George's Pompeii progress

[gjbingham]

Re: George's Pompeii progress

OK, I decided to pour the concrete up to to level of the vermiculite insulation pad. I pulled out the interior forms and hand mixed 8 bags of concrete yesterday and poured around 75% of the dome.

I'm basically killing time till I can cure my dome and I have other stuctural issues to deal with anyway. I took out the forms under the concrete hearth slab today. I had a vision of the whole 2 tons falling in on me while I was knocking out the legs under the plywood. I'm stll here! Amazing.

Still having the cantalevered entryway to deal with, I couldn't come up with any plan to pour this section than to rip up my vent/archway floor and vermiculite layer, then build new forms, place rebar in order to have enough mass sitting on the original hearth slab that the cantalevered section won't be subject to fracture. I'm just a little short of where I'd like to be to include a decorative arch out front and need more space, so I've kind of painted myself into a corner on this one. I've got to do something, I think.

So after a day of deliberation, I pulled up those floor bricks and went to work. I hit the vermiculite layer with a masonry saw blade. It went right through but left moist mud debris in the saw blade guard. The stuff is still wet in there after 3ish weeks! Regardless, I used a chisel and hammer to remove the vermiculite from the concrete slab. I comes out pretty easily.

On other fronts, I still can't remove the forms from the concrete pour yesterday so I'm waiting, less than patiently, to get going again. and frame in my cantalevered entryway.

In the mean time, I decided to do a casted vent, to which I will attach a double walled chimney,that will have to rise some 8ish feet to clear the house with 2 feet of clearance. God, this seems to go on and on.......
Pics are coming soon.
G'night
George

[gjbingham]

Re: George's Pompeii progress

Thanks JW,
That's another problem. (you're stressing me out) I'm kind of planning a counter/bar and BBQ L shaped outdoor kitchen. I wanted to start with the oven first, but it seems like it will be hard to finish without starting work on adjacent counter. I can't even imagine starting down that road yet.

I need to commit to a finish for the oven sometime, but I've still got time to work it out as I build the vent and deal with insulation issues.
G.

[jwnorris]

Re: George's Pompeii progress

I'm done! <snip> Anybody have a recommendation as to whether or not I should pour concrete up to and around the level of the insulation layer? Would this make the finishing process easier?? <snip> Ciao a tutti!

A lot depends on your counter top and what abuts to the dome of the oven [if using the igloo design]. I have an igloo dome and granite slab counters on both sides of the dome.

I had the counters installed before I stuccoed the dome. This allowed the stucco to meet the top of the counter and I did not have to fit the counter to the finished dome.

J W

[gjbingham]

Re: George's Pompeii progress

This was a fly that I was taught up in Alaska, at the Siyu (sp?) River Lodge. We used them for Silver Salmon. You'd catch fish until your arm fell off.

Anyway, it's a flashaboo (sp?) herring imitation, the mylar mirror type, blue back, dark green body, cut to about 3 inches long. It's super shiny and really pulsates when you give it little tugs on a downriver swing. I saw that steelie come up and hit it. I hooked a second fish from the same exact spot about 5 minutes after I landed that one, but lost it on the second jump.
Tight lines Dusty!

[dusty]

Re: George's Pompeii progress

Awesome steelie George! I too am a life long fisherman. And I especially look forward to this time of year - the fall king salmon run. But it's funny (I was telling Dave earlier) this year, I just haven't been out there much. I'm consumed by my project! Used to be that nothing could keep me off of the river. I guess I need to slow down or just get done, but I am enjoying it.
But before this thread takes an about face, let me say that your dome came out great! Very clever keystone. If mine comes out anywhere near that precise, I'm going to incorperate your tecnique.

dusty

P.S. What fly did you use? On our American river we have a big cattis hatch and tie them in all stages from nymph to emerger to adult. We also use glow bugs to imitate salmon eggs.

[gjbingham]

Re: George's Pompeii progress

Dave,
Yes, I've been fishing all my life, or at least since I was 7ish. My first and truest love. Salmon, Halibut, Tuna, Bonefish, Redfish, Spottet sea trout, Sailfish, Dorado, Yellowtail, little tiny wild Redband trout in remote places, the list goes on and on. I've loved them all. Somewhere, the thrill of the singing line has lost it's appeal. Seems like after thousands of fish, it's just not that challenging as it used to be. Maybe this is my new challenge. (but I still love to 'et em, so I still fish, especially when I run out of smoked salmon)
I'd love to hit the flats with you sometime though. It'd be a great day.
George

[asudavew]

Re: George's Pompeii progress

Ken, I just saw your newest pics on the photo boards. Amazing work!


I forgot one pic. This one is for Dave. I completely missed the salmon and summer steelhead season this year working on all my other projects. Here's a steelie from last year caught on a fly I tied. Kalama River, WA. (still had the Navy haircut then!)
G.

Serious fish envy here George!


Awesome fish.

[asudavew]

Re: George's Pompeii progress

2 thumb s up from Dave.

The keystone came out great!

Congrats~!

[sarah h]

Re: George's Pompeii progress

George ... CONGRATULATIONS!!
Great job on the keystone - wish I'd known that flour trick, I might have beat you by a day!! The inside of your dome looks great too - but best of all ... you're done! (Me too - feels amazing to get to this point, doesn't it?!)

Have fun with the next phase. I'll be watching for pix.

Sarah

PS - nice salmon!

[Frances]

Re: George's Pompeii progress

George, sorry no advice, but lots of admiration. Congratulations! Lovely dome you've got there!!

And now I look forward to seeing how you solve the vent/archway bit...

[jengineer]

Re: George's Pompeii progress

That is a beaut

[gjbingham]

Re: George's Pompeii progress

Ken, I just saw your newest pics on the photo boards. Amazing work!


I forgot one pic. This one is for Dave. I completely missed the salmon and summer steelhead season this year working on all my other projects. Here's a steelie from last year caught on a fly I tied. Kalama River, WA. (still had the Navy haircut then!)
G.

[Ken524]

Re: George's Pompeii progress

Beautifully done George. I had to whack the heck out of mine to get it in also. That's what we get for making them fit so perfectly!

Yeah, I think it's safe to pull the forms now

[gjbingham]

Re: George's Pompeii progress

I'm done!

Well, done with the dome at least. Here's the closing:

My keystone fit precisely. I went through about 20 rounds of dipping the brick in flour, pushing it in the hole, then grinding away the high spots where the flour got rubbed off. The process took about an hour or so, but it fit like a glove.

I mixed up some mortar, gave it a light coat, dropped it in........ The thing sat up about 3/4ths of an inch. I banged and banged on it and got it down to a half-inch. No good! I had to beat the heck out of it from inside the dome to get it out. I removed all the mortar I could and gave it another try.
and it seated better.

Several good whacks with a rubber mallet got it down to around an eighth of an inch short of fully seated. Good enough! I didn't want to break the brick and have to start over again. As you can see, the top of the dome is as rough as an old cobblestone road anyway.

The one rather large mortar joint up there actually has a brick keystone in there that came up about a half inch short. I just mortared right over the face of it.

Walt came over for the final stone and we slapped the remaining mortar on the exterior brick.

So that's it for now. I guess I can take off the forms, huh? )

Anybody have a recommendation as to whether or not I should pour concrete up to and around the level of the insulation layer? Would this make the finishing process easier??

Thank you to everyone for your help and advice on the dome construction. I've got to study the brick archwork for the vent and entryway before I get started the next phase.

Ciao a tutti!

[gjbingham]

Re: George's Pompeii progress

Ha! Les is right! It does look like some space-time vortex. I think I can feel it's gravitational pull, even from where I sit )

Frances - I would have loved to finish yesterday, but it was getting dark and I had a lot of cleaning up to do. It's going to be a gorgeous day today after the fog burns off. They're predicting low 60s and crystal clear skies. (This wierd weather worries me. We still have yellow jackets and hornets flying around - in November????)

So Sarah. Let's get out there and finish our domes simultaneously. I'll look for your pics later. You may already be done, while I still sit in darkness, waiting.........

George