NH Progress pictures

[Gentcpa]

More progress.

It felt good to finally complete the dome circle. Even better to pull out the arch forms.

My dome ended up low at the entry way arch. I will be able to fix that by not tapering the bricks over the next two courses. Kind of bummed about it but what is one to do, I guess I ws too aggressive about shaping the arch way bricks to meet the dome. You can see how the dome and arch interlock with each other so it all should be pretty secure.

Still should be on track for pizza on Thanksgiving.


Thanks for looking


Julian

[asudavew]

That's somewhat like mine turned out.

Don't sweat it. Many builders end up with a teardrop shape.

Now I did end up with some weird courses at the end.

But no biggie. A few 1/4 bricks, some triangle shaped cutoffs. Plenty of mortar!

It's all good.

Looking very nice by the way.

Keep it up!

[gjbingham]

Julian,
Really nice work. I just laid my floor today. I'm planning on using half bricks for the first row but I'm having trouble visualizing the transition to the oven opening while including a reveal for a door. I like the way you worked your situation. What are you going to do about fitting a door?

Thanks for your help.

[gjbingham]

Julian,
Never mind. I think a later photo shows the oven opening is flared, which allows for a natural stop. I don't have room for that. Nice work!
George

[Gentcpa]

GJBingham

You really don't need to flair the entry way to make an effective stop for the door. My flair doesn't amount to much more than 2 inches so I would imagine that you should have plenty of room.

If I was to do this again, I would either skip the arch and do a cosmetic one on the outside or just do an arch after the chimney. It would make the transition much much simpler and over one course instead of three. You won't really see it and would help with the door. Take a look at SarahH's pictures to see what I mean.

Thanks for the comments.



Julian

[gjbingham]

Julian,
Thanks for the suggestion. I'll check it out.
George

[Gentcpa]

More pictures:

The wedge shaped pieces on the side of the arch aren't attached, just me experimenting. I have managed to straighten up the front of the dome by not tapering the bricks for two courses in that area. The dome ended up low after I finished the transition. The top is starting to look a little irregular on the outside but is still nice and tight on the inside, though you can see where my keyway brick on the right slipped down a bit. I am my own worst critic, most people who have seen it think I need to switch to a different career, but I think I will stick to being a CPA.

Might be able to finish it this weekend. Not much else to report, the top is actually pretty easy so far and goes pretty quickly as there are much fewer bricks. The weather is still ok, but it has dipped below freezing for the last two nights.

I built the oven pretty far back, kind of wanted a bit of a shelf at the front, there is still plenty of clearance at the back for insulation and I have no problem reaching in to the oven. It isn't like I will be working the oven 40hrs a week so whatever to ergonomics.

[sarah h]

Hi Julian,

Looking good! I like the shape of your archway, even if it's just play at this point. I think you and I are both trying to finish up in similar weather conditions so I have my fingers crossed for both of us!

Sarah

[Gentcpa]

Thank you,

Yes, I really feel like it is a race against the weather. The weekend is looking good and temps are still above normal. Global warming isn't good at all, but it seems like the Winters are getting shorter which isn't a bad thing considering where I live. Glad I am not a Polar bear and the fact that they can now grow fruit trees in Alaska and someone actually went swimming at the North pole is a wake up call.

PS. Looks like my avatar thingy worked. That is our beast of a real GSD. He is actually really friendly when I am home. When I am not best not go near the kids or wife.

[Gentcpa]

So much for finishing the dome this weekend and racing cold weather. Instead this will be here tomorrow. Maybe the forecasters will be wrong.

Wish I could be wrong and laugh about it and say whew wasn't that great and still get paid.