Casting seating wall in Concrete Outdoor Kitchen Design Discuss Casting seating wall in Concrete in the Outdoor Kitchens and Living Rooms forums; If you have access to a hammer drill. They work great for vibrating. Chuck up a cartage bolt and let ...

[mannextdoor]

If you have access to a hammer drill. They work great for vibrating. Chuck up a cartage bolt and let the round head do the hammering.

[CajunKnight]

very nice indeed. makes me want to consider a poured stand even more now.

[christo]

Elizabeth - I picked up 105 feet of IPE decking late last week and it looks wonderful. So I'm committed to wood for the top of the benches.

Ken - thanks

MND - nice idea - I did not make it to the orange tool store to buy a stinger so maybe I'll buy the hammer drill instead - I can make the tool smaller to work around my rebar this way.

CK - I had a good time making the forms and I think if you don't have to worry about reusing the forms again - it's even easier. I was suprised that I had some deflection in the inner cores of the bench - I did not think that 2 inches of concrete would exert that much force....

Third bench is out of the form today. They keep looking better. This one was in the form for only 12 hours. I was worried I would chip an edge but pulled slowly and firmly and could hear a sucking sound as the moulding pulled free from the face. - If I do it again - I hope I remember to cut the back side of the moulding at an angle vs 90 degrees - that would have helped with the release.

Christo

[christo]

Update.

All 5 benches made it from a single form. The form was getting a slight bit of an orange peel look to the surface during the last 2 pours but went well. I think Vegetable cooking spray on the forms combined with Wiley's advice of taking the forms off early in the process really helps.

After seeing Morishita-san's oven stand - I really loved the glass block and changed my plans to include some.

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/atta...-files-287.jpg

So I reworked my column design to replace the inset panel with Glass block. I also got a bit more ambitious on curves and angles.

So far, I'm really happy with the results - 4 more columns to go!!! With the long legs on the base it looks a little Asian to me - but when the patio pavers go in, the legs will be much shorter and may lose a little of that look. The first one had an issue with blow out - I had to stop vibrating the concrete as I reached the top - but all in all - not too many voids.

Christo

[Frances]

Very cool! Great fun to watch it all develop, I love the columns.

[christo]

Thanks Francis.

it is more work that I thought it would be, but with a day or two behind me, I'm liking it better.

Christo

[egalecki]

I like it a lot! The glass block is a great touch, especially with it lighted like the picture. I am having trouble "seeing" the whole layout in my mind, though- do you have a plan you could post? The decking on the top of the seat is a nice color, too.

[christo]

I don't have a sketch of the patio handy - I think I cleaned up and it's buried in a pile of papers somewhere.

I took a panorama shot and took a picture from the deck looking down on one end of the patio. It's a big patio but not huge like the picture implies. The picture should be a large arch - the patio is shaped like a D with the pizza oven at the apex of the arc.

Last 2 weekends were killer - one weekend devoted to making forms and this past weekend resulted in a pour and some other detail work.

All in all - 5 columns and 5 benches - next caulk in the glass block and wire up the lighting!!! Then cut and assemble the bench tops. I had planned on the columns acting as planters - but with the glass block I may have to put somekind of cap stone or wooden top.

Christo

[egalecki]

The panorama makes it look as big as a football field!

It looks like a wonderful setup. Are you going to do any acid staining or anything on the concrete? If you end up having to do a cap on the posts, you could always do a potted plant on top of that, and then you'd still have the greenery. I can see some nice ferns there... although I always kill the poor things. If you can't eat it, I tend to ignore it...

[David Manchester]

Cristo,
Wow, it must take forever to form all that out!I know what you mean about re-using some of the forms for the benches. Sometimes they are a one time thing and don't come off that easy. Looking really good!
Dave