Pouring of a Hearth and installing of the Oven

The last two weekends have been great. While I have been working on the oven project my wife and 2 year old son are taking their turns watching, asking questions and advising me on what to do next.

My next step was to pour a 4 inch thick slab of concrete (hearth) that has 1/2" rebar laid throughout. After thinking about the structural integrity of the hearth I decided to add a single row of cinder blocks coming from one corner into the middle of the hearth. Even though mathematically it is not necessary, my gut told me that I will sleep better knowing it is there to support the main weight of the oven dome. I also decided to pour "inside the existing" walls instead of on top. In order to accomplish this I cut 3" chunks out of the top layer of the cinder blocks. That gave me the room I needed to build the rebar checker board. Underneath I built a frame of 2x4's and put a level of plywood on top. The added cinder blocks in the corner were cut to be level with the plywood.

At one point on that Saturday I had all the power tools I own out of my shed and was using them all. Talk about a man/geek moment!!!

The actual mixing of the concrete and pouring of the hearth was the final step for the day and went smooth and without a hitch. Took the least amount of time and after letting it settle for a bit I used a left over 2x6 to flatten the area and smooth out the top. As you can see in the picture, yours truly was able to build a foundation, walls and hearth that is perfectly level. It made the next step so much easier.

As I mentioned before I plan things out in my head and on paper ad nausea before I ever utter a word to friends and family. So by the time I do talk about it I have long made up my mind and know what I want. Makes things easy when you are alone on an island and nobody give a sh.. about what you do. When you are ripping out plants that your wife planted and replace them with a cinder block and concrete structure that doesn't work. You need to communicate first and make your desires known the the powers at be and they will decide if you get to do this in the first place. I have to say, my wife is great (aren't you honey :) ) She can be easily convinced of the "need" for a 1000 lbs wood burning oven in the back yard. All it has to do is work properly when she wants it to and look nice with the rest of the current back yard layout. The time it takes to build was also a major concern, which leads me to the oven itself.

I researched a lot of different versions and spent countless evenings online researching the best way to do this project economically in both time and cost. I found a website: http://www.fornobravo.com/ that is probably the answer to every mans dream when it comes to wood burning pizza ovens. Not only do they have a forum for advise but also the tools, plans and ovens you would want in your back yard. I had decided on a pre-fabricated version that would be delivered and put on top of my current build.

Easy, one day, done!

Weeeeeellllll not so fast, when it came to ordering the oven I actually chatted with their rep at length and he offered this little bit of info: "you need to provide your own fork lift, unload the oven from the truck and install the thing yourself." WHAT???? You are kidding, where do I get a forklift from? Even if I can drive the thing, I don't know how to install/slide the 1500 lbs oven from the palette onto the hearth. So I hung up with the company rep and needed to regroup. What I mean by that is that I didn't sleep for 2 nights, kept thinking about it and then discussed it with my wife.

To make a long story short, I didn't buy a finished, pre-built oven after all. I built it myself. The same company supplies you with a pre-fab dome and a 50 page instruction manual as to how to build your own oven from scratch. So I ordered the dome and the floor and all the other pieces separately and started on the construction of the oven itself. It took 8 hours to build the structure and put the first layer of High-heat mortar on. While the mortar dried I started cutting the red brick entry arch to the oven and laid it all out. After that it was back to home depot to get more materials for all the finish work. More on that on my next entry.

Up go the walls!

I am a week behind. The past two weekends I have been able to get a lot of work done. The walls are standing and my son is using the current state of my outdoor kitchen as a garage for his bike and toy car.
The original layout and my design came together very nicely. Besides the Oven I decided on only one BBQ spot. No Side burner or heating drawers. It would look too crowded and take away from the actual reason why I am building this thing in the first place, my pizza oven.

Now to the actual build and the things I learned. Dry stacking cinder blocks is great. It allows you to really move along and pull those walls up in no time. My cement floor even (enough) for an easy stacking of blocks. I drilled 20 holes in the cement for the vertical rebar. With the help of a Hammer Drill it was an exercise that only took minutes.

Mistakes became immediately apparent. First, I ordered way too many cinder blocks and not nearly enough cement mix to fill them. Second, in an effort to tie the blocks together I included horizontal rebar after the first layer and before the last. To that end I had bought pre-cut open face cinder blocks. I wanted to only fill the holes where there was vertical rebar. Well, cement is wet and goes into all the nooks and crannies it can find, hence it moved into the non-rebar places and gave me a Roy Sheider moment: "We are going to need a bigger boat" only that I drove back to home depot for more bags of cement. 46 bags to be exact. Holy cow - I poured 46 - 60lbs bags of cement mix into the cinder blocks. This thing is not going to go anywhere, ever!

The one tool I didn't have was a big enough masonry saw. I had hired a helper and his brother let me borrow his. Lucky break, because that little thing I had would have slowed me down considerably. All in all it took me a day and a half to put up the walls and enclosures for the oven. The surprise of the weekend was that I spent a considerable amount more on cement than I did on the cinder blocks. That didn't even occur to me before I started. Well that's a layman for you :)

I loved standing next to the walls at the end of the day and feel the heat coming off the curing cement. Gave me a sense of accomplishment. Not bad for an old dude who pushes paper for a living.

Rocks, Cement and "The Rammer"

Well, a week has gone by and I can report progress. After finishing the frame for the foundation and the putting 1000 lbs of gravel into it I realized that I dug a little deep and needed another 1000 lbs of gravel to reduce the need for too much cement. So back to Home Depot and more bags of the lovely stuff.

And then my 12 year old alter ego came out and thought it a good idea to rent a power tool called the Rammer. I had seen it in one of my many stops at Home Depot. For those of you who don't know what it looks like, picture a gas motor attached to a large spring that has a flat piece of steel on the bottom. From afar it looks like an upside down nail with a motor on top. It weighs a ton and was a bitch to transport in my car. (just ask the wifey, she had to help me schlep the thing)
You turn the motor on, wait for it to warm up and turn the throttle. That thing starts jumping like a bull in heat. And I mean jumping. Clearly not what I needed to pat down the gravel in my little back yard project, but after a while I got the hang of it and after about 30 minutes the floor evened out and it did the trick.

On Tuesday my friend Frank showed up with his knowledge of how to wire for electricity and lay a gas line without creating an explosion. It helps to know people who know stuff. Yesterday, he and a helper came by with 36 -90lbs bags of concrete mix and spent 6 hours mixing up tons of this stuff to pour the foundation. All I had to do is water the surface at the end of the day and enjoy the pretty flat finish.

In the meantime I went back to home depot and ordered 3 pallets of cinder blocks for delivery tomorrow. I also purchased more rebar and cross-bars to tie the whole thing together. I borrowed a hammer drill from another friend (thanks Ron) to sink the rebar vertically into the fresh concrete foundation. The next two days are being spent with me trying to build the counter for the whole project. Since I lost all of May to waiting and planning I have an ambitious June schedule. On Sunday night I would like to be done with the wall construction so I can prep for the "floating cement ceiling" which I will attempt to do next weekend.

A great weekend and blisters to show for it

You have to love the weather in Southern California. It is almost always perfect and you learn to count on it to get your outdoor activities done. This weekend was no exception. It was beautiful, mild and sunny with a slight breeze. But that is where the easy streak ended.

Best laid plans of mice and men... Let's start with the dumpster delivery. Turns out that a 4 cubic yard dumpster is not big enough to hold my excavated dirt. Oh no I need a 16 foot long container called a "Low Boy". Fine, so be it. "Please deliver it on Friday afternoon for a Saturday of digging." Will do, says the man on the other end of the line, only to call me on Friday morning to say that there was a schedule change and it will be delivered between 9-11 AM. Take it or leave it. Great, I don't like it but go with the flow and I get a chance to start digging early.

After the digging comes the gravel and framing of the foundation. A two hour trip to Home Depot and I have all the pieces of the puzzle together to finish the next step. What I didn't anticipate was the time it would take to frame the small 7x10 patch. I am placing the whole outdoor kitchen and oven on the edge of my property right up to the fence. That makes it difficult to access and maneuver around in it. The other thing I found out is that I have slope to deal with. It is ever so slight but when you use a level and check on your 90 degree corners you notice it.
I also had several surprises waiting for me under the dirt line. The fence post and patio foundation were in the way. I needed to chisel several inches of concrete away to assure a straight line for the new foundation.
Next was the rebar and wire mesh to provide the foundation with solid anchors. I wired three 4x7 pieces of mesh together and then attached the rebar to that. Since I needed to create a gravel and sand bed first I hung the mesh on the fence which allowed me to work standing up. I had purchased 1000 lbs of sand and gravel at Home Depot in 50 lbs bags. It was enough to cover the excavated area and make it level. Then I unhooked the wire mesh from the fence and dropped it on top of the sand.

Total time for this step was 11 hours of digging, framing and finish work over two days. Plus 2 hours at Home Depot. My left hand has two blisters. I almost poked my eye out on a branch from a bush right next to the site. And finally I have a 13 inch gash down my shin bone. I have no idea how that happened but when I looked down at my leg earlier today, there it was bleeding and all.

Next week my friend Frank will come over to work on the power and gas lines. He will also do the cement pour for me since it is almost 2 yards of cement and and all three things are above my level of expertise... Well, I can't smell the pizza yet but I am well on my way. Feels good to finally have started with the physical part of the project.

Let the dig begin

So here I am two weeks into my project and I am already delayed by one month. I waited too long to pull the trigger with the contractor and he is now booked for the month of May. Oh well, that gives me the chance to start on my own after all.
The wife and kid are being sent out of town next weekend which gives me a grand total of 3 days for the foundation dig. 10 x 7 feet, 6" deep means I have to dig up more than a cubic yard of dirt and dispose of it. The extra waste bin has been ordered and I hope that 3 days is enough time to get it done.
The second step will be the lay out of the foundation. I have purchased several 2x4's and stakes to affix a rectangular form for the concrete to be poured into. Sand and metal mesh are also on hand to make sure the foundation is sturdy and will last forever.
A contractor friend of mine asked if I wanted to park a tank on top of the foundation or why I wanted to go 8" deep. So I consulted all my research again and found it to be varied and for a first timer, confusing. Some websites stress that you need at least 8 to 10" foundations to accommodate the weight of the oven. (granted some of them are 2000 lbs +) Others barely mention the foundation and say 3-4 inches are plenty. So I have made a compromise with myself. I will dig 6" deep, pour a gravel base and stake out a metal mesh and pour a 4" deep slab.

On another note. The wife has caught the outdoor kitchen fever now. While my first conversation with her was all about cost, the need of a pizza oven in the yard in the first place and what a waste this might all be, she bought me a book about outdoor kitchens for my birthday. All of a sudden she has design ideas and wants the AC unit moved. We should build it like this or that and do it this color or that. We need to move this bush or that one and she won't mind if this plant dies. It's actually a lot of fun having an ally in her to be able to discuss the details. But it is also very dangerous because now spending money is easier. I find that two accommodate two opinions the compromise often means to spend twice as much. Maybe I let her pick the colors and finish tile and I pick the hardware and ovens.

And one last thing I learned these past couple of days. Until the dig is finished, my dog Matilda is using the plot to mark her territory. I cleared the area of its plants and she promptly pooped right in the middle of it. Oh well, I guess it means one more step before I can make my own pizzas

Finding professional help

So before we go any further on this whole project let's call a spade a ... you know, 40 year old guy that is a little pudgy in the middle and maybe knows a thing or two about swinging a hammer. That, dear reader, is a far cry from "really knowing what you are doing" or even coming close to considering yourself a professional mason and bricklayer.

Over the years I have attempted (and finished) several projects that take more effort than to drill a hole in the wall or fix a leaky faucet. I have built a retaining wall in the front of the house and planted 35 Ficus bushes to fill in the front yard. I designed and built a 14' x 16' bookshelf from scratch (in part to apiece the wifey because I bought a 50" flat screen and it needed a permanent home in the living room). Kitchen Cabinets, built them. Put down tile and grouted, done that.

But there comes a time when you realize that certain things are beyond your scope. The need for proper tools is so great that without them your project takes 5 times the amount to finish. Some of the physical labor is just too darn hard to do by yourself and last and certainly not least, the cost of having to re-purchase the same material again because you screwed up the first go-around can be significant.

As I said, now to professional help. I can appreciate a professional builder. I admire their craftsmanship and ability to create something out of rock, sand and wood. But those guys seem to just live on TV and never show up on my doorstep. My wife and I have re-built an old house and then later a new garage. We interviewed contractors and builders. We got referrals from friends and family and got 3rd party references. Even with all that, our projects never finished on time or within its original budget.

So this time will be different. Part of why the beginning process has taken so long is due to the fact that about 70% of the work will be done by myself and the rest by a contractor. However where do his/her 30% end and my 70% start?

Explaining the whole project to a contractor and then letting them know that you will use them for only a smaller part of what needs to be done is a let down to them. I understand that, but do you have to then front load the project with "start up costs" that makes me wonder if they do it just out of spite? I talked to one guy last week who thanked me for contacting him. He hadn't been working for awhile.

"Let me explain what I want you to do" I said. "I need you to pour the foundation for the project. Clean and simple. Include power and a gas line in the design and make it sturdy enough for the 2000 lbs brick oven to rest comfortably. I gave him every detail on what I need to start "my" first step.

The bid comes back with only half the things I need and by the time all is said and done he wants twice of what he said in the first conversation it would cost. Just one example: Why is it, that the hauling of the dirt from the excavation is not included in the bid? "Oh yeah, well that's extra!" Why??? Isn't the the first step in building a foundation the digging of the layout to the depth required to pour the concrete? "Well, yes." Then why is it that it is not included in your bid and I have to add it on? "Idono!?! Thought it is maybe part of your 70% of the project" Needless to say I did not hire him.

I have however now found a handyman that seems to have it all together. We have been going back and forth for several days with him to hammer out details. We agreed where my 70 starts and his 30 ends. We also agreed that he will not squeeze every last dime out of me, but let me "do my thing". So here is to my new handyman/contractor. May you deliver on your promise!

It's all in the planning

Hello all and welcome to my blog. I freely admit that this was not something I thought I would ever do. Quite frankly for the longest time I felt that writing a blog is pretentious and the authors are probably in dire need of attention. Yet here I am... maybe it is part of my mid live crisis?
To actually sit down and write this blog has taken a long time and even more planning. A lot of my friends ask me why I love riding a motorcycle. Well, one of the many reasons is that you ride for hours and just get lost in thought. Your life flashes in front of you and when you come back you wonder why things have not been always this clear and right in front of your eyes.

So here is the thing, I turned 40 years old, have a great wive and child at home and was looking for a new challenge. Building things with your own hands has a great appeal to me and things that turn out to be useful to create a meal are even better. My friend Breven and I went on a bike run in 2008 to Arizona. We visited friends in Scottsdale and they just finished an outdoor kitchen. Breven literally went home and started his own. He built a fantastic outdoor kitchen with a hand made (brick for brick) wood burning pizza oven. I was hooked. Problem is, it took him 13 months to finish.
And so it goes. I have been planning for the better part of 3 months. I have researched websites, YouTube and building companies. I have drawn up plans ( and re-drawn them many times), discussed it with the wifey to get approval to even do this thing and finally found a spot in the back yard where I will build my very own wood burning pizza oven. I have every intention of finishing a lot sooner than my friend Breven. As a matter of fact I hope that before the summer is out, I will have a back yard get together where we can christen my latest adventure.

I hope you will come along for the ride, reply to my post, give advise or just make general comments. Thanks and enjoy.