Christo's Cucina

[christo]

Re: Christo's Cucina

Ahh. The white planters - sorry. No idea they came with the house. The builder left them behind.

They are urethane and were white when I inherited them. I mixed up some black latex paint with water and gave them a wipe down to make them look a little more interesting. 6 years later and they are still doing fine. - One thing I did which may help - I put a bunch of closed 2 liter coke bottles in the bottom of each planter before I put the dirt in them - they are still plenty heavy but no where near as heavy as they were when completely filled with dirt. I think that may also be helping to prevent them from cracking and splitting.

Christo

[chuckster]

Re: Christo's Cucina

Where did you get that big concrete planter? How much did you pay for it? Did you use concrete sealer on it before planting it?

I have a plastic covered foam one and its already coming apart.

thanks - Chuck

[christo]

Re: Christo's Cucina

You mean something like this:



I love it. But think it is a bit too much for the kitchen/patio. It just did not seem to fit. Maybe somewhere else someday....

But yes. We plan for a fountain but likely stone or cast in the medium size range (4 to 6 ft tall max).

Christo

[Bandrasco]

Re: Christo's Cucina

Wow Christo, this is just getting better and better. Plasma cutter, welder, nothing like a plasma cutter to brighten up a day .

You have such a wonderful area out there, it looks very tranquil. A nice water feature like a rock water fall or something similar would be very cool... Any plans for that?

Take care,

[bturton]

Re: Christo's Cucina

It looks beautiful. The whole outdoor area is great! The oven is beautiful, as are the columns and walls. Sounds like we have a similar housing situation. We built our house and have been making additions to it as we went. We have some land, lots of trees, deer, fox, armadillos (my personal least favorite) and Thanksgiving night, a flying squirrel in the house. When the kids found it and poked at it, the little guy jumped from the loft into the baby grand. They then had to take turns on "squirrel watch" cause there was no way we were going to bed with him loose in the house.
Anyway, congratulations on a great project. Many happy pizzas and good baking!

Bonita

[christo]

Re: Christo's Cucina

Got a bit more done this weekend.

Got out the plasma torch and welder and threw together a gate and matching fence section for either side of the oven.

Made all the seating wall bench tops, too!!! It rained today and the seating wall looks so good when wet. I may have to try some oil or other sealer.

Hope the rest of you are staying dry!

Also - note to self - put the pot belly stove on Craigslist, clean up the back yard, and put the XR4Ti on Craigslist, too!

Christo

[christo]

Re: Christo's Cucina

Thanks, the patio has been an ever changing work in progress for a long time. We are now far enough along that there is only so much that can be changed. We love Charleston and Savannah and were going for that kind of look. Form work for the concrete countertops start this weekend!!!

We're really lucky to be in this house in the middle of the woods. It was on the market for over a year and it's on ~3 acres. We got much more house and land than we thought we could at a very good price point. There is a small creek (probably more rain drainage) in the back, too.

In the summer, we can't see any of our neighbors. Music does not travel very far through the brush, either... but the smell of cooking pizza does and the neighbors start walking by....

In the fall, we can see some parts of houses but not many. Leaves are almost all gone now.... sigh.

My wife loves the deer when they visit - but, the reason they visit is to munch on my Hostas and other plants!!!

Christo

[Frances]

Re: Christo's Cucina

Very very cool!

I love the colours - the Autumn leaves in the background, the reddish pavers, the dark caps and the black iron chairs. Great!

Tell me, is your patio really in the middle of the woods, or does it just look that way?

[Bandrasco]

Re: Christo's Cucina

Very nice work Christo. I really like the design and look of your outdoor area.

[egalecki]

Re: Christo's Cucina

Those caps are fabulous. You've become the king of forms! I really like the way they look- they do look a lot like slate. The whole project is really coming together well.

[Modthyrth]

Re: Christo's Cucina

The caps look magnificent! I'd be interested in many pictures of and details about the concrete countertops as well, particularly if you decide to embed the fiber optic lights. I've been captivated by the idea ever since you posted pictures of the technique some time ago.

[christo]

Re: Christo's Cucina

Caps are out of the forms - a bit early so I had to be really careful not to chip corners or crack.

Turned out really well. Mixed up a slurry of portland cement, colorant, and water and filled any of the few small pin holes near the edges. I should have vibrated a little more. Overall very pleased and very smooth caps.

I think they will look very much like big chunks of slate when they finish curing and dry.

One more small project complete!!!

There is also a picture of one of the columns with glass block in it. I will use spacers and silicone caulk to permanently attach them.

Christo

[christo]

Re: Christo's Cucina

Too wet to do more finish stucco coat. The oven is the only part I was able to finish at this time. I'm hoping to have a few warmer days here in late November/early december to finish off. I'm really liking the look of the oven. Don't look on the inside of my oven - seems to be a convenient place to store tools lately.

Attention turned to smaller tasks. Made the forms for the caps for the columns. Much easier than forms for the seating wall or columns.

This will be a trial run for my concrete countertops. I'm also going to make a
1/4 inch thick plywood shape a bit larger than the column to make a recess in the bottom of the cap - I hope it will make water shed off the top of the cap and not go up and into the column.

Christo.

[christo]

Re: Christo's Cucina

I used the same stuff on my oven as well - I used it to coat the block base as well as the concrete backerboard. I used fiberglass reinforced tape at all edges - between base and board and board to board joints. It's been a year and so far so good!

I wish I had been a little bit better at making a really smooth coat with the surface bonding cement - I would have used less of the expensive acrylic coating....

Christo

[Bandrasco]

Re: Christo's Cucina

One thought would be to use Sakrete's surface bonding cement for the last structural coat. Its fiberglass reinforced, water resistant, 4000psi strength, and can be pigmented as it comes in both gray and white. After that I'd feel comfortable with any type of final coat that's water proof. It's designed to hold cinder block walls together without mortar and give it more structural strength. I've used it and it's just amazing how strong this stuff really is. I took two scrap pcs of block, butted them together, and then coated each side with just 1/8" of this bonding cement. The next day I broke the blocks apart but the joint stayed in tact! Very strong material and I would think that it would only help reduce/eliminate surface cracks.

I'm going to use this as the final layer on mine just before I finish it with tile.