[Rhizzlebop]

I have come across access to scrap pieces of granite from a countertop installer. He said I can have all that I want because he just buries it in the ground.

I had a thread with all my plans and ideas in it, but it was too much. So I'm breaking down a couple at a time for anyone to comment on.

Idea 4
I would use a couple larger pieces to make some kind of outdoor table or planter type thing. For example I have one piece that is about 28" wide by 24" long. Gorgeous almost perfectly square cut piece. I thought of just framing a small table from wood, or trying to bend and weld rebar. I'm concerned about the weight somewhat and the chance of the table flipping over has to be nill cause it would break your foot.

Idea 5
One of my friends suggested using granite chunks to mosaic the seat of my perimeter benches, but I think the weight would strain my deck framing, and it would be a lot harder than even a wood topped bench on your bottom. So, feel free to comment, but I'm thinking this is a bad idea.

Idea 6
I was trying to think of things I could do with this beautiful stone that is otherwising going to be wasted, and pushed in a hole and buried.

I thought of building a large outdoor fireplace. (Yes, the installer has told me that I can get all of his scrap I want. Most of it is small chunks the size of your foot, or a shoe box, or longish strips 6 to 8" wide and a ft to 3ft long.)
On the highest end, furthest from the door, and adjacent to the corner where the gazebo will go is where I thought of building this fireplace/firepit. The deck surface will be about 20" off the ground. The nearest point of this fireplace would be about 4 ft from the back of the fireplace thats part of the house. Its a vinyl siding house.

My plan: Pour a 4" concrete pad, the size of the fireplace. It would be about 4ft front to back, and probably 6 ft wide. I'd nail the size down obviously before I pour.
Use cement blocks, and some mortar, and build up the "skeleton" of the fireplace from the pad. It would probably come up to about 4 or 5 feet above the deck surface. I'd use these granite countertop chunks, different sizes, to cover every visible surface of it. even the inside of the fire box would be a wider slab across the bottom, and the sides and top also built up. I could flare out the sides from the fire box, so the flames reflect lots of light off the gorgeous stone all the way to the edges.
I could either do a short chimney, or slant the roof of the fire box to direct the smoke out the back side, leaving a small rear opening at the top of the fire box on the back for smoke to exit.
I may even design it with the idea of adding gas in the future, though it would have to be an LP tank cause there is no gas on our street.
Would this idea work? Would chunks of 1 1/4" granite be too heavy to mortar to a block face? Would the whole thing be dangerous with its weight, or the fact that it would be sitting up next to the deck?
I would design it so that the actual fire box sits a couple feet back from the deck, with a "hearth" extending just to the edge of the deck and then maybe another foot of stone "hearth" actually sitting on the edge of the deck. (Minimize sparks hitting my wood deck.
Any suggestions or ideas???

Thanks for reading my post.

If I can clarify anything, please let me know.

Deck Plan. You can see to the left is where the fireplace would go. To the right is the grill with the granite chunk countertops.

 

[Rhizzlebop]

Whoever moved my threads to general discussion deleted THIS thread before. it's NOT the same as the other granite thread so PLEASE don't delete it.

 

[Rhizzlebop]

Thought I'd revive this thread one more time to see if anyone wants to comment out there.

 

[Rhizzlebop]

Likewise here, the server is getting bogged down with all the responses. Please, everyone SLOW down! LOL :jester:

 

[diytexaslady]

I too have come across a local granite shop that has "tons" of scrap granite for the taking. Various sizes as you described. They have construction companies come in and pick it up by the dump truck load for "fill". All I could think was ..all that beautiful granite going to waste.

At any rate, I've had some similar ideas to yours, flowerbed edging, outdoor fireplace, etc. Until I found your post the only info I could find had to do with much smaller projects.

I don't have any advice to offer you, but I was hoping maybe you had found some input somewhere else or had started some of your projects. The manager at the granite shops Dad made a beautiful mosaic patio, but apparently didn't do anything to rough the finish, because she said it is very slippery. Duh!

We are in the process of moving a house and attaching it to our existing home and I would love to use some of the granite in our new home. I have this vision stuck in my head of a mosaic counter top. I just don't know if there's a way to make it practical (i.e. smooth on the top for cleaning, etc).

There was a video on DIY ( I think) the other day of a mosaic wall above a fireplace that was made of broken granite tiles...that really got my blood to flowing. Granite counter top is so much heavier though.

Sorry for the long post. Glad to find someone else who is interested in this. My DH just shakes his head when I come home with more big scraps from the granite shop.

 

[Thurman]

If this has not been posted: I obtained two piece's that were cut out of counter-top's for sinks. As a retired machinist, I use one as a "surface plate", although it will not meet Govt. standards :no:. I use the other to sharpen my wood chisels, the "scary-sharp" method. Occasionally I put the two "working" surfaces together with water between them and lap them together. Sort of makes me feel as if I made them a bit flatter. Soon I may have one or both of them meet the Govt. standards. :thumbup:

 

[Rhizzlebop]

I want to apologize to the two posters above here....especially the former.
I remember how hard it was to find anyone doing anything like this and even once I started my own topic I did not get a lot of interest in it.

I saw this post back in January, but had just started a new job that week and didn't feel inclined to go posting on a forum on my third day. Then I got busy and forgot about this post.

I dunno if you have moved forward poster but I did do a couple things.
I'll try to attach a couple photos here of the two outdoor counters I built.

I havn't finished by a long shot. I got to a point, and other projects took precedent, and then the heat of summer struck, and here we are. I'm actually about to try and get some pieces to make myself a bathroom vanity top.

I basically went online and bought a "cheap" hundred dollar wet polisher. It came with a set of polishing pads, 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1500, and 3000 grit diamond pads. I bought one extra 50 grit as it gets the most use. It was about 125 dollars total. It has worked GREAT. With some practice I've gotten pretty good at shaping the edge. On the two attached counters I used a diamond blade on an angle grinder and carefully cut down the stone using a straight edge guide I made up. Then I started polishing. I didn't buy any profile shape wheels. I just use the 50 grit and create a profile by hand. It takes longer, and wears the 50 grit pad, but it works. The profile wheels are expensive.

I dunno how you could make a smooth mosaic counter. I think it would be nearly impossible. You'd have to use a thich wood base layer, and some kind of clear resin I'd think. Dunno how you've cover the wood edge of the base layer.

I am hoping to build another counter on my outdoor area, and hopefully build myself a cement block fire pit outside with a sitting bench edge, and cover all the blocks in granite chunks and put a granite chunk top seat on it. I'd just use those rough.

I've heard you can rough up the smooth surface with a blow torch for using as a patio, but I didn't try it. The liability of a wet slippery patio didn't seem worth the risk to me. Someone could die.

 

[jomama45]

f
My plan: Pour a 4" concrete pad, the size of the fireplace. It would be about 4ft front to back, and probably 6 ft wide. I'd nail the size down obviously before I pour.
Use cement blocks, and some mortar, and build up the "skeleton" of the fireplace from the pad. It would probably come up to about 4 or 5 feet above the deck surface. I'd use these granite countertop chunks, different sizes, to cover every visible surface of it. even the inside of the fire box would be a wider slab across the bottom, and the sides and top also built up. I could flare out the sides from the fire box, so the flames reflect lots of light off the gorgeous stone all the way to the edges.
I could either do a short chimney, or slant the roof of the fire box to direct the smoke out the back side, leaving a small rear opening at the top of the fire box on the back for smoke to exit.
I may even design it with the idea of adding gas in the future, though it would have to be an LP tank cause there is no gas on our street.
Would this idea work? Would chunks of 1 1/4" granite be too heavy to mortar to a block face? Would the whole thing be dangerous with its weight, or the fact that it would be sitting up next to the deck?
I would design it so that the actual fire box sits a couple feet back from the deck, with a "hearth" extending just to the edge of the deck and then maybe another foot of stone "hearth" actually sitting on the edge of the deck. (Minimize sparks hitting my wood deck.
Any suggestions or ideas???

I know this is an older post and idea of your's but just in case you still have intentions on going forward with the FP, what's bolded is certainly NOT a good idea. Granite and fire don't mix well at all, as it typically leaves the granite "exploding" when subjected to high heat.

As well, a FP w/o a chimney will never draft as it was intended to. You'd be better off with a firepit if that's your intentions. I would also recommend a heavier concrete pad under the FP with some steel re-inforcement.

 

[Rhizzlebop]

Also, texaslady, I dunno how you'd tile an indoor wall with this granite stuff. Its unbelievably heavy. Maybe they were using thinner granite. I can't imagine this stuff hanging on a wall inside. Again, heavy is an understatement!!

As for your counter, I suggest maybe you try and find a large enough piece and make just a small island top out of it and get yourself a polishing kit to finish the edges. If you cant find large enough pieces get creative..... Meaning, if you want a piece to be 24" x 60", and you cant find a scrap that large, then maybe you can find a piece 24x36 and a piece 24 x 24 and offset one higher as a "bilevel work surface", or something.