Christo's Cucina

[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

[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

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

[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

[Wlodek]

Re: Christo's Cucina

Wow C.,
This looks really comfortable (apart from stylish and in keeping with the rest of the project) and, as you put it, very secure (with over 30lbs of brackets ...). I like my guests to feel they won't topple backwards when raising a toast.

I have a few odd and ends left to do, mainly electrical/electronic, which seem to get postponed rather a lot. Possibly it has something to do with me being an electronic/control engineer. There is this saying in Polish about the cobbler who goes barefoot ...

Anyway, work calls.

All the best,
W.

[christo]

Re: Christo's Cucina

Hi Mark,

Just finished up the sides of the steps in much the way you recommended - except I mortared up scrap brick pieckes and filled in the hole that way.

Relearned an important rule - do good work even if it's on the side of a stair... I randomly filled in vs. using a straightedge and making it good and flat from the start.

As a result it took 2 coats of stucco (render) to get it nice and flat.

W, as an EE as well - I know what you mean the electrical is never over! - I rented a hammer drill and drilled holes through my foundation over the summer to run low voltage and speaker wires out the back of the oven. I will be playing with that soon!

Looks like I'm getting a bit of white discoloration on the sides - I'm glad I have a bit of muriatic acid left (always wear googles gloves and any other gear you have when using ).

Christo

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Re: Christo's Cucina

hey christo,,
either way,, looks great,,, besides 2 coats are better then 1 Right ??

Cheers
Mark

[Frances]

Re: Christo's Cucina

Great story about the chair backs!
They look great, too, really comfy. Its all very beautiful!

[christo]

Re: Christo's Cucina

Granite tile countertops.

Bought parts from bedrock creations. They make something called kitchen in a box. The pieces they make are tiles, edges, corners and trim.

I bought their kit to cover both countertops for about $725 bucks including delivery.

Here's a pic of some of the parts.

Christo

[christo]

Re: Christo's Cucina

No Fiber optics in the countertops. I abandoned the cast concrete countertop idea.

I have finished the subtrate for the tile countertops. I could not bring myself to use plywood with backerboard as the tile base, so I took two layers of 1/2 hardibacker and one layer of 1/4 inch hardibacker and laminated them together using modified thinset between them. They are also screwed together.

I looked around on the internet and have not been able to find this method being used, so there may be a reason why. So far so good, the substrate seems really strong at this point.

Also all the tiles were cut. The undermount sink was not so bad to cut for the tile - but was mounted in an unconventional way - the sink comes in through the top of the substrate and is sandwiched in place by the tile.

All the best,

Christo

[christo]

Re: Christo's Cucina

more pics. All down hill from here - just a bit of thinset and some grout separates us from finished countertops!

Christo

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Re: Christo's Cucina

Hi Christo,

so I took two layers of 1/2 hardibacker and one layer of 1/4 inch hardibacker and laminated them together using modified thinset between them. They are also screwed together.

I havent heard of that either, But it sound pretty solid to me... we can call that "The Christo Counter Method" Your build is looking great, looking forward to seeing the final pics, Im sure you are as well..... Though, I was almost sad when I finished my oven, Building was so much fun..

Cheers
Mark

[trockyh]

Re: Christo's Cucina

Hi Christo,
Your outdoor kitchen looks great! Do you have pictures of it finished?

Tom

[nissanneill]

Re: Christo's Cucina

Lookin' good Christo,
just in time for the Christmas celebrations eh?????

Neill

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: Christo's Cucina

Looks really nice Christo,
I say Mark is right-on: Call it "The Christo Counter Methode". You've done so many things on your build that I've copied and now I just may use your double-thick durock lamination for my short wfo front ledge.

We've been having disagreements (serious arguments ) over our wfo counter so that no progress is being made. We're each hoping the other caves in by year-end. With your nice counter pics, I may prevail .

Thanks again, Dino