Continuation of papavino's oven thread Brick Oven Photos Discuss Continuation of papavino's oven thread in the Good Background Information forums; Okay, so I put in my 2x4 forms for the vermi-perlcrete (using both). But we screwed up just a little ...

[papavino]

Okay, so I put in my 2x4 forms for the vermi-perlcrete (using both). But we screwed up just a little bit on the structural portion of the hearth, in that it's not completely even and the 2x4's don't sit flush with the 2x8 form.

So, now I'm trying to think of ways to make it all even. I could take some 2x4's and rip them to the thickness I need to make my outer form high enough to be level with my inner 2x4 insulating form. Or I could take off my 2x8 form and shim it up enough to be even with the insulating form. We poured on Saturday, so I shouldn't have any issues removing the form, right?

[jrparks]

No problem! Adjust the 2x8 form to be level and put the inner 2x4's flush and level with the tops of the 2x8's. You may first need to loosen the 2x8's free of the first pour.
Cheers,

[papavino]

Phew, that was the answer I was hoping to hear. Thanks!

[papavino]

Put the vermi-perl-crete layer on last night. I used about half vermiculite and half perlite. Roughly 7:1 insulators to cement. Mixing that stuff was strange.

[papavino]

I called up Mutual Materials today to see about either picking up or having delivered my firebrick. They've raised their prices, apparently, as it's $1.39 a brick. Or is it? The guy on the phone kept spouting off new numbers mid-sentence. "Let's see, it's $1.39 a brick plus a $100 delivery charge, plus a $0.20 per brick... $1.45 a brick plus $116 dollars delivery..."
That's almost a direct quote. I don't know what he was looking at, or why the numbers kept changing, but now I'm thinking Lowe's is my best option, unfortunately. They're $1.29 a brick. I was hoping to use a local store, but my hopes are being dashed.

[jrparks]

papavino,
Try I-XL Masonry in Redmond.
I-XL Masonry | Showrooms - Redmond, WA
This is were I and bbell got our fire bricks and refactory mortar. The bricks were $1.15 ea. and identical to the ones you see at Lowes. (they might be 1.19 now) Get a friend with truck or rent a u-haul. That's my 2¢.

[papavino]

Pics of my latest status. I removed the forms for the insulating hearth on Monday and poured the surround last night. I had a minor freak-out moment when my calculation for how much concrete I needed came up just a bit short. That was at about 6:30. I went and discussed my issue with some non-supportive () friends over a beer, then went to HD and grabbed a 60# bag to finish it off. Despite my detour to Die Bierstube and my neighbor talking my ear off about weeds, everything is looking good.

[papavino]

Just picked up the HF 10" tile saw. It's time to start laying brick!

[papavino]

We started laying the floor for the oven tonight. We were having trouble getting all of the bricks to line up and eliminate seams. We then decided to take the bricks off and use 3/8" shims dragged along the structural concrete surround under a 2x4 to screed the fireclay/sand mixture to an even height. This worked really well and only required some minimal tapping down with a rubber mallet to get all of the bricks to line up with each other. We ran out of daylight before we could begin using the HF tile saw, but we set it up so it is ready to go tomorrow night. I'm really looking forward to firing it up! Photos to come.

[papavino]

Here's the oven as it currently stands. Looking good so far. I like the HF tile saw. Works pretty well. I bought a Dewalt diamond blade to use with it and it cuts the bricks pretty quickly. The second photo is of all the stuff I put into my Civic yesterday. It was riding pretty low. I'm really abusing that car during this project.