Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

[Frances]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

Hey, I completely missed this one... what fantastic arches! On the stand and the patio, very very cool.

Do you happen to have any pictures of those big arches going up? Is that some kind of veneer, or did you use natural stones as covering?

[oventhusiast]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

The vermiculite looks fine! (And the rest of the build looks super!) As for more insulation, I really DON'T think you can have too much! I just may dump another 6 cubic foot bag down between the outside edges of my clay flue chimney to get more around the flue and the front wall. (or take a small piece of cement board off of the 'house' and fill it up solid! Insulation keeps it hot for days!
Best of luck on the build,
Rick

[egalecki]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

I let mine sit for about a week under plastic, I think. It was still damp when I took it off. I used insulating board on top of mine too. The vermiculite does eventually dry, and as Dmun says, it's sort of like cork then. If you pick at the edges, it will come off. If you press in the middle, nothing. Just don't pick at it.

I left my form on to protect my vermicrete while I built, but I used cove base for my form, so it wasn't in the way at all. You should be fine- I was just extra cautious. (and worried about the pickers in the family)

I took what seemed like forever to get my dome finished- off and on most of the summer. By that time it was pretty dry underneath, but the shell took a while to dry out when I was curing. You just have to be patient. (easier said than done, I know)

And no, you don't have to wait to lay the floor after you put the board down. You ought to be just fine with your time frame. Just make sure the board's level. I didn't even use anything on top of the board to set my floor- it was so flat it didn't need it.

[dmun]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

The one constant in the years I've been coming to the FB forum is people saying how weird insulating concrete is to work with. I said it myself:

Insulating concrete is wierd stuff. It has a really crumbly texture, and doesn't seem to hold together at all. It doesn't begin to "float" like regular concrete: By patting it down with the trowel after I leveled it to the forms I got somewhat dense, uniform surface. I'm going to take it on faith that this stuff will harden up to a rigid substance.

It does dry out and harden up to a cork like consistency.

[geisen]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

Exceloven: Thanks for the reassuance. Still doesn't look right but if it worked for all of you....

egalecki: I have a temp awning over it to keep the direct sun off, but plastic might be a good call too. slower drying is always better with concrete, so probably good for this goup too.

gjbingham: Did it dry hard eventually? Or can you still cut into it? This would explain why folks can't get a hot floor until after the curing fires dry it out.

[geisen]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

I am going with a layer of Insulation board on top of the Vermiculite/Portland mix. I know, overkill. But I am trying to prove the point that you CAN use too much insulation

I plan on waiting two weeks before adding the Insulation Board (not because i am disciplined, just don't have time).
Is that long enough?
Do I need to wait after that before laying the WFO floor?
Greg

[gjbingham]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

I think I took my forms off after 3 or 4 days to hasten the drying process. I don't think it helped. It was easily 4-6 weeks later that I cut back into the stuff in the area of the entryway. It was still very moist in the middle of the layer.

[egalecki]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

Yep, it will hold it up. Looks good. You might want to put a piece of plastic on top to slow down the drying...

[exceloven]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

Greg,
No worries, It looks just like it supposed to. Now the patience to leave the forms on for a week. Keep up the great work.

Mark

[geisen]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

Some thing's in life you just have to take on blind faith. Dry Mix 5 parts soil addative (vermiculite) with one part Portland cement, add water until it feels like oatmeal and pour???? This is going to support 1K lbs of brick??? OK here I go.

Really not sure about this. Poured it to form on Sunday. Gonna let it dry for a week before I pull off the 2x4s.

[gjbingham]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

Nice start on the oven. I think it was a great idea to have the contractor do the stand for you. It immediately commits you to the project. It should look really cool with the arches behind it when all is said and done. Look forward to progress pics!

[james]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

....So while most of these threads start with a foundation, mine will start with the stand.

Good planning. We should all plan ahead this well!

Keep us up to date -- spring is coming, and in SoCal, it might be here already.
James

[SteveP]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

The stone work looks fantastic; it looks like a great area for entertaining. The WFO should really set off your back yard now. Looking forward to seeing the finished oven.

[Modthyrth]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

You'd think that 10x10 is a reasonable size--until you realize that it's right in front of the french doors leading into the back yard, which are about 9 feet wide. If I put anything out there, I completely block access to the backyard, unfortunately. We built our outdoor kitchen area adjacent to it, and plan on putting up curtains and treating it as kind of an outdoor foyer until we can rip it down and do something more grand like yours. Someday. Once the porch isn't completely covered with tools and bags of masonry materials. ;-)

[geisen]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

acbova: Thanks.
exceloven: 2yrs ago it was all dirt, see attached. Invitation is always open for free labor and expertise .
Modtyrth: 10x10 sounds like enough room for a Jacuzzi/WFO combo.
Ken: Thanks
Dino: Been lurking on your thread for months. Your photos and detailed explanations have been great. Keep it up.