I finished laying the last stones yesterday.

[kebwi]

That's really nice stone. It's so colorful. Is it "thick" or is it a veneer, thin sheets? I'm trying to figure out my options.

Nicely done.

[Wheels1974]

That is by FAR the most beautiful WFO I have seen, It's a real credit to you mate.

[heliman]

Awesome....

Does the house part provide additional insulation during the cooking process.

Originally Posted by briot

I wanted to make my oven look kind of like a little stone house. I researched this project for over a year. I must have looked at every picture of wood fired ovens on the internet. I just really liked the looks of the ovens that had roofs, stone, and brick. And living in Oregon, where we have lots of rain, I designed mine with a roof. I got the most beautiful stone given to me by a local mason, who had them left over from a job. My son worked for him as his hod carrier, and when he told the masons that his mom wanted to build a pizza oven they all laughed. That just made me more determined.

My husband and sons helped with the foundation, and I hired an unemployed mason to help me with the dome, but after that I did all the work by myself. I'm fairly handy, but I had never taken on anything quite like this. But I loved every minute of it. Don't look to close to my steel stud framing though. For me it was the most challenging part, and there is very little information out there about how to do it. It was like building a big erector set.

Originally I bought plans from Alan Scott and the ones from Rado Hand, the Aussie guy. But then I delved more into The Forno Bravo site and decided that their design was the way to go. I wouldn't build any other kind.

Have fun with it - I sure did.

[briot]

I don't know what they call this stone. As I said, it was given to me. It is real stone, and if I had to buy it myself, I probably would have used something else. It's fairly expensive.

[briot]

I don't think the house enclosure helps insulation any, but you'd have to ask one of the experts.

[dmun]

Does the house part provide additional insulation during the cooking process.

It provides more room for insulation. You can also pour the vermiculite in loose instead of mixing it with portland, giving it a higher insulation value.

Finally, most importantly, it keeps the insulation dry in wet climates. Wet insulation is no insulation.