pompeii oven construction began today

[paulages]

I prepared the foundation for my oven today, which will be poured as a side-project to my barn slab on tuesday. I am taking photos along the way, but don't know how to post them on here. if anyone can help, i'll post them as i go.

paul
portland, OR

[paulages]

okay, i think i figured it out... here are some day 1 pictures.

[ColonelCorn76]

Yay! Another one being born. ;-)

[paulages]

day 2

poured the concrete today. my friends who are professional skatepark builders were here to help pour the floor in the barn in the background, so the finish came out nicer than it probably needed to be. notice the obligatory beer cap signatures in the cement. the rounded corner will be mirrored by the hearth above as well, allowing easier passage around the corner to the garden. i'm thinking of putting the door under the hearth on this corner as well. there was talk of putting the oven door facing this corner, which would give a larger shelf outide the oven for resting pizzas, etc., but i think it would make the gable design a little screwy. we'll see...

[ColonelCorn76]

Nice slab. I like the rounded corner. Keep the photos coming.

[paulages]

cinderbock sizes???

okay. so i started stacking the cinder blocks, and made a discovery. cinderblocks are 15.5 inches, not actually 16 inches... i guess it makes sense for mortared construction, to allow for mortar gaps, but dry stacked it throws everything off. the problem is, i set the rebar on the corners where they would fit in the holes in the cinderblocks, but now one side doesn't line up right. to save space, i made the foundation the same size as the provided measurements for the block stand in the plans, but 72" divides by 16, not 15.5. it's no big deal, i'll just extend the hearth beyond the stand a bit if i think it'll be too small, but i'm wondering if there is such a thing as an actual 16" cinderblock, or if the measurements in the plans are off?

[ColonelCorn76]

You are correct that dry stacking the block results in a slightly smaller size then standard block construction. The 1/2 inch mortar joint that's traditional is what makes a 16" block 16 inches. It's like 2x4s not really being 2 inches by 4 inches (at least here in the U.S.). I thought James had put a note up on the website about needing to adjust the sizes slightly if you were going the dry stack route vs. the standard build with mortar method. In case he hasn't I'll ping him about it.

Sorry about the confusion.

Jim

[paulages]

it's no big deal. the 15.5 measurement made perfect sense once i realized it, but i hadn't really thought about it before then. i just adjusted the first course around a little bit, and used 16" x 16" x 2" concrete patio blocks cut in half as spacers, so i could still fit it over the rebar i had stuck up out of the slab, to tie the two together. i'll put some pictures up tomorrow of the first 2 courses, so this will make more sense.

[paulages]

stand going up

okay, here's some photos of day 3, as the stand is going up. the second picture is showing where i inserted the 2" x 8" x 8" (actually they're 1.75 x 7.5 x 7.5) blocks, to push the stand to the edges of the slab, giving me more space inside, and also to make the door sit more symmetrically on the corner, since the foundation pad is rectangular.





is there any reason anyone can think of not to leave the fourth course off altogether on the corner? i was going to get a lintel block from a masonry supply instead of spanning it with more cinderblock, but i'd really like the door to be a bit higher. i know this will make for a more complicated form when preparing for the hearth, but i'm not too concerned about that. it's only a 2' span, which is nothing compared to the span accross the middle of the hearth.

[paulages]

stand stacked and ready to fill cores

okay, the easy part (stacking) is finished, and now i have to fill the cores and start building the forms for the hearth...

[paulages]

we filled every other core with rebar and concrete today, doubling up on the ends to catch the 8" blocks, and the first full sized 16" block that continues each course that requires the small ones on the ends. tomorrow we are working on framing the greenhouse, so the oven might have to wait a couple days. i guess no one is exactly sitting on the edge of their seat anyway... ha ha.

also, we drilled holes in the blocks that edge the doorway, and set bolts in the concrete, to anchor the lumber that will frame the door. the plan is to make a wooden door to the firewood storage that follows the curve on the corner of the foundation and (eventually) the hearth. i'll put a picture up later.

[ColonelCorn76]

Wait until you have to move and leave that behind. There will be tears aplenty then.

[paulages]

my whole place is full of hard-worked-on and emotionally attached projects like this...leaving this behind will just be a drop in the (tear) bucket. anyway, there's always learning from what you leave behind and building bigger and better, right?

[paulages]

by the way, here are the anchor bolts for the doorway. someone let me know if i'm posting too many photos.

[paulages]

bottom form for hearth

okay. is this framework for the hearth's bottom form, built as suggested in the plans, really strong enough to support a ton of wet concrete (minus whatever load the block stand is holding)? am i just being a typical carpenter and trying to overbuild? i think i'll add a couple more joists in for good measure...



-paul