Just a suggestion but why not move those landscape boulders from the back and use them elsewhere. Seams a waste to hide them behind the oven.

[Tman1]

Re: Compact 36" in Seattle

I think those boulders are helping keep the road up (seen behind).

Rebar looks good. You may want to replace those wood pieces with small rocks, although I don't think it'll matter in the end.

[dpike]

Re: Compact 36" in Seattle

Cedar,
I am in Seattle and have a few left overs from my build. Some Kaowool (maybe 10 ft) is left, as well as a 1/4 bag of mortar (thanks Papavino!).

I also did an igloo, and used the latex additive in surface bonding cement for waterproofing (you will need to make these decisions after your dome is up). And I can show you what the regular brick floor looks like. No problems cooking on it. PM me for more info.

[C5dad]

Re: Compact 36" in Seattle

Down at Home Depot, in the cement section, they have concrete rebar saddles (or sumthin like that) for use in raising the rebar off the form instead of wood. They look like little blocks with a saddle in them for rebar to sit on. They will become part of the structure and cost only $0.25 or so each. Money well spent.

[ohthetrees]

Re: Compact 36" in Seattle

dpike, sorry for the slow reply. It turns out babies get sick a lot in the winter. Who knew?!
Anyway, I'd love to take you up on your offer of leftovers. I'm going on vacation in a couple of days, so I'll PM you when I get back!

c5dad: thanks for the tip!

I've still not been able to pour my hearth slab! It has either been freezing, raining, or my baby sick for weeks! Can't wait!

[ohthetrees]

Progress and Thieves!

Poured my hearth slab. It went pretty well, though it started raining half way through, and I had to improvise a tent. In a couple of spots a little water dripped through and spoiled a perfect finish, but in all, it turned out well.

Bought Keith's (kebwi) old saw, stand, and his left over bricks. Thanks Keith!

I also bought the remaining bricks, and for the floor, things I would call tiles They are made out of firebrick material, 12"x24"x2.5". IXL masonry in redmond calls them "skagits".

Ready for the annoying part? Someone stole my skagits! I had to rent a truck for all the bricks, because my car couldn't handle them. I was running late, so I stacked the bricks and skagits up on the sidewalk in front of my house, then ran the truck back. I was gone for 25 minutes, and when I came back, my skagits were gone! Nothing else was touched, including the tools I left out. Grrrr!

[kebwi]

Re: Compact 36" in Seattle

Not that it does this does any good, but they might not have been "stolen". Seattlites often leave junk on the curb in front of their house with an implicit "free junk" intent. Someone who doesn't know what skagits are might think they look like nice garden tiles.

...or someone stole them.

You might leave a sign out saying they weren't meant to be give-aways and would they pleased be returned. Maybe they'll show up.

Sorry man, that sucks.

[ohthetrees]

Chimney?

I'm thinking ahead to the most mysterious part of the project, the vent and chimney. There are so many different designs! Every thread seems to have a different vent design! For you experts, is there an emerging consensus on the "best" design? By best, I mean best performance, not easiest to build.

I also don't know what I'm doing about the chimney. I'm planning on an igloo style, if that matters. I don't really care for the look of the metal stove pipes. So what does that leave? Clay flu liners? If I do that, is there a way to fit a spark arrestor? What about building it entirely out of firebricks? I have extra brick I think. Or maybe build the chimney half of it's height out of firebrick, then switch to clay flu liner to get more height?

Any thoughts are appreciated. Links to particularly useful threads, or favorite chimney/vent designs are also welcome.