house brick for stand, quick quetsion

[CrocAu]

Re: house brick for stand, quick quetsion

Assuming that you are going to put a vermicrete layer over it and then stucco/render I wouldn't worry about it. The vermicrete will be the start of the shell and the outer layer will complete the shell. Incorporating a vent to allow any moisture that is trapped between the dome and the outer layers is a good idea.

Close to flame!

i'm using litefill/cement mix, is this what you call vermicrete?
so in short i have 50mm (2 layers) of ceramic blanket, chickenwire on top of it and i'm "rendering" that with litefill/cemet (5:1) then i was thinking of painting or stucco (is this cement render?)
is there better way of weather proofing my igloo?

[david s]

Re: house brick for stand, quick quetsion

I don't know what lite fill is, but vermiculite or perlite only weigh around a kilo for every ten litres, so see how your stuff compares, as generally the lighter the material is, the better an insulator it will be.If you are using your mix over the blanket it would be better to make it 10:1 as it will insulate way better than 5:1. You don't need strength in this layer, just something firm enough to render onto.
Australians call it render; Americans call it stucco. Same thing.
It is a good idea to let the insulating layer dry, then drive out the moisture completely with the curing fires before doing the render coat(s).

[CrocAu]

Re: house brick for stand, quick quetsion

after reading more on the bag lite fill = perlite
will do all my curing with perlite render only then later on will apply normal render (stucco) or pain it with acrylic as some people done it.
considering that my oven will be exposed to elements is there some sort of elastic render i could use to maintain good seal? also how water proof is perlite/cement at 5:1?
should i keep on covering my oven while curing or once is dry i can leave out in open?

[mrchipster]

Re: house brick for stand, quick quetsion

after reading more on the bag lite fill = perlite
will do all my curing with perlite render only then later on will apply normal render (stucco) or pain it with acrylic as some people done it.
considering that my oven will be exposed to elements is there some sort of elastic render i could use to maintain good seal? also how water proof is perlite/cement at 5:1?
should i keep on covering my oven while curing or once is dry i can leave out in open?

Keep it covered, perlite cement is like a sponge and will absorb a lot of water you should cover new cement mixes for a week to allow them to cure but after that they should be allowed to dry.

[CrocAu]

Re: house brick for stand, quick quetsion

Keep it covered, perlite cement is like a sponge and will absorb a lot of water you should cover new cement mixes for a week to allow them to cure but after that they should be allowed to dry.

does it stay water absorbent after fully dried? in other words if i'm happy with its look after perlite cement is cured and is it safe to leave it out in the open exposed to elements or is this absolute no no?

[david s]

Re: house brick for stand, quick quetsion

Dry it and cover it if it looks like raining. Until you do the render coating it will just absorb the rain.

[CrocAu]

Re: house brick for stand, quick quetsion

well sort of finished the oven, I didn't set depth markers so now i'm bit worry i got few low spots with perlite/cement mix around dome so might do extra layer or two next time sun is out.

[stonecutter]

Re: house brick for stand, quick quetsion

Your flue transition is very clean...nice job.

[CrocAu]

Re: house brick for stand, quick quetsion

Your flue transition is very clean...nice job.

I can't take credit for this, the flue gallery came like this from guy that sells the bricks, mortar, etc... it is made out of castable reinforced with some steel pins i liked the idea behind it and I would say it saved me day of work to get it right so all i did was to put it on bed of mortar and keep it leveled.

[CrocAu]

Re: house brick for stand, quick quetsion

hope my pro skill at photoshop show what i plan to do

my question is how do i build this up all the way around with extra perlite/cement mix? will it stay put in place on it own or should i put extra chicken wire in place?

hope to get this going tomorrow

[david s]

Re: house brick for stand, quick quetsion

You can simply add another layer over the existing one, but start from the base and work up. If you tap the surface with the flat of your trowel you can get a surprisingly even form.If it were mine i'd be waiting a week for the existing vermicrete to dry (pray for sun and wind, no rain) before doing your next layer.

Hmm, Melbourne winter, you might be waiting a long time. You may have to rely on fires in the dome to do the drying.

[Toomulla]

Re: house brick for stand, quick quetsion

Concrete / cement/mortar cures by chemical action and will cure under water, the wet will make it better the cold will slow it down. Concrete and mortar reach design strengths in 28 days and 75% at 14 days so I would go for 2 weeks.

[CrocAu]

Re: house brick for stand, quick quetsion

oh dear, trying to work with extra chicken wire on top was BAD idea.
simply going on top of the existing shell with trowel did the trick, had just little extra work with one batch that i made little more wet than i would like but 3 other batches went on troubles free.
I figure I got now 2" of ceramic blanket and anywhere from 2"-4" of perlite/cement mix.
around floor/bottom courses of bricks and the top i got around 4" and about 2"-3" mid section. I should be happy with that going by all my readings around forums.

here it is

[CrocAu]

Re: house brick for stand, quick quetsion

i still got my decorative render to go and paint but all the important bits are now done so let me just say THANK YOU to everyone that posted in reply to my questions (some of it silly i'm sure) every going past drouin/warragul and want to drop in to say hi let me know and I make sure I have a cold one waiting for anyone that helped.

[david s]

Re: house brick for stand, quick quetsion

Drive off the water from the vermicrete before you do the render, otherwise you'll probably crack the outer shell.