Type of surface to place ready built oven on to?

[ianh1066]

Hi guys,

I'm after some advice if anyone can help please.

I have a ready built oven that is light enough to move around.

I want to build a base for it to make it permanent.

I'll be using breeze blocks then rendering after. I'll be making a wood store under the oven. I don't know what type of material to use to make the top out of if anyone can advise?

I have seen some concrete lintels in wickes hardware store which would possibly do the job if they're going to withstand the heat from the oven. I didn't want to just go ahead and buy them and them crack within seconds of the first lighting.

If anyone has any ideas or can tell me what they've used I would really appreciate it.

Thanks

Ian

[chas]

Hi Ian and welcome... you'l find plenty of variations on the floor theme here, and others will be along with their suggestions no doubt.

Mine consists of three 6" lintels supporting four 2' square concrete slabs (to get a handy 4'x4' top) and the floor itself is 2.5" of vermicrete insulation beneath 2" clay tiles. You'll see the effect in my build. That thickness of insulation + clay protects the concrete from the heat but was an afterthought - If I had my build over again, I would aim for more insulation and mass to retain the heat better.

Good luck with the build

Chas

[oblertone]

There are some truly monolithic hearth/bases built, along with hugely insulated domes that keep 'cooking hot' for days; but that's not the only route and you should seek to balance the performance of your floor with that of your dome. If you don't then one component just becomes a heat sink and will detract from the overall performance.

Your dome is described as light, do you intend to insulate over it or use it as it is ? If you're just going to use it 'as is' then a heavy floor will never heat up as all your therms will be exiting via the dome. If however you intend to insulate over your dome (highly recommended) then a suitably insulated floor should be planned

nb: It is VERY difficult to go back and add insulation under the floor in most cases.

Underfloor insulation is placed under the cooking floor and comes in many varieties. Some use vermicrete (vermiculite & cement mixture) others (myself included) went for vermiculite board which is what domestic firebricks for hearths and stoves are cut from. Some builds feature thermalite blocks but I have no personal knowledge of them so can't comment, paving slabs also feature but again ...

Mine is a 'light' build (see thread below) so 25mm of vermiculite board under a layer of heater blocks worked for me, if doing a heavier job under a fully insulated dome I would have still used the board (flat dry surface) on top of concrete slabs and topped with firebrick for the floor.

Please note, these are just my ramblings but hopefully they are enough to set you off on the right path for YOUR build.

Paul

[ianh1066]

Hi guys, thanks for the welcome and also the info you have taken the time to provide. Really good of you.

I've just tried to upload an image of what I'm trying to look at building. Hopefully it's worked ok

Basically the oven I have already has its floor. It's just a cheap thing I got to try out until I can afford to build myself a nice one.

In the picture I'm wondering what type of material/plinth looking lenghts are used on top of the breeze blocks for the oven to stand on. I assume it's something that can withstand the heat from the oven floor that's on top of it.

I can't wait to do some more reading and get some more knowledge of how to build one from scratch. 

As soon as I can ill add the link to the oven I have bought. It's very cheap and possibly not going to be that great but at the moment it's just for pizzas for us and I can go on from there when I get chance to build a proper one.

Again, thanks for taking the time to reply.

Cheers

Ian