42" in the Upstate of South Carolina "Southern Hospitality"

[Gulf]

Not code, but I was out of twist ties and we poured a day early when some unexpected help showed up.

[Doodbird]

We were able to work on the oven Friday and part of the day Saturday. We have had rain several days over the past week or so.

If I had to provide food and shelter by laying blocks, we would starve and freeze.

As I cut the corner blocks in half, I split a block horizontally. It seemed to hold together well. I may go with the 4" cut block on top to get the height where we want it.

We had about 1/2" to make up over the 80" run, so we are trying to add a 1/8" to each layer of mortar on the low side. A blind man riding by on horseback at night will never recognize my poor mortar joints. I'm glad these will be covered once the oven is complete.

The half-block on the center row will be coming down. It was laid in a rush as the rain moved in. I should have laid a full block there. We are hoping to get more blocks laid each evening this week.

[NCMan]

Nice progress, Neighbor!!

[Chach]

We were able to work on the oven Friday and part of the day Saturday. We have had rain several days over the past week or so.

If I had to provide food and shelter by laying blocks, we would starve and freeze.

As I cut the corner blocks in half, I split a block horizontally. It seemed to hold together well. I may go with the 4" cut block on top to get the height where we want it.

We had about 1/2" to make up over the 80" run, so we are trying to add a 1/8" to each layer of mortar on the low side. A blind man riding by on horseback at night will never recognize my poor mortar joints. I'm glad these will be covered once the oven is complete.

The half-block on the center row will be coming down. It was laid in a rush as the rain moved in. I should have laid a full block there. We are hoping to get more blocks laid each evening this week.

Very Nice! It won't matter much just be close and level the top of the structural slab. Use a Mason line to keep the same height it will help you keep yourself close to level. Build one corner to the desired height and use that as your guide to keep all the courses in check with the Mason line pulled tight and level with a line level on the Mason line.

Ricky

[Doodbird]

Very Nice! It won't matter much just be close and level the top of the structural slab. Use a Mason line to keep the same height it will help you keep yourself close to level. Build one corner to the desired height and use that as your guide to keep all the courses in check with the Mason line pulled tight and level with a line level on the Mason line.

Ricky

Thanks, Ricky. I have been using a line, but I'm not able to use a wooden block because one side on the base is up against the house. I built the wood stands (in the pictures) that I move about and adjust with screws to put the line at the correct height. I am also using a clamp to hold the string on the blocks that are against the wall of the house.

We were able to lay a few more blocks last night. I'm hoping to be able to finish up with the block this week.

[Macrinehart]

Miles - Hello from Portland, I am following your progress and it's nice to be working in parallel with another project. I feel I need a proper name for my future oven. Will give it some thought. Cheers, Mac

[Doodbird]

Miles - Hello from Portland, I am following your progress and it's nice to be working in parallel with another project. I feel I need a proper name for my future oven. Will give it some thought. Cheers, Mac

Thanks Mac. I️ have been following your build as well. You are making great progress. Southern hospitality seems to be losing ground over the past decade or two. We enjoy having people over, so I️ couldn’t think of a better name. I️ was stationed out in Washington in the early 90s, and I️ climbed a good bit in Washington, Oregon, and Northern California in the early 2000s. I️ didn’t get to spend much time in Portland.

[Doodbird]

We were able to finish laying the block this week. I️ decided To use the half block for the top row. We made a ton of dust cutting all of those blocks. King Roo, our 12 year old deaf Scottie has been hanging out with me as I️’m working on the oven. Even he left me when I️ started cutting the blocks.

I️ shifted Gears today and pulled up a couple of large holly trees and put down 2.5 scoops of river rock before heading to a track meet.

We have lots of rain forecasted this coming week. I️ ‘m hoping to get several of the holes filled with concrete and form the upper slab.

[NCMan]

Nice progress. It's looking good.

[Doodbird]

[QUOTE=Gulf;n444702]

The way we just tackled this, on a recent 36" build, was to cut full 8" blocks in half and use them on the bottom course. We wanted rebar in the cores poured monolithic with the hearth slab. Placing solid 4" solid block at the top would not have allowed that. Granted, we did not have near as many block to cut as you seem to want and we elected to mortar (not dry stack) the block stand.

I️ didn’t take time in my last post, but I️ wanted to thank Gulf for the idea of splitting the 8” block horizontally. This saved purchasing 4” solid block and drilling through them for rebar.

Between track meets and rain this week, it doesn’t look like much will get done on the oven.

[mongota]

Progress! Looking good!

[Doodbird]

Thanks for all of the encouragement.

No real progress on the oven this week. We had rain most of the week. We did finish up spreading roughly 9 yards of river rock on Friday. I had planned to pour concrete in the corner and center holes of the base yesterday, but the wind was high and the temps were steadily falling...and I was dragging from the rock on Friday. It dropped back down to 20 degrees last night. We are hoping to form the upper pad this week. With one running in college and one running in high school, the spring and the fall are loaded with meets.

I'm glad to have the river rock job behind us. That is Elenor (one of our larger Century Plants) under the tarp. She is hoping to get out of jail next weekend. Ursula is another one of our Century Plants in the pot to the right. She is a little homely from neglect before we bought the house. Putting her in that pot was like wrestling an octopus with teeth on its tentacles.

You can barely see the corner of the oven base peeking around the house in one of the pictures.

I'm considering a rock finish on the oven like NCMan's build. I'd like to get opinions. Any thoughts on the rock walls connecting to the brick house. Really looking for thoughts on aesthetics.

[NCMan]

Hi Miles. Yes, it's been about the same weather here, but a bit colder, even. Love those plants, but don't think they'd survive here. Too cold up here in the mountains. Regarding your stone against the brick, I think that would look nice. What I would recommend, is where the two meet at the wall, leave a very small gap and find a good quality colored caulk (I like Sika products, but there are many out there) to seal the joint, as it will contract and expand a bit and caulk will flex to help w/that. If you tried to mortar the joint, not only would it be messy, but it will eventually shrink and crack, leaving a small crack. A good caulk is the way to go w/that. Whatever color your mortar is going to be, I'd find a caulk to match it and it'll look great and function the same. You may also want to tape or somehow cover the brick when working real close to it, to keep from getting it all over the brick wall. Best of luck!!

[Doodbird]

Hi Miles. Yes, it's been about the same weather here, but a bit colder, even. Love those plants, but don't think they'd survive here. Too cold up here in the mountains. Regarding your stone against the brick, I think that would look nice. What I would recommend, is where the two meet at the wall, leave a very small gap and find a good quality colored caulk (I like Sika products, but there are many out there) to seal the joint, as it will contract and expand a bit and caulk will flex to help w/that. If you tried to mortar the joint, not only would it be messy, but it will eventually shrink and crack, leaving a small crack. A good caulk is the way to go w/that. Whatever color your mortar is going to be, I'd find a caulk to match it and it'll look great and function the same. You may also want to tape or somehow cover the brick when working real close to it, to keep from getting it all over the brick wall. Best of luck!!

The weather has been a rollercoaster this year. Our tulip magnolia bloomed very early, and then we had a 20-degree night early this week. I'm not sure if the Century Plants would make it where you are. They handle cold pretty well, but they don't like frost on the leaves/blades. After removing a number of shrubs that were around the house over the past two years, I felt as if a makeshift cover would help out with the brownish purplish "burn" areas on the plant. If you are ever down this way, stop by. I will load you up with a few plants to try. These spit off pups all the time. I let Elenor out of jail this morning.

If I go with the stone, I will leave a gap for sure. Thanks for the information on Sika brand products. We will for sure cover the brickwork when we get to that stage. It is amazing how quickly mortar jumps on the surrounding areas.

We were able to fill about half of the block cores last night. I used cardboard to block off the holes (about 4" deep) to keep from having to fill the entire core. We did add rebar to the corners and filled those entire cores with concrete. My wife will be picking up a few lintels that I have stored away to strengthen the area over the wood storage area. I plan to beef up the concrete with larger rebar in that area, but I have the lintels, so I figured that I would use them. We are still hoping to have the upper slab formed this weekend.

Several of my oldest daughter's college track team are riding down for hibachi after a close track meet tonight. I'm hoping to squeeze in finishing up with the cores before I have to start cooking.

[NCMan]

Nice progress and I imagine the weather will get better real soon. We're still burning our woodstove at night. I will for sure let you know next time I'm down that way. I'm very interested in following your progress as are others, I'm sure. You are doing just fine and there are lots of experienced builders here that are more than happy to help you along the way. Thats what makes this site and this forum such a great resource.