Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

[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.

[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

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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

[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?

[geisen]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

Frances
No pictures of the arches going up. They started with some monster footings, with a couple of 4x4 posts bolted together. 4 arches all together with a balcony over half. arches were framed out with plywood and 2x4s. covered in black paper and stucco mesh wire. concrete scratch coat applied and then the manufactured stone is applied like tile. colored grout is squirtted in joints from a masonary bag. The company that makes the fake stone, El Dorado Stone, is very impressive. they mold 1000s of actual stones of all different types; make the veneer our of concrete and add color/texture.

Same thing I'll be using to cover the WFO.

[geisen]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

FB Insulation board came in. Cut it with a hack saw blade and laid it yesterday. No sand or motar to hold it in place like the web site says.

Ordered a wet saw from HD.
24 In, Dual Speed Wet Tile Saw, 2 HP Motor, 10 In Continuous Rim Diamond Blade $398.97

Hopefully it will get here by the weekend. Need to start cutting some bricks to generate the fire clay to mix with the sand for the hearth.

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

Nice job Greg. I got impatient so I bought an $8 bag of fireclay and mixed it with the washed sand. It worked OK, but when I had to re-do some front pieces on the landing, I used the brick powder in the wet-saw-water-tray and to my surprise, it works much better. It's creamier and hardens just a bit more than purchased fire clay. If you shave your soldier course to have little mortar (most don't do that) or if you cut the tops of the soldiers at and angle to get you dome starter (like I did) you should generate enough. If you don't, you certainly can cut a bunch of bricks in half or 3rds. Cheers, Dino

[geisen]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

Picked up all the bricks from RCP and laid out the pattern for the hearth. Also built a cutting area next to the house to contain dust and overspray during the brick cutting.

When I went to RCP to pick up the fire clay they said they had in stock, the bag was marked "motar Clay". They said it was the same thing. True?
$10 for 50lbs bag

If not, anyone have a source for fireclay in San Diego?

[Modthyrth]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

Yep, mortar clay and fire clay are the same thing. At least that's what the people at the masonry supply assured me.

[exceloven]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

Greg,
Very good idea for the saw set-up. My area where I cut is still really dirty. You should be able to roll up the plastic and be done with it. Love the wine glass......... perfect for what we are all doing. You'll be using that to go with your pizza in no time.

Mark

[geisen]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

Spun up the new wet saw today and cut my first firebrick of the project.......yeeeeeaaa. Cut like a hot knife through butter. A little wet to use but not too bad. Knocked out the cuts for the Hearth floor in just over an hour (41.5" diameter). Soldier course will go on the outside of hearth with 1/4" space for expansion all around. BTW, the plywood under the hearth is just there to protect the insulation board underneath while working on the bricks. Not permanant.

[geisen]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

I did my intial layout of my hearth on a piece of plywood. Once all the bricks were cut, I traced the outline of the hearth on to the plywood. I then centered the "indispensible tool" and traced a circle 1/2 inch larger to an exact 42". I traced the center board onto the plywood as well. I then cut out the shape of the hearth and the center board. This board will give me a pattern to trace on the insulation board and will also act as a protective barrier while the courses go up.