WFO and BBQ build in Sunderland

[undiscoveredben]

Hi all.

So, made the first bit of progress into my 'outdoor kitchen' build last weekend.

This is what it looked like untouched...

So I took out a few trees, the wall and a fair bit of soil!

Given the openness of the area after the trees disappeared I decided to completely change the layout! 

So had to take a bit more soil out.

I'm going for something similar to this sketch:

I'm yet to decide on the modular oven, but will be about 90cm internal diameter, hence I'm going for a 1.5m square base.

Could be either a Linea Vz; www.wood-oven-warehouse.co.uk/woodburningpizzaovens.html

Or a Wood Fired Gourmet: www.woodfire-gourmet.co.uk/800mm-dome-oven-kits.php

A few questions I'm pondering at the moment, which if anyone has any comments I'd be really interested in your opinions:

• Base - does your base need to be square, or could it just follow the line of bricks?

  
  

• Walls - why does everyone on here seem to use breeze blocks on the inside and their chosen bricks to line the outside, rather than just wall tie twin brick walls together?  I assume there's a reason but I don't know if its speed, cost, strength or any other reasons!?

That's all for now, looking forward to getting stuck in and sharing it with you.

[undiscoveredben]

I've got a couple of questions and wondered if anyone had a recommendation....

May base is coming along. I've got a 140cm square base created with thermalite blocks.
I've added 10cm wide lintels to the top of this to create the foundation of the hearth.
I'm then going to put a layer of thermalites on their sides on top of the lintels which will bring it to a height of 110cm.
The modular oven will then sit on a bed of Ciment Fondu and Pearlite which comes supplied with the oven kit.

Here are my questions....
- Should I put a bed of mortar between the linetls and thermalite blocks, or just lay them on, knowing that the Ciment fondu will level out any small differences in height?
- Should I mortar the thermalite blocks together? Or just line them up against each other?
- If the answer is yes to the above, what materials should I use to do this?

Your wisdom is much appreciated.

Ben.

[undiscoveredben]

[tonyb]

Hi Ben, for completeness re your earlier questions:

1 Base can be any shape you want as long as its big enough to allow for the oven, insulation and outer cover
2 Base materials don't matter as long as they are mechanically strong enough. Choice is more about convenience, ease, cost, what individuals feel comfortable with, aesthetics etc

I haven't used thermolites but if you have been supplied with perlite and ciment fondue for the base, I wouldn't bother adding anything further unless there were major differences in the block dimensions. Similarly, I personally wouldn't cement the blocks together unless there were big gaps due to inconsistent blocks (not likely).

[undiscoveredben]

Great, that's really helpful. Thanks very much.
Will be crackin on next week.

[undiscoveredben]

Moved on a lot with this build over the summer and now complete (apart from 4 patio slabs to be laid)

Pizza's are a delight, absolutely love it.

[undiscoveredben]

[t5dave]

fantastic matey,ill keep an eye out for plumes of smoke from back gardens when im out and about in wearside