Post by Happy Baker on Feb 25, 2012 15:44:00 GMT
So, the footings were dug ...
And then filled in again!
I went off and bought the blocks ....
And then they were used!
And that's the progress so far ...
I have the reinforcing, that was brought home this afternoon!
Tuesday we will be putting a slab underneath, and then the main slab ...
The shopping list so far:
2 tonnes ballast
1/2 tonne sand
12 bags cement
1 Pallet blocks
Reinforcing 785 mesh
4 1/2 (Don't ask about the 1/2!) bags vermiculite
Oh, and the oven - delivery due Monday!
Then, next week ...
2 more tonnes ballast
10 more bags cement
Fireclay
Blanket
Well, we went away for a few days, and this is what happens ...
Before the vermicrete was added - and here I made a bit of a booboo ... :oops: I had read somewhere that the mix was 5:1 vermiculite to cement - no mention of sand ... so it has no sand in there. I subsequently read that there should have been 1 sand too. But it's too late to worry, and it's setting nicely!
The wood store - large because we use wood all year round, so need to store as much as possible. We will be using the back of this to store unseasoned wood. Then our knees don't get too much abuse!
We have a "built in" barbecue that cannot be used if it rains - so that's coming down and this one replaces it. The chimney pot is a plant pot I have had for years with the bottom knocked out.
There is going to be more space with the other barbecue down, and I can build another woodstore along the back of the house.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And last night we cooked on it all!
OK, so we used the camping cooker, and the Gillie Kettle, but the thought was there, and the pasta delicious
Then I nearly baked my legs with the chimenea. A good evening :?
Gosh, long time since I last posted! Things just seem to have not been done inside. ;D
Here goes - the next installment.
At last the dry run ... the third side arrived in one piece, so we could carry on.
(subtitled, "can you tell what it is yet?")
OK, so WWT, when you said about putting the lid on after, you weren't joking, were you? This is when I realised I couldn't reach more than halfway in, thank heavens for the long arms of the neighbour!!
The inside (well it couldn't be anything else, could it?).
The ceramic insulation blanket is on.
This was my favourite bit - I really enjoyed putting the vermicrete on to the dome (reminded me of making mudpies when I was little!) and even though my hands dried out and were like sandpaper for a few days, it was worth it! The gloves lasted two minutes, so in the end it was "just get in there". At this point Mac's wife came round and was cringing at what I was doing - it was funny.
The arch ...
And here is the finished item ... the render is on (I had fun with that one too, but with trowels this time). The render was mixed up with a powder and fibres which I bought in a packet from Wickes to stop it cracking. Thought that as it was so hot it would be a good idea.
The chimney is the stainless pipe that came with the dome, with the pot put over the top, and the gap between them filled up with vermicrete. I then found the chinese hat that used to be on the other chimney, and popped that up there!
I sprayed the dome with Jewsons High Performane Silicone Waterproofer. I would have done it a day or two afterwards had I read the can, it says it breathes, but I left it a week. So the hot weather has hopefully dried out the dome a lot. Thankfully we've not had too much rain down here, so I only had to cover it up once.
I shall be painting some other stuff on top of the silicone, but that's at one of the neighbours at the mo! As we like the colour of the render as it is (Runfold sand) we won't be painting it, just "varnishing" it.
Today I will be mainly tiling. I have slate flooring (not Welsh, unfortunately!) left over from the kitchen and sitting room floor just begging to be used.
The next episode will be the cooking - oh yes!
So, the next part of the "shopping list"
(apologies for any duplicates!)
Ceramic insulation blanket
Roll of chicken wire
Fireclay
Cement - 2 bags
Lime - 1 bag
Vermiculite
Sand - 2 wheelbarrows full
Wickes No crack concrete admixture
Now I just need to wait another week or so before the small fires can be lit ... woo hoo.
Got some more pics (gloating really - we did the tiling today ... whoopee!)
and with fire ...
The temp seemed to go up fairly quickly on the inside walls, but the oven thermometer went up about 20 degrees!
The smoke is more a heat haze, and I'm so happy!
Unlike the terracotta paint we bought, I'm going to change that!
Cooking in it soon, we hope.
Well, the other night we cooked supper in the oven - woo hoo - seemed a shame to waste the heat we had!
So, our chicken and rice was toasted fairly well with the Perry (or beer) and as we'd "smoked the neighbours", an inspection was carried out by him (with beer, of course!). We decided that the way to fire this oven is to get the kindling going, then add smaller splits at about 1-2' square, ensuring flame. This then keeps the heat going up the chimney as a haze, rather than smoke. Not a problem when there are just the embers to worry about!
The next jobs are to put handles on the brushes and the shovel, so we can deal with warm ash!
Yesterday I went out while it was raining, and watched the rain just slide off the dome, so the waterproofer really does work.
Luckily over the years I have collected cast iron cookware, some of it hasn't been used for ages, but I'm quite happy because it will be used again! Some of it came with the Bert (?free gift?) and is in regular use, but hey ho!
Recycle, re-use, reduce!
Well, tonight was BRILLIANT and quite unexpectedly problem free!
We invited next door round for pizza - on a strictly developmental basis! I made the dough this morning, and then we lit the oven at about 4 ... so we were eating pizza at about 6, until about 7 30! The first one out of the oven was delicious, although took longer to cook than we thought. Guess we didn't get the temperature up high enough.
Our First ...
Well, they did get better, and although I actually lit another fire to get the heat up, we also baked the bread ...
We call them hernia loaves ...
So, I am one extremely Happy Baker.
Thank you guys, I really appreciate the help you gave me to get us this far.
And then filled in again!
I went off and bought the blocks ....
And then they were used!
And that's the progress so far ...
I have the reinforcing, that was brought home this afternoon!
Tuesday we will be putting a slab underneath, and then the main slab ...
The shopping list so far:
2 tonnes ballast
1/2 tonne sand
12 bags cement
1 Pallet blocks
Reinforcing 785 mesh
4 1/2 (Don't ask about the 1/2!) bags vermiculite
Oh, and the oven - delivery due Monday!
Then, next week ...
2 more tonnes ballast
10 more bags cement
Fireclay
Blanket
Well, we went away for a few days, and this is what happens ...
Before the vermicrete was added - and here I made a bit of a booboo ... :oops: I had read somewhere that the mix was 5:1 vermiculite to cement - no mention of sand ... so it has no sand in there. I subsequently read that there should have been 1 sand too. But it's too late to worry, and it's setting nicely!
The wood store - large because we use wood all year round, so need to store as much as possible. We will be using the back of this to store unseasoned wood. Then our knees don't get too much abuse!
We have a "built in" barbecue that cannot be used if it rains - so that's coming down and this one replaces it. The chimney pot is a plant pot I have had for years with the bottom knocked out.
There is going to be more space with the other barbecue down, and I can build another woodstore along the back of the house.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And last night we cooked on it all!
OK, so we used the camping cooker, and the Gillie Kettle, but the thought was there, and the pasta delicious
Then I nearly baked my legs with the chimenea. A good evening :?
Gosh, long time since I last posted! Things just seem to have not been done inside. ;D
Here goes - the next installment.
At last the dry run ... the third side arrived in one piece, so we could carry on.
(subtitled, "can you tell what it is yet?")
OK, so WWT, when you said about putting the lid on after, you weren't joking, were you? This is when I realised I couldn't reach more than halfway in, thank heavens for the long arms of the neighbour!!
The inside (well it couldn't be anything else, could it?).
The ceramic insulation blanket is on.
This was my favourite bit - I really enjoyed putting the vermicrete on to the dome (reminded me of making mudpies when I was little!) and even though my hands dried out and were like sandpaper for a few days, it was worth it! The gloves lasted two minutes, so in the end it was "just get in there". At this point Mac's wife came round and was cringing at what I was doing - it was funny.
The arch ...
And here is the finished item ... the render is on (I had fun with that one too, but with trowels this time). The render was mixed up with a powder and fibres which I bought in a packet from Wickes to stop it cracking. Thought that as it was so hot it would be a good idea.
The chimney is the stainless pipe that came with the dome, with the pot put over the top, and the gap between them filled up with vermicrete. I then found the chinese hat that used to be on the other chimney, and popped that up there!
I sprayed the dome with Jewsons High Performane Silicone Waterproofer. I would have done it a day or two afterwards had I read the can, it says it breathes, but I left it a week. So the hot weather has hopefully dried out the dome a lot. Thankfully we've not had too much rain down here, so I only had to cover it up once.
I shall be painting some other stuff on top of the silicone, but that's at one of the neighbours at the mo! As we like the colour of the render as it is (Runfold sand) we won't be painting it, just "varnishing" it.
Today I will be mainly tiling. I have slate flooring (not Welsh, unfortunately!) left over from the kitchen and sitting room floor just begging to be used.
The next episode will be the cooking - oh yes!
So, the next part of the "shopping list"
(apologies for any duplicates!)
Ceramic insulation blanket
Roll of chicken wire
Fireclay
Cement - 2 bags
Lime - 1 bag
Vermiculite
Sand - 2 wheelbarrows full
Wickes No crack concrete admixture
Now I just need to wait another week or so before the small fires can be lit ... woo hoo.
Got some more pics (gloating really - we did the tiling today ... whoopee!)
and with fire ...
The temp seemed to go up fairly quickly on the inside walls, but the oven thermometer went up about 20 degrees!
The smoke is more a heat haze, and I'm so happy!
Unlike the terracotta paint we bought, I'm going to change that!
Cooking in it soon, we hope.
Well, the other night we cooked supper in the oven - woo hoo - seemed a shame to waste the heat we had!
So, our chicken and rice was toasted fairly well with the Perry (or beer) and as we'd "smoked the neighbours", an inspection was carried out by him (with beer, of course!). We decided that the way to fire this oven is to get the kindling going, then add smaller splits at about 1-2' square, ensuring flame. This then keeps the heat going up the chimney as a haze, rather than smoke. Not a problem when there are just the embers to worry about!
The next jobs are to put handles on the brushes and the shovel, so we can deal with warm ash!
Yesterday I went out while it was raining, and watched the rain just slide off the dome, so the waterproofer really does work.
Luckily over the years I have collected cast iron cookware, some of it hasn't been used for ages, but I'm quite happy because it will be used again! Some of it came with the Bert (?free gift?) and is in regular use, but hey ho!
Recycle, re-use, reduce!
Well, tonight was BRILLIANT and quite unexpectedly problem free!
We invited next door round for pizza - on a strictly developmental basis! I made the dough this morning, and then we lit the oven at about 4 ... so we were eating pizza at about 6, until about 7 30! The first one out of the oven was delicious, although took longer to cook than we thought. Guess we didn't get the temperature up high enough.
Our First ...
Well, they did get better, and although I actually lit another fire to get the heat up, we also baked the bread ...
We call them hernia loaves ...
So, I am one extremely Happy Baker.
Thank you guys, I really appreciate the help you gave me to get us this far.
although the first time all the neighbours came round it started to rain and they didn't move 
large patio brollies are the order of the day.
I seem to remember that the smaller stuff is better, but that may have been my imagination 
any pointers?