Burning 100806

Bill moved the chiminea back in place, and I burned some liquidambar balls tonight to "baptize" it again. Works great, and I'm really happy with the way this project turned out!

FINISHED 100805

WooHoo!!

Was able to re-shape the top edge so the whole thing's got a fairly consistent "roll".  Adding to the existing shape seemed to work best when the grout was really wet.  Came near to ruining it a time or two, but (barring disaster) it's done!  Tomorrow I'll ask Bill to put the chiminea back in place, and I can put this project in the books!

Grouting 100804

I used two scoops of grout for this first section.  The mix was a little dry, which makes it harder to work with, but I think there's less shrinkage.

After three more scoops, I've reached the halfway point!

Six scoops just about finished the job.  However, as I was doing the left side, I finally figured out the technique for getting the slightly rounded shape I wanted on the line between the top edge and the facing tiles.  So tomorrow I want to try to reshape that line on the right side.

Mortaring 100804

Mortaring FINISHED!

I checked the SpeedSet website, and I can grout in 2 hours, which will be 1:00 (about the time the sun will be off of the tiles.)  Hopefully the temperature doesn't spike.....

Mortaring 100803

Mortared strips around both sides of the facing today, and then calculated that I need to do 16 more (3 strips on the right and 1 on the left.)  These are all in the back corners where I'll have to stand on my head to do them, so I'll be REALLY glad to finish them.  Besides, after I mortar them, all I'll have left to do is grout!

Re-Mortaring 100802

Got back to where I should have been yesterday at this time....set 14 strips (56 tiles total)----12 on the left & 2 on the right.  The good news is the patterns are all lined up this time!

Mortaring 100801

What's wrong with this picture?

Hubris.  I was so pleased that I had the mortaring process down that I didn't check my patterns.  As I started to remove the tape, I realized that the tiles I added today were lined up to each other, but NOT to the tiles I set yesterday----ARGHHHH!  So I had to remove every tile, then clean mortar off all the tiles and the hearth.  Then I had to start over sorting tiles and re-taping them.  Hopefully I'll be ready to start again tomorrow.....

Mortaring 100731

1. Mixed up one or two scoops of SpeedSet mortar to about the consistency of peanut butter.  (Turned out that one scoop was enough to cement 20-24 facing tiles.)
2. Using the back side of the small trowel, spread a thin layer of mortar on the concrete.
3. Using the small end of the blue silicone spatula, applied a dollop of mortar about 1" thick near the center of each tile in a strip that was pre-joined with blue painter's tape.
4. Attached the strip to the edge tile, using the strapping tape applied to the top of the strip.
5. Lightly tapped each tile with the butt of the trowel handle.

6. When the mortar was set just enough to hold the tile in place, cut the strip of painter's tape with the box-cutter so I could make slight adjustments to the position of each tile.

Installed 76 tiles today, and learned that by the time the mortar's gone off enough to hold the tile, I can only adjust in one plane---I can't adjust front to back without removing it and re-mortaring.  After I removed the tape completely, I found a few tiles that "dip" on one side or corner, and I'm hoping I can disguise this with grout.  If not, I'll be forced to pop them off and re-mortar them (grrrr). 

Planning 100730

1. Spaced each group of 4 tiles vertically 1/4" (or 1 square chopstick-head) apart, then taped them with blue painter's tape.
2. Next I put a strip of strapping tape on the top tile, and stuck the strip of 4 facing tiles to the top-edge tile so I could determine the distance I wanted from the top of the hearth.
3. Finally, I attached the two taped-up center strips to the facing to see how they looked.  It was difficult to see around all the tape---good thing I made sure all the patterns worked before I put it on!

No photos today!

Planning 100729

Sorted facing tiles into vertical strips of 4, from the center out to the edges of the hearth.

Mortaring 100728

Today I mortared the top-edge tiles. Good thing I didn't trash all the bits and pieces left over from working on the mosaic garden balls, because I was able to use a couple of those slightly narrower blue rectangles to squeeeeeeeze in between the edge and the wall in the very back corners. WHEW!

Planning 100727

Spent some time today considering options for the hearth edging. Pulled out my jar of small hand-cut blue tiles (which are a LOT of different sizes!!) and started playing around. Then I got out all my tile books and reviewed their installations.  I've decided this is the way I want to go.

I'll do the edge installation with a narrow grout line behind it, and about the same size gap between tiles (less than 1/4").  When I set the facing tiles, I'll put enough mortar behind them to bring them even with, or just slightly past, the outer edge.  The object will be to have a fairly small gap between the edge and facing tiles that I can fill in with a narrow grout "roundoff" bead. Guess this will be my project for tomorrow!!
  

Grouting 100726

Compared to incredibly absorbent Saltillo that takes hours of cleaning, glazed tiles are such a joy to grout!  Unfortunately, differences in shrinkage between batches of clay changed the tile sizes from the original template, and the fit isn't as good as I'd have liked.  The result is uneven grout lines.  Much of this will be covered up by the chiminea, however, and after I get the white and blue tiles on the facing I think these uneven lines will be less noticeable.

Still debating over how to do the front edge...bullnose tiles of some kind, or a grout bullnose like I did on the steps, or what?  First I need to figure out the layout for the facing and see if I have enough tiles in the pattern I designed for it, or if I'll need to work in some solid blue to eke them out, like I did on the front step risers.  And I'm really happy with how they turned out, so that's not necessarily a bad thing!

Mortaring 100725

The big blue tiles are mortared, and (surprise, surprise) they took a lot more time and material than I anticipated.  That hardly EVER happens.....

Glad I did the blog for the step riser, as it reminded me of some critical steps I'd forgotten.  So the steps for doing this were:

1. Painted the concrete surface with CLR, using a disposable foam brush.
2. Sifted and mixed Speed-Set mortar.  First batch was WAY too thin.  I had to wait seemingly forever for it to set up, and there wasn't nearly enough to finish the job.  I used the rest of the bag for the second batch, which was a bit lumpy.  It may have gotten damp being stored in the barn.
3. Sprayed white vinegar over the concrete.
4. Applied mortar to the concrete.
5. Back-buttered the tile.
6. Set the tile, leveling it so it inclined away from the house for proper drainage.

I think I'll grout tomorrow so the chiminea can go back in place.  I still need to figure out what to do for a bullnose, and measure to see if I have enough white & blue & tiles for the face.  But that can wait----one step at a time!

Testing 100724

It's not gonna be perfect, but I think I can live with it.  I may need to make bullnoses for a nice finished edge, but I will have to make a template and figure out how to do that first!

Planning 100724

For the past several years while the courtyard was being developed, I've envisioned a curved, raised hearth for our cast-iron chiminea.  When we had the landscaping work done in 2008 I had Bill lay out the curve; Robert formed it up and poured it in concrete.  I asked Bill to cut out a cardboard template with sections that would mimic the lines in our living room windows.  I used the template to cut oversized stoneware tiles, with my slab roller set at 3/8" thick.  Among other valuable lessons, I learned that I needed to add extra grog to the clay to help keep the tiles from cracking.  If they made it through bisque-firing without obvious giant cracks, I glazed them with cobalt blue M7.  When loaded in the cone 10 kiln, they needed a flat shelf and a layer of grog underneath.  I had to re-make several of the tiles because they weren't flat or had spots where the glaze didn't stick.  Overall, I've messed around with these for a year now, and finally got the last tiles I needed out of the glaze load at Gavilan last week.  Two of them have cracks, but I've decided I can live with them.  They're flat and blue!

This morning, Bill moved the chiminea out of the way so I can see how the tiles fit on the hearth.  My fingers are crossed!