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Super sunny and 77F today, but thankfully the humidity is low, and we've got a slight breeze out there.
I got to bed early last night, and after a good long sleep I was up and working on the firepit before 1PM.
it's 2:15 now, and I'm taking a break. The heat's not so bad, but my poor knees are not thrilled about how long I'm kneeling on the ground, and how often I'm getting up and down.
I started by pounding in all the stakes for the edge restraint. I was worried I wouldn't have enough stakes, but I wound up with one to spare.
Then I used the fireplace mortar in the caulk tubes to mortar together the base tier of the legacy bricks. They're only mortared on the sides.
After that I deployed the polymeric sand. It's very fine, dry stuff that falls easily down into the cracks.
I left the spacers in place until I had all the gaps between the pavers filled in.
Then I pulled out the spacers and started sweeping with a paint brush to get it into all the crevices between the pavers, edging, and legacy bricks.
I'm still at that step now.
------------{=0=}------------
3:54PM
Okay, I'm in for another break.
After sweeping the sand and bricks well, I sifted a bunch of dirt into the wheel barrow, wheeled it over to the site, filled in around the edging, and then added grass seed.
Then over the top of the grass seed, I carefully filled in a top layer of soil and patted it down a bit.
Then I gave the whole thing a shower with the hose!
This water is gonna activate the polymeric sand.
And right now I'm just waiting for it to seep down, and for the area to dry up in the sun a bit.
------------{=0=}------------
8:15PM
Well, I put away the stuff I had out for base prep, and then set up with a tub to mix mortar, and a pitcher of water, and a trowel, etc... and started in mortaring.
That second tier, with the air vents went okay, but I ran into problems with the third tier, and it ended on a dissonant chord for this weekend...
coming along the side, lower right in this picture, things were lining up fine...
But when I got to the end of the next side... OOPS! Suddenly I was hanging out waaay over the edge!
I'm still a little mystfied as to why this is.
The thickness of the mixed mortar is clearly greater than that of the caulk tube mortar used inside the base, but... that didn't matter on the three-brick side, because of the brick dimensions.
However, it does matter on the four-brick sides... A LOT!
So... all is not lost, but... I need to figure out a way to cut some of these bricks!
I know a wet saw will do it, but I was hoping I wouldn't have to spend money on one.
Maybe theres a way to use a precision chisel?.. to just bust off the end of a few of them?
I'll have to look into it!
------------{=0=}------------
As soon as I hit this snag, I put away the mortar stuff, moved the hoses, and mowed the lawn... because there was still time at least to get that done before sundown.
Then after mowing the lawn, I cleaned up the firepit site.
But there was some sloppy mortar overhanging the bricks and I was able to just knock it off with my fingers and pinch it into dust.
It wasn't cured, of course, but now I'm worried maybe I didn't put enough water into the mix.
It seemed like a good mix, but... we'll just have to see tomorrow, if the bricks that did get mortared are actually holding solid.
If not... that could make a bad situation even worse!
But, if the mix was sound and the mortar does hold, then this whole project can be saved.
°¦}
https://soundcloud.com/snoozefestaudio
I got to bed early last night, and after a good long sleep I was up and working on the firepit before 1PM.
it's 2:15 now, and I'm taking a break. The heat's not so bad, but my poor knees are not thrilled about how long I'm kneeling on the ground, and how often I'm getting up and down.
I started by pounding in all the stakes for the edge restraint. I was worried I wouldn't have enough stakes, but I wound up with one to spare.
Then I used the fireplace mortar in the caulk tubes to mortar together the base tier of the legacy bricks. They're only mortared on the sides.
After that I deployed the polymeric sand. It's very fine, dry stuff that falls easily down into the cracks.
I left the spacers in place until I had all the gaps between the pavers filled in.
Then I pulled out the spacers and started sweeping with a paint brush to get it into all the crevices between the pavers, edging, and legacy bricks.
I'm still at that step now.
Okay, I'm in for another break.
After sweeping the sand and bricks well, I sifted a bunch of dirt into the wheel barrow, wheeled it over to the site, filled in around the edging, and then added grass seed.
Then over the top of the grass seed, I carefully filled in a top layer of soil and patted it down a bit.
Then I gave the whole thing a shower with the hose!
This water is gonna activate the polymeric sand.
And right now I'm just waiting for it to seep down, and for the area to dry up in the sun a bit.
Well, I put away the stuff I had out for base prep, and then set up with a tub to mix mortar, and a pitcher of water, and a trowel, etc... and started in mortaring.
That second tier, with the air vents went okay, but I ran into problems with the third tier, and it ended on a dissonant chord for this weekend...
coming along the side, lower right in this picture, things were lining up fine...
But when I got to the end of the next side... OOPS! Suddenly I was hanging out waaay over the edge!
I'm still a little mystfied as to why this is.
The thickness of the mixed mortar is clearly greater than that of the caulk tube mortar used inside the base, but... that didn't matter on the three-brick side, because of the brick dimensions.
However, it does matter on the four-brick sides... A LOT!
So... all is not lost, but... I need to figure out a way to cut some of these bricks!
I know a wet saw will do it, but I was hoping I wouldn't have to spend money on one.
Maybe theres a way to use a precision chisel?.. to just bust off the end of a few of them?
I'll have to look into it!
As soon as I hit this snag, I put away the mortar stuff, moved the hoses, and mowed the lawn... because there was still time at least to get that done before sundown.
Then after mowing the lawn, I cleaned up the firepit site.
But there was some sloppy mortar overhanging the bricks and I was able to just knock it off with my fingers and pinch it into dust.
It wasn't cured, of course, but now I'm worried maybe I didn't put enough water into the mix.
It seemed like a good mix, but... we'll just have to see tomorrow, if the bricks that did get mortared are actually holding solid.
If not... that could make a bad situation even worse!
But, if the mix was sound and the mortar does hold, then this whole project can be saved.
°¦}
