6 weeks to an outdoor fireplace, here we go...

Double

That is exactly what I needed! Thanks!

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Double

Another beautiful weekend meant some nice progress...

First I had to dig out a seriously overgrown Burford Holly stump in the front yard. That ate up about an hour of the morning Saturday.


Then onto the actual work, got about half of the rear wall height complete


Laid in a good bit of brick and concrete block, with wall ties in between.


You can see the dry stacked brick at the inner edge of the firebox, thats just sitting there to show the look. It will run on the end like that and then have an arch at the top of the opening. If the arch goes well I will add a small arch to each of the side boxes. There will also be a line of vertical brick facing the entire lower portion of the front of the fireplace to cover the base and the front edge of the firebrick.


And a shot of the back.


Finally taking the shape of an actual fireplace.

Any advice for working with the fireclay? I eventually get the blocks set but its MUCH more difficult to work with with the tight joints and the very short working life, the workable time seems only about 10-15 mintues, especially once it warms up outside. It also says on the bag not to re-work the fireclay with adding water. So right now I just have to mix very small batches and do a few bricks at a time.

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pwgsx

Very Nice I bet you will be happy when its all done.

jomama45

Looking good..............

As for tips with the fireclay, I would suggest getting all your cuts made ahead of time and ready to go before mixing. It also helps to soak the brick in water for a few minutes first to ensure they're saturated, as they suck the moisture out of the fireclay extremely fast when the brick are dry. You'll still need to mix small batches of fireclay, as like you stated, it has a short useable life, but the damp brick will certainly help. ANd no, don't re-temper the fireclay, but you should mix it a tad on the wet side and let it hydrate/set-up for 5 mins before using. Lastly, always start mixing with the water, and slowly add the dry mix until it gets to the right consistency. Adding the water to the powder takes longer to mix, and makes it harder because your always attempting to mix tight mortar............

Double

Great Suggestions!

I have not been doing any of those...except for the precutting

For next batch I will:

1) Soak bricks in water to saturate
2) Mix the mortar into the water
3) Mix the mortar wet

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jomama45

One more thing, in case you don't already know, although the backwall brick look relatively clean. If you want to clean the brick up of smears, you can simply use a wet sponge or rag on the entire surface after an hour or two. Just like cleaning tile, be sure to change you r water out a few times........

Double

Starting to get tall. I've almost hit the height of the firebox with the brick now. Going to pick up some more fireclay today or tomorrow, and try to finish the firebox before the weekend. Hoping to get the throat set this weekend, but I've go to go into work Saturday so that may be a stretch.

Next week should see the smoke chamber set and the arch finished. Then it will be a push to the finish.

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no1hustler

Nice progress!

pwgsx

You know that fire will cook all the groundcover infront of the opening, better make plans for some more pavers Looks like rain this weekend here in TX

jomama45

Is it April 28'th yet????????????/

Double

Yeah, maybe time to change the thread..."6 weeks to half of an outdoor fireplace!" haha

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Double

Not much progress as I hoped for this weekend, but the main firebox is finished, still need to install the throat and coving.

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twostuds

Looking good so far. Look forward to seeing the finished fireplace.

pwgsx

Nice weekend coming up, get to work

Double

Weekend Progress...we moved our summer get together out to July 1 so I've got three weeks to finish everything up.

Made some strides forward this weekend.

Side of the culvert pices where the angle iron sets into the cinder...


Internal shot of the smoke chamber and throat opening, its exactly 4" all the way across. I was ONE firebrick short...


Backside getting quite large now, need to diet...


Finished up the lower front detail to hide the front of the pad, also started bricking up the side firebox detail and tonight I will build a form to lay the arch across.


You may notice the extra line of fireclay on the left hand most piece of the throat sections. "Someone" reversed the first angled cut when trying to set the throat, luckily it was all cut in one take and the surfaces mated back up quite easily with some fireclay to bond them.

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