36" in Seattle Brick Oven Photos Discuss 36" in Seattle in the Good Background Information forums; Yeah, I had a similar thought actually, just to keep the concrete patches semi-rectangular to encourage rational cracking. Thanks though....

[kebwi]

Yeah, I had a similar thought actually, just to keep the concrete patches semi-rectangular to encourage rational cracking. Thanks though.

[Dino_Pizza]

Ya, I agree with Papavino, pouring the thinner slab after with the rebar connection is fine. BTW: your Meshworks drawings are great!

I was lucky enough to have a friend donate prebent rebar and I did a lot of tying rebar pieces with rebar wire to connect them as well as overlapping the rebar in the brick cells and filling most with concrete. (see me picasa web album folder on the foundation).

Also, although it was a pain, I used construction string (you've seen the pink and yellow stuff at HD) and tied them to wood stakes 2 feet from the slab pour, so that after I floated my slab, I put the strings back up and they intersected at the 4 corners that marked the middle of the 1st block cell in each corner, then slipped a piece of rebar into the wet cement so I would have at least 4 pieces of rebar sticking up out of the slab. When cured (5 days later) I then I dropped my corner blocks over those rebar and filled those cells with concrete. Ideally, you should use a "J" hooked rebar, pre bent, but a straight pieces stuck into the we cement is better than non.

Since you are in earthquake country, your attention to good rebar reinforcement is a wise idea. Good luck on your build, it's good to see someone put so much attention and thought into it and it will make for a well made oven.

[kebwi]

Thanks, Meshwork is a nice tool. It's pretty dated, and unfortunately, the last version that was ever produced is lacking some fundamental features, but I don't really want to spring for more modern commercial software...too expensive.

I planned on stringing the foundation to mark the wall and then preinstalling the vertical rebar. Thanks for the push though. Actually, what I was *really* planning on doing was putting little wooden plugs in the foundation instead of the rebar itself, then pulling them out to reveal a hole I could drop the vertical rebar into so it would stay centered in the core when I fill concrete around it, but maybe embedding the rebar directly in the foundation is just as good an idea...except that some of my vertical rebar might come up, cross to the next core, then go down again, which obviously won't work if I embed the rebar in advance.

Whatever, it'll all work out...assuming the Seattle autumn rains doesn't prevent me from pouring the foundation entirely until next spring. Uuuuuuuuuuugh. My plan was to do the major foundation pour this coming weekend. The forecast is sketchy at best.

[kebwi]

The foundation is finally ready to go. Gravel is filled and level, form is nailed, masonite curves are done. You'll notice in the photos that I chiseled out the forms to make a lip for the masonite. Its curved tension holds it in place without any nails, but I put some in anyway so the concrete wouldn't spring them out while pouring.

I already have plastic purchased for the vapor layer and a pile of rebar and mesh cut up and bent, ready to go.

The big day is Saturday. The wife and a friend are lined up to help. I hope to get that damn foundation over and done with this weekend so I can move on to the next stage. It seems like this has taken forever...and it's not even done yet.

[kebwi]

Here's a dreadful shot of the vermiculite I got my hands on, possibly laced with rockwool; I haven't bothered to look yet since it was free anyway.

The other shot is one box (of two) of the bulk fiber I got. It is InsWool HP, obviously intended for the first dome insulation layer, a blanket surrogate in effect. I'm thinking I can hold it in place with chicken wire despite its unwoven consistency. The guy I bought it from, who is a glass blower, said this stuff will dry out if it gets wet and regain its full value. In fact, he suggested that the best way to install it was to intentionally soak it, then pack it on relatively densely while wet. I have been weary of intentionally compacting insulation since such behavior violates my intuition about how insulation fundamentally works, but other discussions on FB about 6# vs. 8# blankets have suggested that packing and compressing insulation is actually a good thing to do. Do people concur on this? Each box is 24"x18"x12", 25lbs. I think two boxes should be sufficient for a 36" oven.

[kebwi]

Big day!!! Woo hoo!!!

Continued in next post...

[kebwi]

Continuation of previous post.

[vintagemx0]

That's great! I bet you're your relieved to have that milestone behind you. I remember preparing our site and pouring the slab to be one of the most brutal parts of our project. No stopping you now!

Ken Morgan

[kebwi]

Since this thread is the official record of my build, I will briefly reference another thread I posted last night in which I expressed some concern about my resultant foundation:

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f28/...tion-8120.html (A tad concerned about my foundation)

Bottom line, I think I made the concrete a tad bit on the dry side...and if one were interested in aesthetics (I'm not w.r.t. the foundation since it will all be covered eventually anyway), floating it probably would have helped. I didn't float it because I couldn't imagine what floating would do...which in turn resulted from the dry texture I got in the first place: I just couldn't see how swirling a little toy plank around that dry crud would have done anything. If it had been wetter to begin with, it would have both reduced surface crumbling and motivated me to float by permitting me to believe such an endeavor could have a tangible effect.

So, I'm keeping the surface constantly misted and covered by plastic for several days. I think it'll be okay, if perhaps a bit gritty and ugly as all heck.

Lessons that will be applied to the wall cores and the hearth.

<Sigh>

[kebwi]

250 medium grade fire bricks, purportedly 8lbs according to the place I got them (I-XL Masonry in Bellevue WA), but I haven't weighed them myself. 159 in my friend's truck, 91 in my Forester (which is 200 lbs lighter than the concrete I ferried home in my Forester).

Nobody cares about this but me, but they're just so pretty.

Cheers!