Michigan WFO Brick Oven Photos Discuss Michigan WFO in the Good Background Information forums; Thanks for all the comments. Somehow Michigan was graced with some warm weather this weekend. I finished grouting the oven. ...

[mfiore]

Thanks for all the comments.

Somehow Michigan was graced with some warm weather this weekend. I finished grouting the oven. The neighbors have been staring at my ugly tarp covered beast for so long, that I wanted to make the back look nice for them. I cut some extra brick I had into "brick veneer" and put in a design with all the stone. It's in the back of the oven, no one will see it but them!

I think I am officially done with the masonry part of my oven! On to the roof.

[Les]

Great looking work Mike - God speed with the roof, winter is coming fast....

Les...

[dbhansen]

Very nice stone and brickwork, Mike! I really like that brick inlay. Looks like the warm weather will will be with us for a bit longer; too bad the sun goes down so early. The roof should go pretty fast, though. Good luck with it!

Daren

[mfiore]

I started working on my slate roof today. Once again, the learning curve is going to be steep and fast. I read a great deal about slate roofing, but it's still weird for me to work with.

I am using New York red slate. Because it's quite expensive, I am using salvaged slate that I was able to buy. Although it was quite a bit cheaper, I am starting to regret not forking over the extra cash for new. Especially after seeing some of the new slate roofs that have popped up on the forum over the last few months.

I used a copper drip edge, which I am quite happy with. The slates, however, are definitely worn. There are a lot of chips, cracks, and irregularities. The slate also has black stains that I cannot completely wash off. My wife loves them. She thinks it'll make the oven look like it's already 100 years old.

I've found that hammering soft slate tiles into concrete board with a soft copper nail is a bad combination for a guy with bad aim. I messed up several slate before rethinking my approach. Initially, my plan was to screw wood furring strips to the concrete roof to provide a substrate for the slate to nail into. This posed two problems. 1) The used slate does not have holes in consistent spots. 2) This method left the slate suspended on two wood strips, with nothing supporting underneath. As a result, anything that pressed down on them caused a crack.

I decided to cover the entire roof in 3/4 inch plywood (on top of the concrete board already down.) This seemed much easier for the slate to nail into.

Here are some photos of stacks of salvaged slate.

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

should look great... and it comes with a built in patina... I think your wife is right and it will look like its been there forever (a good thing)

Cheers
Mark

[mfiore]

I worked on some of the slate roofing this week. It seems to be going up well. Unfortunately, I haven't taken many photos along the way. The slate I chose were small (6x12 inch). I figured small roof, small slate. I now realize that if I used bigger slates, I would be done by now!

I've done both sides, with 3 inch head-lap, up to the chimney. Hopefully, I'll be able to put some copper flashing on the chimney tomorrow and finish up soon. Again, these are refurbished slate. They have a blackened "patina" as Mark stated.

[cannyfradock]

mfiore

I built my wood-oven in summer and thought it was the "bees knees" until I came across Forno Bravo Forum. The effort and detail put into some of these ovens is incredible, especially yours. Nice picture diary and love the stonework. Reclaimed slates really sets it off.

Terry (C.F)

[james]

Wow Mike,

That looks just great. Complimenti!
James

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

hey mike
That roof looks fantastic...
Nice work...
Mark

[Dino_Pizza]

Totally awesome Mike! I love the last pic: the red slate with its rough edges look terrific. Sorry about having to add the plywood but you're a good problem solver and a fast worker. I'm impressed. You could start a side career as a slater -Dino