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pompeii oven construction began today

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  • paulages
    replied
    how much portland cement is needed for the insulating layer?

    the math for the thermal layer using 90# sacks of quickcrete is easy, but i'm trying to get an estimate of how much portland cement i'll need for the 2" vermiculite mix layer. did anybody keep track?

    -paul

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  • paulages
    replied
    great, thanks! now i can frame the top form in and get ready for the pour.
    if only it would stop raining. damn you, pacific NW!

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  • ColonelCorn76
    replied
    In a heartbeat.

    I took a level to the underside of mine after it had cured & I pulled the form and it was dead level in both directions. Never moved a whisker.

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  • paulages
    replied
    i agree, i just want to be sure that the bottom form will be structurally sound enough to hold up so much weight before the concrete sets enough to hold itself up.

    -paul

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  • james
    replied
    Keep the photos coming

    Paul,

    Nice looking work, and keep the photos coming. The more the better.

    I always try to shoot for a balance on overbuilding with forms and things you don't see. It's like laying a straight line with wood floor under the baseboard. You'll know how great the work is, but no one else will!

    James

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  • paulages
    replied
    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

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

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  • paulages
    replied
    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?

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  • ColonelCorn76
    replied
    Wait until you have to move and leave that behind. There will be tears aplenty then.

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  • paulages
    replied
    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.

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  • paulages
    replied
    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...

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  • paulages
    replied
    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.

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  • paulages
    replied
    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.

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  • ColonelCorn76
    replied
    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

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  • paulages
    replied
    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?
    Last edited by paulages; 06-17-2005, 11:44 AM.

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