Cheesesteak's WFO build - Take Two.

[Cheesesteak]

Okay - I'm embarking on WFO #2.

My last WFO was part of a complete backyard remodel that I did myself - over about one year or so at my old house. That remodel consisted of a roughly 900 sf patio addition, outdoor kitchen, modular WFO, smoker, etc. Concrete counters, El Dorado stone facades, lots of blood and one trip to the hospital for stitches.

A before pic, and some in progress and finished. I also put up a 44" LCD screen on the patio - I was never in the house.
This was the day after Paddy's Day - still some remnants of the celebration.


During Demo


Site of the WFO . . .

[Cheesesteak]

Here are more in progress pics . . .





And finished . . .


I formed the arch at the front of the oven stand with benderboard and a lot of bracing. I put rebar in concrete block stand and poured the arch when I poured the 6" reinforced concrete shelf (overkill). The arch at the oven entrance was poured-in-place with Quikrete Non-Shrink Precision Grout (with rebar). It worked out great.



I took a standard offset smoker that was on wheels - and welded angle iron onto it - and made it a built-in unit.

[Cheesesteak]

I built a fireplace as well.





Truth be told - that was the first time I had done anything this substantial. Never welded before, not much in the way of masonry (fisrt time pouring concrete, first time using cultured stone, first fireplace, etc).

[Cheesesteak]

So . . . the new oven is going to be a Pompeii - 42" I'll build a bar next to it - probably around 6'-8' or so. I'm laying it out with blue painter's tape today. Here are a few pics of the location. My goals is, of course, not to mess up the great view we've got from the backyard. You can also see a seating bench and fire pit I just finished (I'm going to stucco the outside of the fire pit today).







Off to work in the yard. I'll update once I get the painter's tape on the ground - and move some blocks around.

Fasten your seatbelts.

[Tscarborough]

Very nice!

[das]

Nice new place, my father always said live on a hill. Also, nice job at your previous house, you got a lot to live up to after showing those pics. Bet you had many fun hours polishing all that concrete countertop .

Good luck on the new project!

I have been debating whether to do a polished concrete entry arch, and a curved landing sort of like the Neapolitan oven.

[Cheesesteak]

The concrete counters were actually easy. Poured in place with off the shelf bagged concrete. The color is simply and after the fact stain and outdoor sealer. Those pictures are after a full year of use (abuse).

$100 worth of styrofoam forms and $100 worth of concrete. Cheaper than tile . . .

[Cheesesteak]

Okay - so I think I've got the layout ready. On my last oven - I found the wood storage area was really too deep to be useful. So - I'm going to divide the underside of the oven in two sections - and put a door on the back so I can store charcoal for my BBQ and other things out of sight. Wood will get stored in the front. I'll likely pour a concrete arch in the front (wood storage) and just an angle iron lintel / square opening in the back.

Onward and upward.

[das]

Originally Posted by Cheesesteak

The concrete counters were actually easy. Poured in place with off the shelf bagged concrete. The color is simply and after the fact stain and outdoor sealer. Those pictures are after a full year of use (abuse).

$100 worth of styrofoam forms and $100 worth of concrete. Cheaper than tile . . .

Nice, they turned out well.

From afar they looked like diamond polished, colored concrete coutertops. I have built a few of the 6k psi colored white cement types, and the polishing to 4000grit is a time-consuming process.

[Cheesesteak]

Okay - question . . .

The FB Pompeii builder's guide says 65" x 78" stand. Is that about right? 42" cooking surface, 8-9" of wall thickness total, 6" thickness of insulating blanket, 8" total for the metal studs and concrete board for exterior walls = 65". No room for error there.