PizzaJNKY pompeii build

[gjbingham]

Check out mine as well. Not as well done as Ken's. I used simpler cuts as much as possible. The thread is: George's Pompeii Progress.

Enjoy the build. You'll find yourself suddenly done and your mind suddenly unoccupied in no time. That's a real let down.

[PizzaJNKY]

I have mortared in my soldier course, and now there is a hair-line crack that runs through/parallel with the mortar line between two of the soldier course bricks.

Should I be concerned about this crack? Did I do something wrong with the mortar mix, or is this expected?

[james]

Did you soak your bricks? It's possible the dry bricks sucked the moisture out of the mortar. Possible?

James

[PizzaJNKY]

Ooops. I knew I forgot something. From here on out, all bricks will be soaked.

As for the first discovered crack, do you think I need to repair in some manner?

[gjbingham]

It might not be a bad idea to knock out that brick, soak it, then reset it. Check the others closely. You might have more cracks.

[PizzaJNKY]

Ouch. I was afraid of that. Looks like I will be busy repairing on Saturday, instead of continuing with the build. Thanks for the reply, I think it would have been worse to continue, then find out that I should have repaired it early on.

[james]

Hey George,

I think we might have actually helped somebody today. Way to go. :-)

PizzaJNKY, the re-do won't take much time and is probably worth it. We're driving north Saturday; we'll wave as we drive by,
James

[PizzaJNKY]

Here is a quick update on my struggles. I built the first arch, pulled the form too soon, then the whole thing tumbled. Built it a second time, waited a day, and it worked, but it just didn't look quite right, so I broke it down. It appears my weekend is booked, but I may get a second chance at it on Sunday.

I think part of my problem has been that I am in such a rush to finish. I think I am going to start taking my time, slow it down a little. Less mistakes, higher quality.....I hope.

[mfiore]

We'd love to see some photos on the forum.

[gjbingham]

PizzaJNKY,
I was just killing time while my daughter was biting my ankles the other day. I was paging through a masonry book. It recommended a week of cure before pulling arch forms. That was for the upper half of a brick "moon window" - basically a full brick circle. If the you don't fit those arch bricks tight and use a keystone, I'd give it a full week.