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Post by richied on Apr 24, 2016 18:44:28 GMT
Hi all, I'm Rich from South Leicestershire. I'm a wood burner installer with some building experience and am midway through building my 36" pizza oven, based loosely on the Forno Bravo plans, with one or two of my own interpretations. I've spent a day or two looking through this forum and am impressed with the encouragement and help folks are offering to each other. My build is going well and so far I have... ...built a base:  ...and some walls:  ...built an arch entrance:  Tomorrow I'll be laying the oven base. What I'm unsure of is this; is it better to build a 3.5" concrete base and then lay a vermiculite/ cement insulating layer on top, or should I put a ceramic fibre board down as an oven insulating base. I'm on a budget, so I'd like to do the best value option, while retaining the correct level of insulation. Also, if anyone has any left over materials i.e bricks, blanket etc, I'd be glad to buy them off you. Rich |
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Post by gracie on Apr 24, 2016 19:02:43 GMT
Welcome Rich, I'm sure somebody with know-how will answer your querie. Look forward to seeing the build.
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Post by cobblerdave on Apr 24, 2016 22:26:18 GMT
G'day
Pearlite and Portland for insulation should be about 100 mm thick. It takes a time to dry out and the moisture must be out of it before it preforms correctly.
50 mm of ceramic weather blanket or board will give the same level of insulation but is more expensive and harder to find.
Both will work equally as well so it's up to you and your budget and time frame. There is no "wrong answer"
Regards Dave
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Post by richied on Apr 25, 2016 10:45:05 GMT
Cheers Dave, I'm quite fortunate in that I have access to a couple of ceramic board suppliers, so I'll go for that option. 100mm of insulation must create an enormous slab when combined with the concrete base layer. Many moons ago I lived in Italy, where you can buy all these materials for a fraction of the cost of materials in the UK (fire bricks are just €0.65 each there, compared to £1.50 in the UK i.e a third of the cost).
Anyway, I'm just waiting for the rain to stop so I can carry on concreting the oven base. Rich
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Post by cobblerdave on Apr 25, 2016 11:03:03 GMT
G'day
Add another waterproof membrane under the board. I know you have got one the stand already but as I found it can be breached. It's a small cost for a bit of extra protection.
Regards dave
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Post by richied on Apr 28, 2016 19:19:11 GMT
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Post by gracie on Apr 29, 2016 6:57:12 GMT
Looking good, very neat.
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Post by richied on Apr 29, 2016 17:01:04 GMT
Cheers Gracie! So today I drove 85 miles to collect some 'fire clay' which I'd bought on eBay. I already have 75Kg of refractory mortar, but needed something that can fill gaps larger than 5mm so planned to make up some homebrew mortar. Once I got home I read the label on the two tubs and found it wasn't fire clay, but more refractory mortar!!!! I now have 125Kg of refractory mortar which I'd be willing to swop for some lime and powdered fire clay, or sell for £12 per 25Kg. Unless I can use the refractory mortar to build my dome without making multiple cuts to every brick?
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Post by gracie on Apr 29, 2016 18:52:30 GMT
I'm down in Wiltshire. I haven't quite finished yet but when I do I'm bound to have stuff left over including fireclay ( only used a few handful so far). I bought a bag of lime today from Travis Perkins after a fruitless search for half a bag on gumtree etc. It was only £12. You can buy my leftovers but I suspect you want to crack on, I'm not sure when I'll be finished and the petrol to get here would cost you as much as buying new!
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Post by richied on Apr 29, 2016 19:36:12 GMT
Ah, that's interesting...I was expecting it to be much more than that at TP. I have a trade account there, so it might be even cheaper! Cheers Gracie.
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Post by richied on Apr 29, 2016 19:39:09 GMT
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Post by gracie on Apr 29, 2016 19:51:16 GMT
Yes the first one...you need to use it with cement. am I using the wrong thing?!! |
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Post by richied on Apr 30, 2016 7:34:35 GMT
That one should be fine...there's not too much difference between the two.
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Post by richied on May 24, 2016 19:04:04 GMT
Hi all, I've been busy working on my build some more and thought I'd share a few pics. I'm at the stage where I'm about to insulate the dome and render the dome/ base sides. I'm still unsure as to how to finish the flat sections around the down. My original plan was to cut some riven paving stones, but these might look a bit unwieldy...does anyone have any suggestions?  Token dome image  I found it easier to cut the bricks into thirds for the majority of the dome. By the time I reached the top 3/4 of the build I was ready for a change! I actually built the whole dome without a former of any kind and used the adhesion of refractory mortar to hold the bricks in place. I used a small offcut of brick to create the right angle, stuck it on with some refractory mortar and then backfilled with homewbrew mortar afterwards.   I wanted a striking arch for the entrance and reckon this is it!  |
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Post by oblertone on May 24, 2016 20:55:12 GMT
Striking indeed; nice job !
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