We have a crack Brick Oven Photos Discuss We have a crack in the Good Background Information forums; Hang in there Dutch. I'm with the others. They are there for character. I found that after I got my ...

[Ken524]

Hang in there Dutch.

I'm with the others. They are there for character. I found that after I got my oven up to full steam, the cracks stopped growing and stayed put. I'm hoping the same for you.

Merry Christmas from Louisville!

[RTflorida]

Concreteoasis makes a few great points on which I can relate and elaborate.

Here in FL, virtually every new home built in the past 25 yrs is on either a supported slab or monolythic slab (no basements, and crawl space homes are pretty much a thing of the distant past). The slabs are all steel reinforced and are from 6" to 10" thick; my monolythic slab is 6" throughout the inside area and is 10" on the perimeter where it bares the weight of the walls and roof system. Mine has two lengthy cracks less than 1/16" in width(1 is virtually the entire width of my house and the other runs the width of my bedroom; both have several hairline spider cracks running off of them).As I was told by EVERY home builder - EVERY home ends up with multiple cracks. Builders only guarantee against cracks that open up beyond 1/4" in width, usually only for 1, 3, or 5 yrs.
I guess what I'm saying - as long as you follow standard building practices, masonry cracks will pose no structural problems and absolutely should be expected.

RT

[concreteoasis]

RT- well put! if built right it will be fine**

[Dutchoven]

Originally Posted by concreteoasis

dutch, do not let it get you down most masonary projects crack and it does not compromise the structure. A dome is a perfect shape to counter all the outside forces . Your oven will be just fine. The one thing we tell all our customers the one shore thing in life is all concrete cracks

Oasis
We had a fellow here on the forum some time ago in the concrete business...he said he told his customers two things about poured concrete slabs..."firstly, it will crack, secondly no one is going to steal it"
Thanks
The crack is fairly significant in my opinion and some of the little chips of brick appear to be ready to fall off...I think I will continue to fire it as is right now and let it move however it will move...I think then once everything starts to stabilize a bit I will get in there and clean out those joints and possibly grind a little notch along the cracks in the bricks and squeeze in some high heat fireplace mortar...either the stuff in the tube or some heatstop...what does everybody think of that plan?
Best
Dutch

[thebadger]

I agree with the others - cracks happen. I would just keep an eye on it.

I would use it for a season and see where you end up. I actually developed a few "exterior" cracks - just in my outer coat that I"ll patch in the spring.

Oh, and yes I do have some cracks in the dome as well. At first I was concerned but they're fine. I need to wait until my 6 year old can get in and fix them for me as I can't fit.

Happy Holidays.
Dick

[asudavew]

Cracks happen.

Don't sweat it.