Christo's Cucina

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Re: Christo's Cucina

how to fill in the sides of the stairs -

hey christo... What a beautiful build... for the step sides,, use some expanding foam, then stucco or surface bonding cement over them,,
Hope that helps

Mark

[christo]

Re: Christo's Cucina

Thanks Wlodeck!

I've been busy this past month.

The decorations outside for halloween were bigger than ever! by all acounts it was a success.

I got the seat backs installed this week. When I was in China on my last trip, I gave one of my mechanical engineers a sketch I did on the plane and asked him to critique. I think he misunderstood becuase by the time I left, I had 10 seat back brackets all bent and drilled but unfinished.

We boxed them up and I had 70 lbs of addtional baggage for the trip home. That was Feb 2009 - so we fast forward to this week!

I tried to sand one of them - the black layer was so tough (presume it was somekind of heat treat with an oil bath) - well - it was so tough I went through 6 or 8 discs of 80 grit sand paper and barely cleaned up one.

Went to the web and found a possible solution was to soak the brackets muriatic acid and water. I had a half gallon left over from my brick washing and used that. Worked like a charm.

So without more blabbing - here are some pics of my seat backs!!! My guests feel more secure sitting on the benches and I'm pleased that they are also comfortable.

Christo

[Wlodek]

Re: Christo's Cucina

Hi C.,

Thanks for the comment on my "leisure area". Regarding the roof - my first response was that if you were not in NC (although it probably depends on where you are) but here in the Lake District you would have not even thought of not having one. The roof is definitely not to shield us from sunshine ...

I think your setup is beautifully executed, thoughtfully designed and much in keeping with the rest of the house, for what I could see in the photos. What else would one want? Besides, if you ever find you really, really need a roof and also you that need another project, now that the oven with its surroundings is ready, you can always create another thing to do for yourself

All the best,
W.

[christo]

Re: Christo's Cucina

Last step is in. All uneventful, though very tired of cutting bluestone.

I tried to increase the radius of the curve with every step. Now debating that I should have kept it the same, but too late. Right or wrong that decsion is literally carved in stone.

Left to do - how to fill in the sides of the stairs - was going to cast concrete for them but now thinking of trowelling in some dryer concrete mix. Any other ideas out there?

Had a great party on Saturday night - good food, friends, wine, and an outdoor movie.

Christo

[Frances]

Re: Christo's Cucina

The depressing thing is, you got it all looking so perfect, nobody will notice anything when they walk up the steps. Now if you'd got it all lopsided with chips and cracks and I don't know what, they'd go: Hey, what's with the steps?

Never mind, we all know . And they do look fantastic! And complicated...

[christo]

Re: Christo's Cucina

But wait! there's more. actually 2 more steps.

Was going to cut a notch in the face of the retaining wall to recieve the 2nd step, but cutting the first one wasn't so bad, and as I'm pretty sure the wall will move some (but hope not much), I decided to leave it separate from the wall.

The rest of this post (dreadfully long I'm afraid - sorry for that) deals with how I made the cut - so you might just want to skip to the pics below.

Made a template that allowed for a smooth curves front and back, did not like that and made a new one that scribed the shape of the landscape blocks to the stair tread.

Traceing the template and cutting and finishing the front curve was just like the step above- but the back was a bit intimidating. Turns out it was less tricky and time consuming than I thought. the plan was to angle the cut so if I had any grinding or adusting, it would be an easier go of it.

Put on my ear, eye, and breathing protection and I followed my tracing freehanded with my skillsaw and created about 1/8 thick groove (max). I then cut full depth relief cuts on the waste side every 4 to 6 inches (depending on the radius of the cut). I used the template again and traced it 1/2 inch inboard of the top cut. I put the saw in the grooves of the relief cuts and ran them to the line on the bottom - the arch on the blade was sufficient not to cut into the top of the stair tread.

Then I not so carefully cut a rough shape of scribe on the bottom about 2/3rds or so through. I was very careful at the ends to not back cut as the ends would show.

Flipped it back over (that was the hardest part for sure) and used a 4 inch grinder with diamond saw blade to carefully increase the depth of the cut, because it was a inside curve, it encourged the blade to angle back to the bottom saw cut.

Moment of truth - wacked the one of the segments with my rubber mallet and it broke out perfectly. The rest fell in line, leaving the ends for last. A bit more careful cutting there and they fell neatly away.

Used the coarse grinder to clean up the back cuts and then used the fine grinder and sander to neatly clean up all visible edges. The first attempt at a trial fit is what you see in the pics. Very happy with the results - but I'm quite sure this is a testament on how not to do it.

One more step to go. I'll spare you any more gorey details until all steps are in place.

One more cup of coffee and out to work!

Christo

[Modthyrth]

Re: Christo's Cucina

Wow, nice! Everything you do looks so utterly professional!

[christo]

Re: Christo's Cucina

I had a good time on the skid steer for sure! I rented it to regrade the side of the yard and since it only cost 30 dollars more for the auger attachment, I figured I should dig the holes for the arbor and fence.... That's how I got the arbor.

I made a rack for my trailer. I read on a site that 10 degrees of slope is right and it worked well. I went out and picked out and up the bluestone. Bluestone is more or less a type of sandstone. It is heavy stuff. It also forces you to become a bit Egyptian. I figured out how to move it around without picking it up. One end at a time and lots of sliding.

I had left space for the top step when I built the patio last November. Made a template out of cardboard and cut a pretty nice fit. Then the tricky part - I did not take pictures of this as I was on a roll. Trace the cardboard on the rock and cut it out with a diamond blade and a skillsaw.

Straight cuts were like brick - cut the curves freehand with a few passes - careful to support both edges to keep the rock from breaking prematurely.

I used a series of grinders and finally a random orbit sander with 60 grit paper to smooth the edges.

I put down a bed of mortar and lowered the top step in place. Looks and fits great!

Cutting bluestone and finishing the edges is not that hard!

The next step may be more of a challenge - I've got the template cut and I'm going to have to cut the stone to fit the shape of the block wall - so I've scribed the cardboard for an exact fit. Wish me luck for tomorrow's step.

Christo

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: Christo's Cucina

Christo, I've been all over the Wine Enthusiast catalog and cannot find the cork-screw you are using (riding) in your 3rd pic. Guess I'll stick with screw cap. Dino
PS: Mandavilla and all the trellises look awesome.

[Frances]

Re: Christo's Cucina

Wow that is all way cool! (with or without wine glasses ) You've been very busy.

[christo]

Re: Christo's Cucina

Trying Mandavillas right now. One red and one pink per side. One of the red ones died while I was in China.... Planted a Mandavilla plant in it's honor to remember it by.

[Modthyrth]

Re: Christo's Cucina

It's looking so polished and finished! I always have a problem getting a project 100% done, when 92% feels and looks so complete, but it sounds like you're barelling ahead to the finish line--even if the finish line keeps moving on you. ;-)

The arbor is gorgeous, the perfect entrance to the yard. It matches the railing on the house beautifully. What are you going to grow on it?

[mfiore]

Re: Christo's Cucina

Also sincerely apologize for the lack of wine glasses or beer bottles in any of these pics.

Christo

Don't let it happen again!

[christo]

Re: Christo's Cucina

Thanks Kirk,

I've been a bit quiet on the list this summer (northern half of the blue ball).

There is still much clean up to do and I've had a bit more feature creep.

Todos -

OVEN - finish the color coat on the oven - it's been so wet here this spring and summer - when I'm not travelling it seems to be raining.

Countertops - I've decided to go with Granite - The whole patio and kitchen are looking so nice - I'm afraid my first attempt at concrete countertops may be less than great. I'm looking at kitchen in a box from Bedrock Creations for granite tile and trim.

Columns - wire up the LED lights and Silicone caulk the glass blocks in place

Seating wall - Add backs to the seats so guests don't disappear off the back. One of my guys in China took my sketches and made brackets for me on my last trip there - I brought them back in my checked luggage and had to pay a fee for overweight bag.

Stairs - Buy Blue Stone treads and scribe them into the retaining wall blocks, dig footers and pour the foundation for the stair treads. Stack block and top with Blue Stone - so wish I had not made them curved!

Arbor - yes - arbor the latest feature creep. Kelly wanted an arbor and I designed a beautiful one - then she said it had to be out of vinyl. I bought all the parts from Lowes and Home Depot, modified them and came up with this. Used one deck rail kit and cut down the ballusters; one gate kit for the bottom side rails; and the rest are standard parts. I found the rafter ends on line. And if you have an arbor - apparently you have to have a fence.

Table and Chairs - we found two sets on sale at HD late last Fall. Ridiculously low price. We've assembled them and have them right across from the pizza oven.

I built a rack to transport the blue stone on my trailer last weekend. I'm going to try to get some stone at lunch today.

Also sincerely apologize for the lack of wine glasses or beer bottles in any of these pics.

Christo

[PHISHINGPHANATIC]

Re: Christo's Cucina

I am a newbie to the whole WFO idea and after reading through this tread I am speechless. Your outdoor kitchen is truly heaven. Thank you (and everyone else) for taking the time to document and create a tutorial on your experience.

Kirk.