Roma 900 new build story

[wsb]

I’ve introduced myself in a previous thread and have received some guidance on curing/drying the new build and as mentioned in my intro page I will provide my story of a 12 month project which in 5 mins will end and start with my first curing fire., with pics in due course...but, after sourcing info on here via the numerous posts and threads I am just so nervous about this now!...I now know far more than I did 12 months ago, but only just learned it all in the last few weeks unfortunately, due to me not finding this site until recently.. I haven’t done half of the stuff some have done and can only hope that some of the procedures are specific to different types of builds. 

Some of the work on here is truly awesome and I take my hat off to such splendid constructions  and tech ability..I built mine, followed the instructions, had to go off piste a few times basically due to the massive steep learning curve and errors or misjudgements I made..never laid a brick or mixed mortar in my life, not the best DIYer at all and not the tidiest..for example I can use silicon around a bath tub and within 3 minutes the damn stuff can appear in the lounge, in my hair ..so you get the picture - I get blisters just by holding a pen in my office!

I will start to tell my story later as I just have to cure/dry the oven.. 

not certain where this this topic should be so admins, feel free to move it

[devontiger]

wsb, Just remember, easy does it with the firing. This well might take a week plus, depending how much material you have used.
Small fires to start. Then build up each fire & length of time duration.
To avoid if pos, small cracks etc, but no matter how careful you are, they will appear.
DT

[downunderdave]

If you go off piste don’t let it get you pissed off. Remember there are two kinds of oven owners, those with ovens that have cracks and those with ovens who lie about their ovens having cracks. A roughly built oven will cook just as well as a professional build provided the design is good.

[wsb]

Done two firings, not certain what size small fire means so basically I’ve guestimated and used kindling and small 2 finger width cut logs. We have a log burner so plenty of fully seasoned cut logs around and am used to building fires in that from kindling right up to 12 inch half cut logs. The firings have been 30 mins and then 50 mins, again not certain what time a short fire is so tried to use common sense. Also, I wasn’t certain where to site the fires so have gone for middle for diddle and then spread embers when flames died down towards end of firing time.

A hairline crack has appeared in mortar beaten brick in top arch following a path up to the base of the chimney about 8 inches but nothing collapsed yet!.

I’m guessing that as my oven is a prefabricated concrete 3 piece dome, which has a water proof layer, 2 inch insulated rock wool type stuff, two coatings of render and then bricks, the curing/drying process is not as crucial as those ovens which are clay and brick, bearing in mind that there has been at least a 6 month time gap between rendering going on and then the bricks on top, during which time the oven was fully waterproofed with hessian to keep frost out and waterproofing tarpaulin over winter

I’ve got so many questions it’s almost embarrassing!

I’ve uploaded pictures from phone to iPad so in the next day or so I can begin my story of a project which overran longer than the channel tunnel!

I will keep the story as short as possible so as not to bore readers.

Thanks for comments to date, very reassuring.

[devontiger]

wsb, the idea of small fires to start with, are to gently heat the oven & to dry slowly.

Yes you will get cracks, you cant help it, (your bum has one so its not unheard of) but steady fires will help.
Drying out does take time, even tho you have had it covered, they still draw in moisture, lousy climate..

As you continue gradually get the fires bigger for longer.

All the best.
Look forward to your build story.

DT

[oblertone]

The only other advice I can offer is to let the oven cool completely between firings; this allows moisture to migrate from the wetter areas into the newly dried areas from where it will be driven out by the next firing.

[wsb]

Had to defer another drying fire this afternoon as had to deal with a swarm of honey bees which have appeared overnight it seems in the cowling of my house chimney, first I knew about it was when I was in the lounge and glanced at the log burner only to see about 50 bees flying around inside. Tried to smoke them out back up the chimney thinking that there were only a few. Had.a Look at the chimney outside and there were 1000’s of them going mad, understandably!. They have now settled on the top of the chimney for the night despite my best efforts to move them on. Need to get hold of a local bee keeper methinks.

Circumstances are conspiring against me all the way through this build!

[chas]

May 21, 2019 21:30:00 GMT wsb said:

Had to defer another drying fire this afternoon as had to deal with a swarm of honey bees which have appeared overnight it seems in the cowling of my house chimney, first I knew about it was when I was in the lounge and glanced at the log burner only to see about 50 bees flying around inside. Tried to smoke them out back up the chimney thinking that there were only a few. Had.a Look at the chimney outside and there were 1000’s of them going mad, understandably!. They have now settled on the top of the chimney for the night despite my best efforts to move them on. Need to get hold of a local bee keeper methinks.

Circumstances are conspiring against me all the way through this build!

Not likely to be relevant to you now - they’ll have moved on - but for anyone else, a beekeeper isn’t likely to collect a swarm from a domestic chimney-top. It’s too inaccesable. By far the best thing is to do just what you instinctively did, smoke em out and keep them at bay til they move on. They will, as they have limited food and need to get established somewhere in a hurry.

Chas - I love collecting swarms...