The Home Improvement Thread

[Silverback]

Chiminea developed a crack in the side. I researched on google to see what I could use to patch/repair it. Some sites suggested that a 2-part epoxy could be used if other (better solutions) like bondo weren't available. I had some on hand, so decided to just go that route.

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Since I had to lay it on its side to get the epoxy to set, I decided to go ahead and sand and paint the base.

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Now I just need to figure out what I can put on it to protect the clay. Based on some internet reading and what the paint that was on it is doing, I'm guessing it was painted after it was fired. The paint has disintegrated in some spots and flaked off in others. This has left the clay exposed in some areas. I need to figure out what to put on it to protect it. At this rate, it only has a few years of use left. I'd like to find a brownish high temp paint, but copper is the closest I've found.

A few years ago we had a chiminea out by the pergola area in the yard. I did not have a stand for it, it sat on pavers. Anyhow, looked very similar to yours. Well it was July around the 1st or 2nd of July and the wife wanted all these lights hung off the pergola. So I get my ladder out, its 4:30 in the afternoon, just got home from work... hot as Hell. I'm up on this ladder putting up this big ass strand of lights plus installing the solar panels and battery for them. Anyhow I am out there about 30 minutes.. melting my head. I take a mis-step coming down the ladder and fell backwards and landed on the chiminea. It exploded into about 500 pieces. Thankfully!! I finished the lights though. LOL

 

[CowboyTaco]

you will have fun with that golf course/HOA neighborhood, do you have the nextdoor app?

I do have the nextdoor app. I don't really use it much though. What are you recommending?

Chiminea's are disposable items like outdoor grills are now. But fire it up and see if that epoxy patch will hold with the heat.

That sucks. This is actually the second application of epoxy. I used some in the past without laying it down and it closed up 90% of the crack, but ran out some. I also did a fire in it too soon and melted some of it that hadn't cured. It's had 3 or 4 really hot fires in it since then and the epoxy has held up well, so I suspect this (being the same brand epoxy) will work just fine. I'm just not going to start a fire in it until it has had plenty of time to cure.

....which might be tonight

I leave my fires unattended way to much to allow a cracked Chimanea to be used.

That said - buy once and cry once with this brand in cast aluminum - should never need a new one for the rest of your life..... The Blue Rooster Chiminea Outdoor Fireplaces Cast Aluminum Cast Iron. Quality Cast Aluminum Chimineas from The Blue Rooster Company

Just be mindful of the sizes - most are smaller.

Dang. Those aint cheap!

 

[Oswego]

No sir, but cast aluminum should last a few lifetimes.

Ive got a stainless steel fire pit thats was cheap and has lasted. I love a good chimenia because we always have windy conditions and bought a POS one from Lowes or HD. It was less than $100, but is junk after a season.

Up here as soon as the glaze is used up and water gets into the clay in winter they are fubar after a season or two of freeze/thaw. Just can't handle ice.... I haven't trashed it yet, but I took it off my deck so if it falls apart now it just burns my weeds. When I hit the lottery Ill get one of them for my cabin in the woods. When I first bought it I used to keep a 50 gallon trash bag over it in winter but now I'd down to using a old pot lid to keep the rain out of the chimney of it.

 

[CowboyTaco]

This one is from a local nursery (local to when we bought it). I figured it was likely to be of better quality than any of the box stores. It was around $100 and I'm on probably 3 years with it.

If I can figure out a paint to put on the clay, I bet I get several more good years out of it. If not, it'll probably need to be replaced sooner than later.

 

[Taco Loco]

I do have the nextdoor app. I don't really use it much though. What are you recommending?



That sucks. This is actually the second application of epoxy. I used some in the past without laying it down and it closed up 90% of the crack, but ran out some. I also did a fire in it too soon and melted some of it that hadn't cured. It's had 3 or 4 really hot fires in it since then and the epoxy has held up well, so I suspect this (being the same brand epoxy) will work just fine. I'm just not going to start a fire in it until it has had plenty of time to cure.

....which might be tonight



Dang. Those aint cheap!

Just read the general posts/threads about the golf nazies running the show and the complaints, I’m sure you will find some weirdo/funny posts in it. Everyone bitches about dogs.

 

[Oswego]

This one is from a local nursery (local to when we bought it). I figured it was likely to be of better quality than any of the box stores. It was around $100 and I'm on probably 3 years with it.

If I can figure out a paint to put on the clay, I bet I get several more good years out of it. If not, it'll probably need to be replaced sooner than later.

Apparently I should of sealed it about 4-6 times by now and have yet to seal it once

Sealing directions I just found w/product info
Maintaining A Chiminea - User Guide


Ive also heard of people putting sand in the bottom of them to help them from cracking but I never understood that. To me the sand would just soak up more water but I'm sure there's a reason someone smarter then myself figured out.

 

[CowboyTaco]

The guy at the nursery suggested the sand in the bottom. I figured he knew more about them than I did, so I followed his advice. The bottom of it looks to be in great shape.

I'll look into the sealant stuff. That'll probably be an upcoming weekend project. I want to paint it first though to kind of hide the epoxy if that's possible.

 

[fsbrain03]

Cleaned up and organized the garage this weekend. Made it a bit easier to work on the trail rig.

 

[tex]

Decent size hail last night and now this line coming in that could produce 70+ mph winds will probably result in home improvement.

 

[Taco Loco]

Decent size hail last night and now this line coming in that could produce 70+ mph winds will probably result in home improvement.
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I like the Accuweather app. I didn’t see any cells more than 52nph.

 

[Taco Loco]

Future cast shows possible hail again over the DFW area

 

[tex]

I used Accuweather in the past but it kept crashing after they did an update so I started to use Wunderground.

 

[tx_shooter]

Watching Channel 4 weather and they were saying 60 mph winds. Guess it is just a lot of fast moving air.

 

[PSU Taco85]

Not really an improvement, other than raise my potential BTU output. Hauled another load of oak today, good exercise and so the rest of what’s left to split I plan on selling as I’m out of space to store

 

[Taco Loco]

I used Accuweather in the past but it kept crashing after they did an update so I started to use Wunderground.

Apple or Android?

IOS here...I don’t do the automatic updates, I usually wait a few months after they push updates, because of those reasons/app crashes.

 

[CowboyTaco]

I really like the Accuweather app on my android. I used to use WUnderground.

 

[Oswego]

Decent size hail last night and now this line coming in that could produce 70+ mph winds will probably result in home improvement.
View attachment 23485

God luck man. We have had two hail storms in the past 2-3 weeks. Very unusual to see them so close together. Luckily our hail was the size of peas both times so no damage.

Not really an improvement, other than raise my potential BTU output. Hauled another load of oak today, good exercise and so the rest of what’s left to split I plan on selling as I’m out of space to store
View attachment 23487

You could store a few hundred cords just on the perimeter of your big ass yard and never notice any loss of land.

I'd keep it as far away from your wood framed garage as possible. My dumb ass stored a bunch of campfire wood in my shed this past winter. I go to clean it out this spring and all I see on my studs is 2 massive mud huts from termites. I knew better than to store it in my shed, but didn't listen to my gut instinct. All I wanted was dry wood in winter for my fire pit at the time. Hindsight being 20/20 that's going to cost me. Never again am I storing any wood indoors or near any of the stuff I want to last.

There are plenty of pile designs that let it dry outdoors w/o rotting away you could look into.

 

[Taco Loco]

The wind just started here about 15-20min ago, looks like I will be cutting up 2 more good size hickory trees.

 

[PSU Taco85]

God luck man. We have had two hail storms in the past 2-3 weeks. Very unusual to see them so close together. Luckily our hail was the size of peas both times so no damage.



You could store a few hundred cords just on the perimeter of your big ass yard and never notice any loss of land.

I'd keep it as far away from your wood framed garage as possible. My dumb ass stored a bunch of campfire wood in my shed this past winter. I go to clean it out this spring and all I see on my studs is 2 massive mud huts from termites. I knew better than to store it in my shed, but didn't listen to my gut instinct. All I wanted was dry wood in winter for my fire pit at the time. Hindsight being 20/20 that's going to cost me. Never again am I storing any wood indoors or near any of the stuff I want to last.

There are plenty of pile designs that let it dry outdoors w/o rotting away you could look into.

This is true, I've been I guess storing too close to my shop then just on the lean to area. It does keep it dry and on concrete so I think the risk of bug/termite infestation is low. For my next round of loading, I guess I'll find an alternate spot.

 

[Taco Loco]

God luck man. We have had two hail storms in the past 2-3 weeks. Very unusual to see them so close together. Luckily our hail was the size of peas both times so no damage.



You could store a few hundred cords just on the perimeter of your big ass yard and never notice any loss of land.

I'd keep it as far away from your wood framed garage as possible. My dumb ass stored a bunch of campfire wood in my shed this past winter. I go to clean it out this spring and all I see on my studs is 2 massive mud huts from termites. I knew better than to store it in my shed, but didn't listen to my gut instinct. All I wanted was dry wood in winter for my fire pit at the time. Hindsight being 20/20 that's going to cost me. Never again am I storing any wood indoors or near any of the stuff I want to last.

There are plenty of pile designs that let it dry outdoors w/o rotting away you could look into.

I store wood in a 96gallon trash can that I plan on using or keeping dry, I have seen termites in that can before, but I keep it away from the house.