SPRING!!! and a new project

[Frances]

Funny! I tried something similar for the top of my oven chimneya while back, but decided it would be too heavy for the vent... Maybe I'll give it another go sometime, with a thinner layer of cement.

[cvdukes]

Frances
Is it just my imagination, or were you using a witches hat as the inspiration for that shape? You could have a wicked hot oven!

[Frances]

...aaww, you guessed...

[cvdukes]

Saturday, we had nearly 4 inches of rain, so everything planned for the weekend was essentially a wash. Finally couldn't take it any more and slogged out to retrieve the vent top to bring it back into the garage to get something done.

The conical top that I had constructed had gotten flattened because I had set the peice upside down on it while I packed mortar into the side walls. Since the top had not fully hardened, the weight got to it.

Had a little bit of the grey fibeglass reinforced cement mix (Bonsal Surewall), so mixed up the batch and was able to extend it just enough to cover the inside and outside of the peice. Did a really lousy job keeping it out of the wire mesh that the smoke will flow thru. Covered with palstic overnite,

Yesterday was a big change in weather. Pushing 80's and sunny. Hit the mesh screen with a good spray from the power washer and got most of the concrete out of the mesh.

Got to spend the next couple of weekends working on the pool, so expect this will sit for a while before I get back to it.

[cvdukes]

Another rainy day, so it put me off my other project. Things cleared enough this afternoon to drag the ladder out to the monster chimena and stick the chimney top on it. Right now it just has a thin bed of fireclay mortar at junction of the top holding it to the rest of it. There's going to have to be a lot of mortar on the outside to smooth things up. Then a final coat of fiberglas reinforced cement inside and out.
I know, I know... the chimney top is on crooked. The ultimate plan for this area has a trellis that will extend up to 8 foot high (the height of the ladder in the picture)... so the crooked part really won't be too visible.

Couldn't resist... had to burn some vermiculite bags that have accrued from the other project going on this week. Wet bags, so a lot of smoke. Monster doesn't draw as good as I would like. I'll have to add a finish-face around the fire-box opening.... cut it down in size a little especially at the top...That should help the draw.

[Xabia Jim]

Once it's warmed up with a real fire, it may draw better too!

[cvdukes]

I agree XJ...I'm sure that once it get hot it'll draw better, but I still need to do all the finish coats before I get too agreessive with the heat. The other problem I can see is that because the door opening is soo big, wind could play the devil with the flames even though the opening is pretty sheltered. The front finish face will include a mantle and some kind of pillars that help to cut down on the wind swirling it some.

[cvdukes]

I've been awol a while... working outside everynight till after dark and by the time I've come in, I haven't felt like logging in.

Update on the monster:

I originally figured that I would not try to finish out the beast until cooler weather returns in the Fall... so much for my figuring... It looks now like a 95% chance that this project will be finished while it is still Spring...Go Figure!

Got the edict handed down from the wife that the projects have to be finished by the time our youngest graduates from H.S., since many of her family are traveling here for the event. Unfortunate for me, that is just next week. So starting last weekend, I've been building a huge pergola over the party area. The perogola puts another 300 or so square feet under some type of cover...but this has involved moving about 10 tons of heavy clay soil around by hand to make a level spot in front of the beast. (Tthe wife hasn't seen the hole on the other side of the pool that I've been "borrowing" the dirt from.... eventually it'll be filled in with compost to make a blueberry patch but til then, its best she not see it)
Construction of the pergola is mostly done with a few minor details to top off the week. By the weekend, I hope to turn attention back to the beast... Plans are to pour a concrete hearth on the front of it and attach a finish veneer. Also need to pour countertops on either side of it....but I'm looking at a 4 day weekend, and as long as I don't stop to roast a pig (tempting!), it should get done. Well, mostly...I'll still have to stucco over with the fiberglass concrete and don't see that happening before the middle of next week cause there's still some house painting to do.

A few pics of where I am. The middle pic is from the upper side of the pond dam... You can get an idea how the pergoal wraps around the beast's chimney (the beast is the chimney on the far right right, the other chimney's are the pizza oven and oyster cooker/pig smoker.)
Tuckered out, so gone.

[Frances]

You sound busy...

Inspiring! Thats quite a layout you have there.

[egalecki]

So how do you hide a hole?

Man you've done a lot of work. I have two graduating next weekend, but even with company coming, I am not going to have all my outside stuff done. I have to clean inside...

It all looks really wonderful to me- I wish I had a backyard big enough to plant blueberries...