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Post by turkey on Jun 20, 2012 12:54:31 GMT
i have an old path down one side of the lawn about an inch down I think, as soon as it gets slightly sunny you can see the grass does not do as well there, I had to take a SDS drill and go along breaking it up as much as possible to allow moisture through. Its not perfect but there is no way I have the patience to rip it all up just for the grass's sake lol. Advice is more than welcome Never thought of the compacted clay tho, I can see that being an issues, especially if you are at the lower end of a development.
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stevo
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Posts: 118
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Post by stevo on Jun 21, 2012 9:47:11 GMT
Yep, you've described the exact way that the builders built our estate!
I've known the area for years and the field used to be farmers land, all the top soil was stripped and sold on. Our garden comprised of crappy soil but mostly thick thick clay - and i'm talking actually yellow in colour. We dug massive drainage channels and backfilled it with rubble but it's still a bit wet in one corner hence the reason of the massive oven foundations and raised decking area whch means we'll be above the wet ground.
I received my order yesterday, totally underestimated the size of pallet that would turn up with the bricks!!! Funking huge
Stevo
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Post by bookemdanno on Jun 21, 2012 12:39:22 GMT
That path is always going to be an issue Turkey. An established lawn can have some roots a foot down or more, which it'll use more as the weather gets dryer. Maybe adding a water retaining substrate, like any left over Vermiculite may help, along with a slow release fertilizer, but as you'd have to take up the section of lawn anyway to incorporate it into the soil then a little more work lifting the old path would be a better solution.
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stevo
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Post by stevo on Jun 25, 2012 13:57:26 GMT
I'm going to start on the cooking surface of the oven this weekend as i managed to get the layer of thermalite blocks cut this weekend (between the mental torrential rain showers and banging hangover). I've picked up a £20 gazebo from Argos to semi-shelter my building work so i'm going to go for the first stage.
The question is, what mix of sand/fireclay should i use to put my 40 brick floor down with? 1:1?
Cheers Stevo
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Post by turkey on Jun 25, 2012 18:00:03 GMT
a 1:1 mix is what I used, fireclay and sand. I tried to get the thermalite as level as possible so this part was semi easy. I am sure the bricks where not uniform but I do not remember it being too hard, in fact trying to get them at 45 degrees with minimal waste took more planning than time spent laying. was good to get them on as that felt like the first part of the oven proper :-) I did not seal the thermalite blocks as per terrys note below, I just got them wet so they did not draw all the moisture out the just off dry mix i used to bed the firebricks in with. Seemed to go ok. Sorry for the mummbled mess, I posted from a tablet which seems to have its own mind on spelling auto correction mid word so sometimes it s fight to get the actual word out in one go. After a long fight and a few glasses of wine it can all go down hill and this post was probably one of thoes casualties
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Post by cannyfradock on Jun 25, 2012 18:31:55 GMT
Stevo
Can't quite pick the bones out of Turkey's last comment, but I believe my method is similar if not the same as his.
I use a mix of 50:50 semi dry powdered fire-clay and sand. If your thermolite blocks are bone dry, then a 5;1 mix of PVA/uni-bond and water painted on the surface of the blocks will help adhesion.
Other WFO builders had added a small portion of lime and/or cement to this mix for piece of mind. If the mix is not semi-dry, you will find that the previous bricks laid (on wet mortar) will rise....or "float"...making it difficult to get all the bricks to an even surface.
You probably know, but just in case....but the hearth bricks against each other tight, without any mortar/mix between them.
Terry
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stevo
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Post by stevo on Jun 26, 2012 10:09:28 GMT
Thanks T & T,
Semi dry as in quite crumbly? I presume that whatever moisture is in it will be driven out and then set rock solid with the heat?
The hearth bricks was the next question i was going to ask, i've noticed that nobody uses mortar in between them but i was going to clarify.
The gazebo is going up this weekend as the digit definitely has to be extracted on this project - i will not be defeated!!
Stevo
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Post by turkey on Jun 26, 2012 11:43:09 GMT
HI Stevo,
my mix was damp not wet, so you could not squeeze water out but it had water mixed in, it was wet enough to form a ball of the stuff if I remember but in reality applied thin and if you have a toothed float score it so you can level the bricks nicely. I just used a trowel to make the indents to allow levelling of the bricks and it was fine.
I damped down the thermalite so they did not suck the water straight out of this as it was a fine balance.
nothing inbetween the blocks at all, tight as you can manage to make as smooth a surface as possible, small cracks will fill up with ash soon enough so do not matter at all.
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stevo
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Post by stevo on Jul 2, 2012 9:57:01 GMT
I managed to get time at the weekend to lay the hearth. I remember someone on here saying that once thats down, it really feels like it's coming together - he was correct, it does feel like it's coming together!! some of the bricks weren't as close together as i wanted but the a few of the faces on the bricks weren't as flat as they could have been - not a disaster. Also i think i took the "semi dry" mortar too literally, but i sorted that out after the first row, and gave the first row a bit of a wetting. I'm hoping to have all the brickwork done by next Monday (got a long weekend coming up) Stevo Attachments:
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stevo
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Posts: 118
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Post by stevo on Jul 2, 2012 9:57:26 GMT
The finished hearth. Attachments:
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Post by cannyfradock on Jul 2, 2012 10:23:45 GMT
Any gaps between the bricks will soon fill with fine ash from firing your oven. I built my hearth inside the dome (some build it on....others in) so any large joints around the edge I filled with the semi-dry mix and let the ash fill the rest.
As you mentioned the fire-bricks are not all exactly uniform, but you can "touch off" any corners that stick up with a 4" angle grinder with a stone grinding disc.
Terry
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stevo
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Post by stevo on Jul 2, 2012 12:07:47 GMT
I thought as much, i'm going to go over the front of the bricks as well once i've finished just to dress them up a bit.
Getting there...
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Post by turkey on Jul 2, 2012 12:25:21 GMT
it really is amazing how laying the first bits of firebrick make it all seem real, I found it gave a real boost in motivation as it had taken me best part of a year to get to that stage. Enjoy the next phase its probably the most fun
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stevo
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Post by stevo on Jul 2, 2012 12:58:16 GMT
Time is what normal people have... not me. Ze vife and I decided to whip the whole garden into shape in a year - this culminates in a BBQ for our anniversary in 33 days.
Promise something like that, invite 50+ people and it'll quickly stick a rocket up you!
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stevo
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Post by stevo on Jul 2, 2012 15:27:54 GMT
I made a couple of design changes. It's a lot easier actually looking at how big something is in real life rather than on a computer screen - basically it was going to be absolutely MASSIVE. I stood with the bricks on the hearth last night and looked at the height then decided to change it. Now the internal dimensions should go from 300mm in the corner to around 370mm at the peak of the arch. Stevo Attachments:
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