Block Stand Question - Pompeii 42"

[thomasmn]

I mainly did the insulating brick so I didn't have the Ceramic board touching the concrete (avoiding moisture wicking while getting insulating properties!)

We're actually neighbors! I am right down the road from you in Burnsville! We'll have to meet up for a beer sometime!

Absolutely. As you may know I had a tight deadline for finishing so it will have to be a meetup in August unless you want to come over Friday/Saturday to check it out! 2 months and 4 days to get to this point from breaking ground.

[RandyJ]

Hi Randy,
Haven't thought of that use case. Are there times when you'd cook things not in the dome and under the vent with ashes? Probably my newbie side asking this question.

Yeah as DJ said it is great for grilling. I have done several steaks that way and they are the best in have ever had. So I would say it is a good thing to do. I have a tuskin grill and will pull a nice bed of coles in to the entry and put the grill in. 2-2.5 min a side and the steak is done.

Randy

[RandyJ]

Absolutely. As you may know I had a tight deadline for finishing so it will have to be a meetup in August unless you want to come over Friday/Saturday to check it out! 2 months and 4 days to get to this point from breaking ground.

I think it would be great to meet up with you guys, and see the ovens. And august is probably the best time. I know I am very busy now too. I am impressed that you managed to complete your oven this fast Thomas. I moved pretty fast know mine and yoy beat me by a month or better. Congrats.

Randy

[Yeager]

Hi Randy,
When you put bolts in to connect the two concrete pours together did you epoxy the bolts in or use the anchor bolts? How far did you drill? I think I'll do a 7" pour flush with the front of the exterior so I can keep firebricks on the inside. I'll put insulating brick underneath. Then I'll have to decide whether I need to leave a 1/8" inch expansion on the arch sides with the firebrick floor. My original thought was to mortar (or concrete) the floor so water from rain can't get underneath and do bad things.

Also, How did you get the aggregate look on your concrete? Is that just pea gravel applied and grinded down or how did you do that? Pretty cool. I am thinking I might just apply a medium/dark gray color, but you've got me thinking.

[RandyJ]

Hi Yeager the anchors that I used are called drop-in anchors. The ones I used are for 3\8" hardware. As for how deep you drill the hole you just need it fully below the serface of the concrete. Then you just drop it in the hole and take a setting tool and pound the center of the anchors down and it wedges it in to place. I use them all the time at work and they work great. I don't remember for sure but they are rated to hold like either 800 or 2800#. I don't know if you can get them at menards or if you will have to go to fastenall. I would leave the 1\8" gap on the sides. Just good practice.

As for the concrete that I have on the lip of my oven that was a bit of a accident. I poored it in a mold so it was upside down and when I tried to grind it all the cement came out from between the gravel. I do not know what happened but I decided to use it at the time and now I like it. But it was supposed to be polished to 800 grit like the counter. I now like the contrast between the two but couldn't tell you how to replicate it. Maby someone here knows how.

Randy

[thomasmn]

Hi Yeager the anchors that I used are called drop-in anchors. The ones I used are for 3\8" hardware. As for how deep you drill the hole you just need it fully below the serface of the concrete. Then you just drop it in the hole and take a setting tool and pound the center of the anchors down and it wedges it in to place. I use them all the time at work and they work great. I don't remember for sure but they are rated to hold like either 800 or 2800#. I don't know if you can get them at menards or if you will have to go to fastenall. I would leave the 1\8" gap on the sides. Just good practice.

As for the concrete that I have on the lip of my oven that was a bit of a accident. I poored it in a mold so it was upside down and when I tried to grind it all the cement came out from between the gravel. I do not know what happened but I decided to use it at the time and now I like it. But it was supposed to be polished to 800 grit like the counter. I now like the contrast between the two but couldn't tell you how to replicate it. Maby someone here knows how.

Randy

I did something similar, but since I knew I was going to put in a lip like that so I tied 1/2 rebar all the way from the base through the blocks to the opening up to the lip!

[RandyJ]

Yes if I would have known that I was going to do the lip that would have been maby a little better way to go. Otherwise the drop ins work great. We hang very heavy stuff off the ceiling with them all the time, so I have no worries about them.

Randy

[Yeager]

Drop-in's with bolts installed. The 3/8 were rated 1800lbs+ for both torsion and shear each - so I think I'll be good.

My oven floor is 7" up and am thinking of pouring the next lip flush with front arch at a height of 6 3/4. This would give a 1/4" drop over ~12" from the inner arch that I could slope the entryway towards the exit for water. I would then mortar the entry bricks together with caulk on the 1/4" gap on the sides (this would be to prevent water from entering and provide a slight slope back if it does). Thoughts?

Also, I drilled a 1" hole for Electrical to go through my tabletop in one of the corners - should I use grey PVC or metal conduit?

I checked with Tamarack supply and they'll deliver my steel studs/durock for free (hitting minimum order). I have to order studs and durock for my oven and rest of outdoor kitchen so should be pretty easy to get the minimum. That way I can order 20' studs and not have as much waste (I hope!).

thanks,
Yeager

[RandyJ]

Hi Yeager I would say that looks great. I like the idea of the 1\4" slope to help shed water. Mine is also sloped just slightly like that. What did you think of the drop-ins. They are pretty slick and easy to use.

As for the electric I would go for the gray pvc. If you need to it can be heated and bent. To bend you can get away with a heat gun or torch. If you use a torch keep it moving had spin the pipe you don't want it to look like a roast marshmallow. When it gets like a wet noodle you are good to go. It is amazing how fast the steel conduit will rust out.

I also think that you are smart to have it delivered if you can get away with it.

Randy

[Yeager]

Hey All,
I poured my second countertop today. It is 1/4" lower than my oven floor. I used the charcoal qwikcrete color to jazz it up a bit. Went fairly well, I hired a neighbor kid to help with some of the work (I am getting old!).

I unsuccessfully tried to pickup some 10' 2x6 & 2x4 18 gauge steel studs today. It was painful and will spare the details. As I saw what the price for the framing was going to cost, I started to ask a couple questions:

- What about dry stacking with 6" blocks (filling core with concrete/rebar) versus steel studs / durock. I did the math and it would appear to cost about 35-40 per side (four sides!) which would be considerably cheaper than steel frame and durock.

- Why not use 2x6 Lumbar for roof? Most are already using plywood - why not for the framing on the roof also? If you have the clearances from the flue (2" usually), would that be unreasonable? Might be dumb question, but thought I'd ask.

- If you have 3 inches of insulation and backfilling the rest of space with vermiculite, what would be the clearance needed for the oven for combustibles?

[RandyJ]

Hey Yeager there is no reason why you can't use the cinder blockspeople do that from time to time. I also got a bit of sticker shock when I bought my metal studs. I spent well over 300$ on my small enclosure and roof. So I can see why you are trying to save costs. As for the roof most recommend the steel studs, but if you do 3" of blankets and then backfill with vermiculite I can't see a problem. Just make sure you keep away from the chimney the 2" needed. That is how you would build a house after all. I can't wait to see how the counter tops turn out. They are looking good so far. I also did the black additive for my counter top. It is amazing how it jazzed it up. Are you going to polish the counter top or leave it as it is? Keep up the good work.

Randy

[Yeager]

Hi Randy,
Thanks! Your oven is quite remarkable and you've set the bar high! I am thinking of polishing the new countertop. How did you do yours? Did you use a orbital sander with continually adding water or did you buy a wet sander? What sanding material did you use?

I started my curing fires this weekend. I did a 200 degree fire yesterday and 300 degree fire today. I am going to order the steel studs from Tamarack tomorrow and have them delivered. I need to get 1 5/8 18 gauge also, but I think they need to special order that.

thanks,
Yeager

[RandyJ]

Hi Yeager. I used a RO sander with some polishing pads that I got off Amazon. It worked very well. I would say my sander will never be the same again but it will cost me less that a quarter the price of a water polisher to buy a new one. I would poor a little water on the slab and run it for a while and then wipe off the slurry that develops. And just repeated the process. I would recommend doing the polishing before you do the stone work. I might have stained a few blocks on mine doing it after. It doesn't take super long to do it. I will see if I can find the packaging from the pads tomarrow.

Congrats on starting the curing fires. It feels good to start that. Just curious where are you going to use the small studs?

Randy

[Yeager]

Hi Randy,
I am going to use them on my outdoor kitchen bar/island/grill. It appears that is what the systems on bbqcoach.com uses (with concrete countertops, etc). I could use the traditional 2x4 steel framing, but these would give a little bit more room for storage, a little cheaper, and a little lighter weight! How much time did you spend on sanding? Guessing most of the time is on the 60 grit to get it all at same level, then progressively work up in the grits?

thanks,
Yeager

[RandyJ]

I see. That makes sense. I don't remember just how long I spent, but it was not to bad I think a few hours. Maby a little longer. Yes most of the time was on the 60 grit. Then 100 and so on. Here is the set I used.https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0056...89L&ref=plSrch.

I hope the link works. The product worked great and I would recommend it.

Randy