42" Pompeii in S. Louisiana

[Kurtloup]

Re: 42" Pompeii in S. Louisiana

The pig was 28 lbs. That is about the ideal size for my 42" oven. The rack and pan worked great. I wouldn't change anything about them. I put the pig in the oven around 11:30-12:00 expecting it to be done around 6:00. I had to pull it out early so it wouldn't over cook. I wish that I had not cooked the skin as much as I did. When I put it back in the hot oven to crisp the skin, it was a bit over done. Even though the skin was over cooked, the meat was moist. I doubt you can ruin a pig. Another thing I would change is the amount of wood I used in the oven while the pig cooked. The equivalent to 2 pieces of firewood would have been plenty. Since I preheated the oven the night before, I didn't need much additional heat.

[Crawfish fest]

Re: 42" Pompeii in S. Louisiana

The pig was 28 lbs. That is about the ideal size for my 42" oven. The rack and pan worked great. I wouldn't change anything about them. I put the pig in the oven around 11:30-12:00 expecting it to be done around 6:00. I had to pull it out early so it wouldn't over cook. I wish that I had not cooked the skin as much as I did. When I put it back in the hot oven to crisp the skin, it was a bit over done. Even though the skin was over cooked, the meat was moist. I doubt you can ruin a pig. Another thing I would change is the amount of wood I used in the oven while the pig cooked. The equivalent to 2 pieces of firewood would have been plenty. Since I preheated the oven the night before, I didn't need much additional heat.

Thanks
Enjoy!!

[Kurtloup]

Re: 42" Pompeii in S. Louisiana

Finally finished the last two construction details. I added a brick ledge below the dome and the final layer of stucco. As much as I tried, this was as smooth as I could get the stucco. At least it is relatively round. It has been a wet winter here and I was getting a bit of condensation forming in the vent on the top of the dome during the last firing. I didn't see or feel any steam. Anyone have a recommendation for a waterproofer for the stucco? I used Quikrete 1200 stucco and added acrylic fortifier to the mix.

[Massimilliano]

Re: 42" Pompeii in S. Louisiana

A technique that I used to smooth the stucco is to use a block of styrofoam. Once you have layer the stucco up with a trowel or float and roughly smoothed it off, "scrub" the stucco with the foam block. You get a nice even textured surface.

[Tscarborough]

Re: 42" Pompeii in S. Louisiana

A fine textured sponge works even better, they sell sponge floats in various textures at masonry/stucco supply houses and HD or Lowes probably have one.

[irelande5]

Re: 42" Pompeii in S. Louisiana

great build, really like the base work

[Massimilliano]

Re: 42" Pompeii in S. Louisiana

Agreed re the sponge. I used that after the Styrofoam. The Styrofoam is almost like using a surform. It cuts away the high spots and fills in the low ones. I highly recommend it, followed by a sponge if you want a really smooth surface.

[Gulf]

Re: 42" Pompeii in S. Louisiana

I would just apply the acrylic fortifier (which is probably labled also as a "bonding agent") or something similar. Then apply another coat of stucco and finish with a wet stiff sponge. The sponge will knock down the high spots and fill in the low spots. It may take two more coats, depending on just how "perfect" you want it .

[Kurtloup]

Re: 42" Pompeii in S. Louisiana

Thanks for the tips. Maybe I will apply another coat of stucco to see if it will get any smoother. One problem I had was getting the stucco to adhere to the previous layer. If I worked it too much, it would fall off.

[Kurtloup]

Re: 42" Pompeii in S. Louisiana

A fine textured sponge works even better, they sell sponge floats in various textures at masonry/stucco supply houses and HD or Lowes probably have one.

About how long after the stucco is applied do you sponge? I assume you wet the sponge?

[kbartman]

Re: 42" Pompeii in S. Louisiana

Thanks for the tips. Maybe I will apply another coat of stucco to see if it will get any smoother. One problem I had was getting the stucco to adhere to the previous layer. If I worked it too much, it would fall off.

Kurtloup,

I had the same issue with the stucco falling off........... I'm no stucco man I can only give my thoughts on what I learned with my stucco process. I did not stucco my dome, I only rendered a thin layer of left over mortar on my dome to add some thermal mass. After the mortar set up a little, I rubber floated the surface knocking down small high spots. It turned out ok. .......... I had a lot of corners and angle on my chimney and enclosure I wanted to keep square and true. It was a uphill battle but I think I won...........I hope it don't fall off in a year or two........I found as I started the stucco process on the enclosure it was very difficult to trowel high spot down. I was shooting for a 3/8 " layers and ended up 1/4" to 1". As I trowel the high spots, the stucco would begin to pull and fall away. I thought that over troweling was causing my stucco to fall off. After some deep thought and plenty of failures (I had plenty of time for thought, as my stucco job took forever), I think I was moving the stucco that was trying to adhering to the undercoat. Which was causing either air or water to build against the under coat and the stucco would fall away (I've seen both wet and dry failures). I change my technique, If I had a high spot I would not use more pressure on the trowel or float to try to move the excess stucco to the low spot. I would use the edge of the trowel or float to screed away the excess stucco. After I applied that theory I had no failures.........Hope and believe my theory is correct, seemed to work for me.