Michigan WFO Brick Oven Photos Discuss Michigan WFO in the Good Background Information forums; Wow. I hope mine turns out half as nice as that....

[jmhepworth]

Wow. I hope mine turns out half as nice as that.

[mfiore]

Wow, guys. Thanks for the comments! I've really been quite stressed about the roof. (again, lack of construction experience playing a role)

I spent a lot of time at the library, reading what little material they had. Slate roofing is not used very much in this area. I found the "Slate Roof Bible" by Joseph Jenkins, as well as his website, to be a real gem. I also picked up a hand slate cutter. This has proven to be indispensable to me. It cuts slate quite nicely and punches holes well.

[glindhout]

Mike,

Everything looks awesome! Thanks to your great photographs taken along the way, and those of Dino's, I'm moving pretty quickly on my WFO in Grand Rapids. I'm still afraid of an early snow, but I'll deal with that if I have to!

What type of cement mix and aggregate did you use for your concrete countertop pour? It came out beautifully! I'm thinking of using crushed glass in mine, but I really like your stones and the finished color of the concrete. Any suggestions?

And were you able to buy preformed copper edge trim for your roof, or did you make it yourself from rolled stock?

Thanks! Greg

[mfiore]

Thanks, Greg. That plastic heated enclosure should give you some time yet. You are cruising right along.

For my cement mix, I looked into several products. Considered buying some counter specific stuff online from Cheng Concrete. This was really more expensive than I wanted. Menard's carries bags of concrete counter mix, but they were also pretty expensive. I ended up using plain old Quickrete 5000 psi mix. I mixed in a handful of brownish colored, small pea gravel. When I did some trial squares, I really liked the aggregate that was part of the mix. I don't think any of the pea gravel made it through. The aggregate that you see is just what was premixed in the bag. I colored with a blend of liquid colorants, primarily brick red and tan. All items from Menards.

I suggest making some samples, measuring the colorant, mix, etc carefully. I found this to be quite helpful. My goal was to match the slate roof. If I were to do it again, I would have waited until I had chunks of slate chips. This stuff crushes into tiny aggregates or powder. I'd mix that into the concrete for exact color matching. Crushed glass would be very cool.

I got preformed copper edge online from Joseph Jenkins, Inc. Joseph Jenkins, Inc. Internet Sales*::*Flashings*::*Copper Drip Edge*::*COPPER DRIP EDGE - Jenkins, with cant

I like the drip edge because it was preformed. You can also get it with a built in cant at the edges. This was helpful. The copper for the chimney flashing I am forming myself.

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Hey GReg

What type of cement mix and aggregate did you use for your concrete countertop pour? It came out beautifully! I'm thinking of using crushed glass in mine, but I really like your stones and the finished color of the concrete. Any suggestions?

maybe these links will help you out...

Embedding Glass in Outdoor Concrete Countertops - The Concrete NetworkConcrete Connections Website - Rebar Size in Concrete Countertops: It Can be Too Big - Nuts & Bolts > Compression, Tension and Reinforcing - Articles

Cheers
Mark

[glindhout]

Awesome, thanks Mark!

[mfiore]

I worked out the flashing around the chimney. Here was my approach. The dilemma I had was tucking flashing in around irregularly shaped stone. The step flashing is likely easier with brick chimneys. Since the stone was costly, and I was I was afraid I'd run out anyway, I didn't want to put up stone just to cover it with copper.

I had some extra brick around. I used the brick saw to cut them in thin pieces, 1.5 inches (same average thickness as the stone). I mortared them on the cement board chimney surround for areas I planned to put the step flashing.


I then put stone on the rest of the chimney, as well as a decorative brick cap.

[mfiore]

I filled in the gap between the flue tile and the chimney surround with vermiculite-concrete mix (I thought that would give some flexibility for expansion).



I then put on a concrete "cap" to keep the water out, and put on a flue cap. I'll caulk the gap, still.

[mfiore]

I found the copper difficult to work with, initially. I quickly learned that if you don't use a brake or tool to bend the metal, it can be difficult to get clean bends.

I made a simple device out of 2x6's, some lag bolts, wing nuts, and hinges that worked well.

[mfiore]

I put the pre-bent overlapping pieces of step flashing over the brick, nailed to the roof, and grouted all the joints.