Day 19 1/2

We did it - we were able to get the walls around the baking chamber poured! We had a beautiful evening to complete the task and now we're both in need of hot showers to remove the concrete from our bodies.

I started wetting down the brick about one hour before Tom got home from work so that we wouldn't run in to any problems with the concrete. The humidity was only 12% today. This concrete is a mixture the Lumnite (for high heat), sand and gravel. This mixture will also encase the entire baking chamber once the arches are finished. This concrete mass that surrounds the baking chamber is what actually captures the heat and retains it for baking.

The sprayer that I use to add moisture when I'm baking bread came in handy
for wetting down the brick.

As Tom poured the mixture into the form, I worked it in with a short piece of re bar.

 

Once all the concrete was poured around the form,
we worked at smoothing it out and making it level.

DONE!

So now we're all set for Saturday when Tom will start building the arches. We can't wait to share it with you. Kath