New 36" Pompeii in Bondi

[BrendanLovesPizza]

Re: New 36" Pompeii in Bondi

this build may help Wozza

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/51/n...tml#post143730

hebel construction, light weight, easy

[oasiscdm]

Re: New 36" Pompeii in Bondi

Very easy Brendan. Simple as laying a brick but with each one laid equivalent to about 18 bricks.

Took a weekend and cutting wirh a panel saw how easy is that.

[Lancer]

Re: New 36" Pompeii in Bondi

The concrete is the killer.

I have a problem in that there is no easy access to the back garden. There's a tree alongside my deck at the back which means that I can't get wheelbarrow access from the side of the house to the garden. Everything has to come through the house (including the cement mixer for Chrissakes).

But I'll see what loose premix sand and agg would cost (plus bags of cement) and if there's a reasonable saving I guess I could get the loose mix dumped at the top of the drive and move it somehow through to the back. At least I could leave it all in the garden alongside where I need to mix.

That would be fun, carrying a ton of mix front to back (plus 10 steps) in a bucket. Who needs a personal trainer...

Just a thought, pile up everything you'll need for the project in the front yard. Then lay down the carpet offcuts and lastly use some cheap plastic sheeting and create a tunnel right through the house built on wood battens. Then move everything in one go.

That way the family can't see and you haul stuff through the living room, and all the dust will be contained. Also if you do it all at once you could hire a couple of high school rugby players to help with the chore.

[Wozza]

Re: New 36" Pompeii in Bondi

Landed some contract work over the last couple of weeks (I'm a draughtsman) and family events on the weekends means not much done recently. At least there's some more cash coming in to help pay for what I need.

But got the time to fill my hole back in so the ground is now at the right height for the foundation slab. I was going to form it up but there was a stump of a fig tree that we had taken down a few months back that needed digging out and Jeez, it took me all Saturday to do it. Muscles I didn't know I had are still aching.

I bought a 6 wheel trolley from SuperCheap Auto for $80 with a view to making it easier to get materials from the front to the back. I figured I'd sell it on Gumtree when I'm done. I've got about a thousand pavers to get from A to B to start but it definately wasn't as easy as I'd hoped. Anything more than 60 kilos was...tricky. These things are great for moving a fridge, but fifty trips back and forth with loose materials...maybe not so good.

[cobblerdave]

Re: New 36" Pompeii in Bondi

G'day
I know your pain trust me.
I at least didn't have to move everything through my house.
Everything was dropped inside the front gate. Then every block, brick, gravel, sand and cement had to be moved by barrow to the back yard. I worked
Every sat for ever it seems and many times it was only moving materials and not building. I'm so glad it was winter I would have never done it in the heat.
Still I got it complete and every sore bone was worth it. Crazy to do it all myself but my boys had just moved out and didn't need me demanding their time.
Now they come back unasked and help me with heavy tasks which I except readily. Its a bit funny to get " told off "by your boys for doing heavy lifting after all the years of being the family bulldozer.
I'm sure you'll get it done and except any help that's offered
Regards dave

[BrendanLovesPizza]

Re: New 36" Pompeii in Bondi

Wozza. Have you thought hard about a hebel constucted stand and suspended slab. Way easier, cleaner, no mixing, faster. Would really suit your build.
ebay has some power panels on sale cheap right at the moment.

[Lancer]

Re: New 36" Pompeii in Bondi

Ya its tough! I had to watch the guys haul stuff and it was really boring!

[cobblerdave]

Re: New 36" Pompeii in Bondi

G'day lancer
Simple really.
Age and treachery with always overcome youth and skill
Regards dave

[Lancer]

Re: New 36" Pompeii in Bondi

! Goodun cobbler!

[cobblerdave]

Re: New 36" Pompeii in Bondi

G'day lancer
The correct pronunciation is
Goodonya.
But close enough
Regards dave

[cobblerdave]

Re: New 36" Pompeii in Bondi

Wozza. Have you thought hard about a hebel constucted stand and suspended slab. Way easier, cleaner, no mixing, faster. Would really suit your build.
ebay has some power panels on sale cheap right at the moment.

G'day Brendan
I don't know enough about hebel to say whether its a great material for a stand.
For house construction it's used as a cladding rather than the structure like brick veneer construction. Of course with the added insulation value.
The forno stand is heaps overbuilt...
I built mine and my first thoughts were ... OMG ... If this thing doesn't work ..... How much work will it take to remove it!
The forno stand is pretty much bullet prove.... Earthquake zones, frost heaves, it really comes done to each of us as a builder to choose.
Regards dave

[Lancer]

Re: New 36" Pompeii in Bondi

Thanks for the heads up mate! :b:

They certainly are sturdy bases.

[BrendanLovesPizza]

Re: New 36" Pompeii in Bondi

G'day Brendan
I don't know enough about hebel to say whether its a great material for a stand.
For house construction it's used as a cladding rather than the structure like brick veneer construction. Of course with the added insulation value.
The forno stand is heaps overbuilt...
I built mine and my first thoughts were ... OMG ... If this thing doesn't work ..... How much work will it take to remove it!
The forno stand is pretty much bullet prove.... Earthquake zones, frost heaves, it really comes done to each of us as a builder to choose.
Regards dave

It may not suit every build, like you suggested, my choice was to go with a besser block, suspended slab construction. Which suits my site. But I could have gone either way. It may well be a better fit for Wozza. There are def for and againsts for both.

[Wozza]

Re: New 36" Pompeii in Bondi

I'm going with the blocks. I've already bought a few (it seems cheaper if you don't buy them all at once), so that's locked in. Which is not the case with the size.

I finally got the garden level and ready to set out the foundation and truth be told, it looked too big for the overall design. My lad expressed some concerns and I finally agreed. It seemed a bit too big. So...

It's now a 32" build. Or 800mm for us metric type guys. I actually set out that size on the table on the deck using clothes pegs. Well, they were convenient. And it looked plenty big enough. It'll suit most of what I'm likely going to put in there. And the size of the blockwork walls will now be slightly smaller than the hearth which means the whole thing will not be so imposing.

I've cut the wood to form the foundation and I have the reo and the mesh. Just need to order the road base this week, get it laid, then get umpteen 20 kilo bags of concrete, pick a convenient day and hire a mixer. Then just ensure there's enough beer in the fridge to keep me and the lad hydrated enough to pour the foundation.

[Wozza]

Re: New 36" Pompeii in Bondi

Progress! Foundation slab laid at last.

A half ton of road base was delivered last week. Had it dumped in the drive and a dozen trips with a wheely bin got it into the garden. I had some treated pine sleepers lying around, so they were used for the formwork and a couple of hours fart-arsing about with a rake and a shovel and I eventually got everything level then covered it all with plastic builders sheeting.

Fixed some reo around the edges, 2 rows down each side at 100mm and 200mm in from the edge and laid a metal mesh on top of those.

I’d bought 40 20 kilo bags of concrete from Bunnies (over a couple of trips while picking some other stuff up). Took half an hour or so on Saturday morning for me and the lad to carry them out the back. Then off to the local Kennards to hire a mini cement mixer ($60) and we were mixing and pouring soon after. Two bags at a time kept things ticking over and we were done in a couple of hours.

The exact volume was 0.38 cubic metres and I thought 2 extra bags would be enough, but curses, we were still a bit short so I had to nip back to Bunnies for an extra 5 bags. We used 42 in total, so the theoretical amount plus 10% seems the way to go.

Covered it with a tarp when done and I’ve been wetting it down a couple of times a day since. The grandson was around later on Saturday so we planted his foot in the relatively wet cement so there’s a topic of conversation for when he’s turning out the pizzas for his mates in twenty years time.

Edit: Took the tarp off the following Saturday and the slab looks good. Didn't really give it a smooth finish as it wasn't required, but the blocks seem to be sitting nice and square. I need to get some more concrete and I can fill every other hole in the blocks and then maybe get the hearth formed up over the Xmas break.

Anyone think I need to use reo bars in the block holes when I fill them with concrete?