Render

[Thomobigands]

Morning all,

Thought I would post a quick note about render.

My base was breeze block and my dome firebrick covered with blanket, then chicken wire, then vermicrete. Over both of these I decided to use Tarmac one coat render from B&Q. I mixed it in a flexitub with a drill and attachment then applied it with a trowel and hawk as you would use for plastering. dont make the mix too wet and its nice to work with. Get it on and smooth it out roughly then leave it until it starts to harden slightly. Then, using a bucket of clean water and fairly damp sponge you go all over the render in circular motions. This smooths the render and 'closes' the surface (you'll see). Then just keep it lightly misted as it cures - covering it if its hot weather.

I put mine on when it was too hot a day really and despite keeping it misted I got cracks at the top. Another bucket of render over these on a cooler day a few days later sorted it out.

Then I applied two coats of Sandtex chalk hill.

A few fires later and all is good, no cracks so far. It even seems to have helped with increased insulation.

Hope this helps someone out there struggling to know how to finish their oven.

Have posted a photo of the result - alright it could be smoother but for my first plastering/rendering attempt I am pleased! By the way, I chose to make the corners easier by hammer and chiselling the corners off then fitting reinforcing strips of metal plasterers mesh over the broken corners, fixed with clout nails.

[crammy]

looks good mate. Im dreading doing the render on mine. I assume its waterproof. Silly question i Know or does the sandtex seal it

[Thomobigands]

I was too but its not that bad. Whether the Tarmac one coat stuff will last I'll have to see. Seems ok though.

I mixed probably a bag and a halfish to a third of a flexitub of water and then added a touch more water/mix as required to get a smooth peanut butter. That tub did probably 2/3 of the base.

The same mix did about 70/80% of the oven.

I took maybe 30-40 minutes to put it on and it didnt seem to be going off too quickly. I just used a trowel to scoop a couple of blobs on to the hawk. Then loaded it onto the trowel and applied it like a plasterer would (watch some videos). Once its all on, a wet sponge and circular motions will test whether its ready. If its dragging that mix off then its still a bit wet. You should be able to be reasonably firm with a sponge to use a polishing motion to smooth it out.

Not sure whether its waterproof on its own - its actually not a bad colour when it dries! but I was always going to go over it with two coats of the Sandtex. I got a 5l tin and to do two coats on the base and the dome left me with about 1/3 of a tin left.

Hope that helps a bit, whether you go with the Tarmac stuff or something else. I was going to use K-rend originally.

[crammy]

Thanks for thAt. I was looking at k-rend but ill go with whatever is easier as long as it works.

[Byronius Maximus]

Hi Thomo,

I'm now looking at rendering my oven (see my thread here: ukwoodfiredovenforum.proboards.com/thread/3009/rend-on-clay-oven?page=1&scrollTo=25641 )

I was looking at using K rend but your solution seems to be more economical so I was wondering how it has held up...there was quite a lot of rain in August so how did it fare against that?

Thanks

[Thomobigands]

Hi,

The render is still looking good. Quite a few firings now so have a couple of hairline cracks but that's to be expected I think.

So all good.

Will have to see how it stands up to winter but am planning on wrapping/covering the oven with something at some point.

Hope this helps.

[oblertone]

As your flue isn't hugely tall, look at patio furniture covers for over-wintering. I use a 6x4 table cover on mine and it works well.

[Thomobigands]

Yeah, I was thinking about a garden table cover, maybe tied with something. The removable chimney will make it easier to wrap at least!

Was wondering if I should try and wrap the oven with something first though. Felt out something for insulation=added frost protection. Or do you think that's unnecessary?

Might fire it up over the winter at some point for a bit of fun! Christmas dinner?

[oblertone]

I've never wrapped mine with anything, and most of the patio type covers come with a drawstring. As for Christmas, doing your bird in the WFO frees up the main oven for everything else, plus you get to eat pizza onChristmas Eve; last years boned and rolled turkey went down a treat after a very slow roast.