Plastering The Chimney

So today I worked on plastering the chimney. Before I started on the top end I thought it would be a good idea to add some reinforcement to the front of the chimney. I had a crack develop as I had shown you before. The idea here was to use a strip of wire fencing as the reinforcement.

My idea to use this was two fold. One, was to provide some support for the plaster since the front of the chimney had been washed smooth by the rain. Two, was to stop the crack from transferring through the plaster. A quick note about the rain washed cob/adobe. In order to get the plaster to adhere well to it I had to paint it with the slip. When the rain washed it down it removed most of the exposed clay so I had to use the slip to add the clay back. Any of the new plaster that hasn't been rain washed just needs some water to moisten it.

Before I could do anything on the front of the chimney I had to attach down the reinforcement strip. You can see in these pictures that I used some plaster on the sides to hold it in place. I had to let these cure so I moved on to the upper sections of the chimney.

I worked on the upper section of the back and right side while the reinforcement was curing. Then the rain hit. Ya I know, one of the hottest days of the year and it decides to start to rain. So my son Charles helped me throw a tarp over the oven. 

While waiting for the rain to pass I wrote up the post about the base to catch me up to the work I was doing today.

So the rain passed and I got back to work.

I finished up the first coat of plaster on the left and right sides. I tried to make the transfer to the dome fairly smooth so that the second coat of plaster will cover nicely.

I saved the front of the chimney for last. In the picture above you'll notice the two dark areas. I had a ledge in the front of the chimney that I had to even out. The dark spots were the thicker areas. When I add the second  layer of plaster that should smooth out the entire front of the chimney.

Since I had plenty of cob mix left I decided to add some to the base of the dome to help smooth out the curve of the dome to meet the base and make sure that there is good water run off on the back of the oven.

I figured that it was better to add this today so it could cure and I could fill any cracks before adding the final plaster layer. Hopefully no rain tomorrow so I can finish the plastering.