Hansen Horno

[chidding]

Masterpeice is an understatement.. looks amazing! love the pics!

[dbhansen]

Originally Posted by WoodchuckDad

Wow....that is impressive. Makes mine look like junk.

Thanks, but you must be joking!!! Yours is the oven I would have if I were a better mason!

Thanks for the comments, guys.

[Dino_Pizza]

I agree with everyone else too, Daren:
Your oven looks great. It's always an on-going process but your results are top-notch.
The lights look terrific. I'll have to copy your outer-door design. That wood door and drift-wood handle is beautiful.
-Dino

[fullback66]

Originally Posted by dbhansen

I laid out my insulation boards and they were quite flat and stable so I didn't attach them to the hearth. I also didn't cut them to the shape of the oven floor yet; I figured I could do that at a later date with a handsaw if necessary. I drilled the hole for the floor thermocouple and laid out the floor. The front of the entryway shown here is 14" back from the peak of the cantilever.

Where do you buy the insulation board?
I love the build. Great Job!

[fullback66]

Originally Posted by Les

I think it's worth it - but with some mod's. Forget about the back - mortar is your friend. I cut mine in half - then focused on the side taper and vertical angle, believe me, that's enough. I tried to cut an entire course at once but it was not meant to be - the accuracy of your cuts will bite you in the end. You will have to make custom cuts about every three or four bricks. That was my experience. If you had a compound brick saw it would probably be a slam dunk - I bought what most have - the Harbor Freight. One more area of pain - when you get to the 10th or 11th course, the bricks become so narrow it's a bitch to hold them steady - again, it's all in the saw.

Les...

What saw do you recommend?

[dbhansen]

Originally Posted by fullback66

Where do you buy the insulation board?

I got 4 panels of 2" SuperIsol from Armil CFS in Illinois. As for the saw, I borrowed a Harbor Freight saw from someone else. Worked just fine. Thanks for the comments!

[Pompeii Nate]

Hey Daren,

I don't even know if you check this anymore and I am sorry if this has already been asked but...in your very first post you said that if you were to do it again you would go with a floating slab. How deep would you take your gravel beneath the slab and how thick of a slab would you go with? Did you have any "professionals" advise you on that? I am curious because I live in an area with a deep frost line (36") and I can't afford to go deep like that. Any help and advice is greatly appreciated.

Great build!

Nate

[Ken524]

Hi Nate,

Since no one has responded yet, I thought I'd take a shot. Ovens on floating slabs work fine in colder regions. Several FB members have used them without a complaint. Pour the slab on top of several inches of compacted gravel (3"-8" or so) in an area that has good drainage. Make sure you use rebar to minimize cracking. The Pompeii instruction manual does a good job of illustrating this process.

I think my slab was formed with 2x6's so it's about 5 1/5" thick.

Since the slab is relatively small in size, the slab and your oven will "float" as one unit as the ground moves and heaves through the year. We are talking very small, insignificant amounts of movement here.

Good luck with your oven!

[Pompeii Nate]

Ken,

Thanks for the response. The slab foundation has been my biggest worry and hesitation to starting this project. Your information is greatly appreciated. I am waiting to hear back from a structural engineer that my friend works with after he looks over my Sketchup design. Hopefully his input will be about the same...that a floating slab will work fine.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

Thanks again, Ken.

Nate

[dbhansen]

Hi Nate,
Ken is spot on, as always. I did not design the type of floating slab I would have used had I gone that route, so I can't really help with the structural design questions. I just know that if I were doing it over, I would go the easier and less expensive route used by many others on this forum. The floating slabs seem to hold up just fine.

That being said, I did do lots of research on what the best approach is for this area, given that we have significant frost heave and a very deep frost line, and the fact that my yard is usually pretty wet. The pros that I talked to advised me to do a deep foundation, but I don't think I talked to the right pros!

Good luck!
Daren