The "Show us ya Garden - Landscaping" Thread

[Spada]

9 hours work today, at a reasonably leisurely pace with a few tea breaks along the way.
first 5 brick courses done, 6 more to go. The tramell tool makes easy work of placing the bricks.

[Pete79]

Master craftsmen...
You’ll be enjoying awesome feasts out of that for many, many years.

Looks great mate!

[Spada]

Master craftsmen...

Far from it mate 

Gotta say, the kit is incredibly well prepared and the instructions (written and video) make it relatively easy to assemble. Just like big boys lego 

[Fizzie]

So the bricks are shaped, are they

Start off flat but then get a increasing slope built into the top

[glenm64]

Nah, their just falling inwards. The kit comes with a carton, drink a few lay first level drink a few more...etc,etc. 

[Fizzie]

Personal experience, Glen

[Spada]

So the bricks are shaped, are they

Start off flat but then get a increasing slope built into the top

Bricks are pre-cut and there are 3 types, each with a different taper and profile. First few courses are type 1, next couple alternate type 1 & 2, then a couple of only type 2, and so on and so on. 10 brick courses in total.

We've gone as far as we can this week, another 5 hours today got us up to finishing the 8th course. Stripped out the flu arch formwork and cleaned and pointed all of the internal joints. The next stage is to insert fibreglass dome to support the last 2 brick courses and then mix and pour the castable keystone. Once the work starts on this stage it needs to be completed and left to cure until the keystone has set, but cant be left longer than 12 hours or the morter will be too hard to clean off the underside. So it's too late today to start that process, it'll have to wait until next weekend now 

[NZMarkb]

Your a bloody legend mate
I’m never showing my mrs this page
She’s been on a our a pizza oven for years😂😂

[Spada]

She’s been on a our a pizza oven for years😂😂

Fire Brick Company in Melbourne - they ship world wide  https://melbournefirebricks.com.au/

I spent a fair bit of time looking at kits from a few different companies. Their's was a little dearer that than the others, but the kit is far more comprehensive than many of the other brands I looked at. Many of the other brick oven kits require you to cut the bricks yourself which is a lot of work, so for me it was worth the extra dollars.

[tryagain]

Fire Brick Company in Melbourne - they ship world wide  https://melbournefirebricks.com.au/

Waiting for Bird's reaction when he checks the prices!

[gronk]

Waiting for Bird's reaction when he checks the prices!

That's a hell of a lot of takeaway pizzas for the price ?

[Spada]

Waiting for Bird's reaction when he checks the prices!

That's a hell of a lot of takeaway pizzas for the price ?

Why did I know that was going to come up 
Trust me, we've thought long and hard about this. We spent quite a while pondering the idea and or us it's all about the entertaining more than the personal use, although it'll get used quite a bit for that. We live in a good close community and have a core group of neighbours who we socialise with pretty much every week (and we all go camping together). Most weeks we are all 2 doors down from us for Friday night drinks, and most Sundays everyone comes to our place for sundowners. Quite often we will have a Saturday night special at our place for a fireside cook up, which is why our fire pit is into it's 3 incarnation. Its had to grow to accommodate the crowd  It's quite common for us to have at least 8 adults + kids just for a non-event Saturday night gathering. Special events (like birthdays) attract even bigger crowds.
And it's not just for Pizza's. Once fired, it takes 2 hours to get the oven up to 400c, and then takes 60 hours for it to cool from that back down to 70c, and you can cook in it for the full time period. Our planned use would be a Saturday afternoon firing (crowd or no crowd) and cook some nibbles like chicken wings or a flat bread & cheese dip during the preheat cycle and then pizza cooking later on on the evening. Next morning, the oven will still be hot enough to do bacon and egg breaky, and then later on either throw a roast in to slow cook for the rest of the day or a small quick re-fire the next afternoon will have it back at full temp for for Sunday night sundowners, or using the residual heat from yesterdays fire you can start a little fire than choke it and throw in some damp wood chips for a long and slow smoke.

Yes it's a Shite load of money if Domino's cardboard is to your liking  , but I see it is value adding to our home and an improvement to our outdoor entertaining area.

[Pottsy]

Great explanation Spada, simply put the friendships and fellowships created for you, your family and community are priceless.
How you choose to spend your hard earned dollars is really nobody’s concern but yours.
Enjoy

[Fizzie]

if Domino's cardboard is to your liking

Wash your mouth out!

To be honest, I haven't yet had a commercial pizza from anywhere, even $25 "gourmet" ones, that taste as good as our home made more-or-less Meatlovers do! (& as I mentioned before, they're just cooked in a normal electric oven, not even wood-fired)

[tryagain]

Why did I know that was going to come up 

At that price, it's obviously more of a lifestyle choice than an effort to save money, but no need for you to justify to us. If you can afford it and that's what you choose to spend your money on then that is all that matters. You can't take money with you at the end of the day. Only time it ever rises an eyebrow for me is when people keep buying stuff they really can't afford.

[Steffo1]

Why did I know that was going to come up 
Trust me, we've thought long and hard about this. We spent quite a while pondering the idea and or us it's all about the entertaining more than the personal use, although it'll get used quite a bit for that. We live in a good close community and have a core group of neighbours who we socialise with pretty much every week (and we all go camping together). Most weeks we are all 2 doors down from us for Friday night drinks, and most Sundays everyone comes to our place for sundowners. Quite often we will have a Saturday night special at our place for a fireside cook up, which is why our fire pit is into it's 3 incarnation. Its had to grow to accommodate the crowd  It's quite common for us to have at least 8 adults + kids just for a non-event Saturday night gathering. Special events (like birthdays) attract even bigger crowds.
And it's not just for Pizza's. Once fired, it takes 2 hours to get the oven up to 400c, and then takes 60 hours for it to cool from that back down to 70c, and you can cook in it for the full time period. Our planned use would be a Saturday afternoon firing (crowd or no crowd) and cook some nibbles like chicken wings or a flat bread & cheese dip during the preheat cycle and then pizza cooking later on on the evening. Next morning, the oven will still be hot enough to do bacon and egg breaky, and then later on either throw a roast in to slow cook for the rest of the day or a small quick re-fire the next afternoon will have it back at full temp for for Sunday night sundowners, or using the residual heat from yesterdays fire you can start a little fire than choke it and throw in some damp wood chips for a long and slow smoke.

Yes it's a Shite load of money if Domino's cardboard is to your liking  , but I see it is value adding to our home and an improvement to our outdoor entertaining area.

Mmmm, fresh baked, hot bread!!!!!.............................and for around $3 grand, you've got a very good multi-purpose piece of equipment. How many people have spent that and a lot more on 4wd bling that they don't really need.

[Spada]

Time for an update.
Not much happened last weekend because I was watching the V8's, but the brick work is now finished and the keystone cast. Also finished the vent arch and installed the precast chimney cap.
Today we're aiming to get the insulation wrap on so the waterproof edge flashing can be done before making a plinth for the entrance and tiling the slab tomorrow.

[Pottsy]

Nice build.

[gronk]

Great explanation Spada, simply put the friendships and fellowships created for you, your family and community are priceless.
How you choose to spend your hard earned dollars is really nobody’s concern but yours.
Enjoy

yeh, I was having a dig....we all spend money on things that others regard as useless....

[Fizzie]

Time for an update.

On the first photo, what's the little round bit that looks like its poking out the side

[rags]

On the first photo, what's the little round bit that looks like its poking out the side

That would be where the 2stroke turbo blower bolts on.

[Spada]

On the first photo, what's the little round bit that looks like its poking out the side

It's a thermowell for a screw in thermometer. It's basically a case that is permanently mounted, and then a thermometer probe screws into an internal thread. That way the thermometer is removable without leaving a hole in the oven wall when it's out.

[Spada]

The rain set in at lunchtime today so we didn't quite get as much done as I'd hoped. Today we did a double wrap of 25mm ceramic-fibre blanket, then a 150mm aluminium flashing is wrapped around the base and sealed to create a moisture proof barrier, then the whole dome is wrapped in wire. The next stage is to tile the bench before the final 50mm of render goes over the dome. I managed to get the plinth poured for the granite landing that is going at the entrance, but the rain killed any plans of doing the tiling today  The tarp is just to keep any rain off the fibre blanket layer.
I was hoping to finish the tiles today so I could get the first coat of render on tomorrow, but now it looks like I'll have to do the tiles tomorrow (if the rain clears) and leave the rendering till next weekend.

[Spada]

Another day and a bit more done. The instructions say to allow 50 hours for the build, and I recon I'll go over that budget. There's a few stages that need 12hours between steps for setting, so jobs like todays work took about 3 hours but now I wont get back to it until next week end, so it sure does burn a hole on your weekends.

The weather cleared late yesterday afternoon, so I was able to get the bench tiled and left to set overnight. 1st up this morning we trimmed and glued in the granite landing around the oven entrance. Way back in the planning stages I lucked onto a 2400 x 900 x 40 granite benchtop on ebay for $40. I cut out a 2100 x 600 chunk for the benchtop near the oven and the offcuts I was able to salvage to use for the oven entrance. The oven stand tiles we're leftovers from a bathroom reno a few years ago. The tiling and landing needed to be done before the dome could be rendered. That way you don't need to be too fussy with the cut edges as the render will cover them.
Anyway, the weather held out long enough for us to be able to mix up a brew of render and get the 1st of 3 coats on. The render is a mix of perlite fill, lime, sand, and cement, and each coat goes on about 15 to 20mm thick. Lovin the detail in the kit, it even included a float that is shaped to give the right curve on the dome. More or less just slop on the render in a rough form and then use the float to shape it. The finished shell will be around 50mm thick. I was happy to get the first render coat on as I didn't fancy leaving the bare ceramic blanket exposed for a another week.

[Spada]

Fitted the chimney yesterday. The supplied chimney was only 900 high which got me to about 100mm short of the tin roof. Yesterday I got a 900 extension with a 10" outer to go through the roof. Easy enough fit. Found centre with a plumb-bob, cut a 260mm hole in the tin, couple of screws and a tube of silastic, job done in about 1/2 hour.
Whilst the ovens flue can easily crank up to a couple of hundred degrees, the outer skin creates a 40mm air gap around the flue and according to the fireplace shop shouldn't get much above 60'ish deg. I've cut the roof batons about 25mm short of the outer skin and I'll see how the temperature goes once I start firing the oven. I've still got a length of ceramic fibre blanket left over from the oven insulation, so if I think the chimney gets a bit too hot I might end up putting a wrap of that between the batons and the outer skin?

2 more coats of render to go on this week-end (12 hours apart) and then I can actually light a fire in the bloody thing