Planning to cast a concrete slab for the outdoor kitchen with an attached grill.
80 cm deep, 3 meters long, in two parts. On top of one part, I will lay fire brick, where a built-in grill will be placed. The other half will be a work surface with an integrated sink.
I'm considering whether the slab should have a slope. If rainwater gets onto the horizontal fire brick, there's a risk that the mortar might absorb water and freeze -> causing the brick to crack. This risk might decrease with a slope (forward, of course). On the other half, there's only the concrete slab and sink, but standing water may not be optimal in terms of ice formation, etc., on a surface you want to keep as smooth as possible.
The problem with casting a slope is that it makes leveling the masonry of the grill on top a bit trickier (sure, you might be able to even it out with the mortar under the first row of brick/leca), and, for example, you want the water mixer to be vertical, and it might be a problem not having the sink level = risk of standing water, etc.
I'm attaching a picture from the internet of a similar bench so you can see roughly how it should look.
We have no slope on the countertops; now, we've only had one winter so far, but I find it very hard to believe that it would be a problem for the countertop itself. As for the fireproof bricks, unfortunately, I don't know.
Okay, yes, maybe I am exaggerating the risk of frost bursting/"craters" on the countertop. And the question is if, for example, a 1% slope would help anyway. I am casting the countertop in formplyfa and will turn the slab over when it has cured, so it will be smooth anyway.
Yep, I did the same and used expanding concrete, the surface turned out really well. Sure, there's water on it, but concrete can handle that. Snow and ice remain on the slab regardless of the slope.
Ok, sounds good, and of course, as you say, the snow is likely to remain regardless. However, the concrete is saturated with water more during rain if it is completely flat, of course. But it should be fine...
Poured an absolutely level slab for the outdoor unit of my heat pump 7 years ago. The pump constantly drips water on the slab throughout the heating season. I can't see anything happening to the surface of the slab after 7 years. So, concrete definitely withstands water and freezing temperatures.
Ok, then I'm convinced
I'll also skip the case on the slab for the grill section. There I can easily hang a plywood board during the winter to prevent snow from getting onto the grill, if one would want that.
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