Change of plans...help!

[waynebergman]

A lot of things went wrong today. My first brick slide and a tough time trying to mortar from the inside of the oven the gaps between bricks. A 36" internal oven size is too small to squirm around in and try and do something like this. No room to move arms and I am a bit clostraphobic. A 42 " oven would be a better move here for sure. I have found the ideal plastic form to shape the bottom of my huge keystone I plan to pour with mortar and busted up bricks. A plastic lid from my ruffneck garbage can is going to do the trick. I plan to oil it up so mortar doesn't stick to it and wedge it up under the brick work shown so far. Then add the mortar and bricks as a 2 part pour. I figure pouring about a one inch layer of mortar on top of big lid with brick pieces added. The shape of my big lid is the same radius as the 19" height of oven so as the mortar pour keys into the side slope of existing brick work. I think things should stucturally act as my arched enteryway where the ceiling arch will stay put and strong as its sideloading into lower and outbound brickwork. After the one inch pour sets up I will take out garbage can lid and then fill up the remaining 3 or so inches of mortar and brick work to fill in and complete the dome brickwork. In theory this sounds like it should work to me but thougth I would throw this out here for some feedback. Any coments or suggestions are as allways appretiated....thanks wayne

[asudavew]

Re: Change of plans...help!

I gotta think about this one Wayne.
....

Let me sleep on it.
and you too!

[gjbingham]

Re: Change of plans...help!

Wayne, it sound workable.

I reread the plans today. It calls for cutting down the size of the bricks to 2X2X4.5 inches. This makes the bricks stick much better because the weight is so much less.

I found the first brick in the row the hardest to keep in place. I used Dave's stick method, then gave it a few minutes to solidify, then alternated ends of the row that I put the next brick. The previous row seems to suck the excess moisture out of the mortar and after a few minutes, you don't have to worry about them anymore.
George

[waynebergman]

Re: Change of plans...help!

My main issue here is I dont want to crawl inside the oven to fill in gaps with mortar. So this is why I want to fill in last opening with my original posting idea. I figure this mortar either works or it doesn't and I am at the point now were the space remaining is small eneogh to fill in as I described in original post. I realize if I cut my bricks smaller they will stay in place easier but I am more interested in my idea if there is anything with it that is not a worth doing...thanks wayne

[Les]

Re: Change of plans...help!

Wayne,

I'm not that well informed on the product, but it seems to me, if you are going to use that much mortar, in the place you are applying it, it should be a "castable mortar". Apparently there is a difference. It would be a shame for it all to go "south" from the point you are at.

Les...

[Frances]

Re: Change of plans...help!

Sounds like you've come up with a good idea to finish the dome without having to crawl into the oven. But the castable mortar I used on the vent was a completely different product from the mortar for the bricks, so I agree with Les. Hope that helps...

Frances

[Gentcpa]

Re: Change of plans...help!

I might not be fully understanding the problem. However I would pull the forms and cut the remaining bricks in thirds. You can clean up what you have so far and work with dome through the top hole that you have now. Use enough mortar so that you squeeze out extra mortar on the next courses so that you don't have to go back and fill in gaps afterwards. I have been using C-Clamps to hold the top bricks in place for a few minutes. Everyone else is correct in that the smaller bricks stay in place better and will hold after a few minutes. Also the smaller brick will reduce the size of open wedge between the bricks.

Also I do not believe mortar is designed to fill such a large area as the top of the dome and could be very susceptible to cracks. If you do go that route you would want to use the castable stuff.

Hope what I said makes sense and try C-clamps it has worked very well for me and I am almost done.

Good luck


Julian

[gjbingham]

Re: Change of plans...help!

You could probably hire some neighborhood kid to do the inside work for you too. It only takes a few minutes per row.
George

[wlively]

Re: Change of plans...help!

Wayne if you want to go that route, I would suggest castable, as that is what it is made for. Even then they suggest steel needles as reinforcement.

Another option is to really butter up brick and lower course as you set, so that you get alot of extra oozing out. It is then pretty easy to sponge the seams clean from the top.

If you are dead set on your plan I would recommend also adding some stainless needle for more reinforcement. And making sure the brick pieces are wider at the top than the bottom, just in case you have some cracking or seperation.

Good luck

[waynebergman]

Re: Change of plans...help!

good advice. I do have a bag of castable and the needles.thanks...wayne