floor tiles

[mikeintj]

Very interesting thread since I would prefer to use floor tiles too. However I wasn't totally clear what exactly are used for the floor tiles. Is it the Super Isol tiles, and you then cook directly on them? I couldn't see any other tiles in the shop.

[dmun]

Originally Posted by mikeintj

Very interesting thread since I would prefer to use floor tiles too. However I wasn't totally clear what exactly are used for the floor tiles. Is it the Super Isol tiles, and you then cook directly on them? I couldn't see any other tiles in the shop.

Welcome Mikeintj. Most home builders make their floors out of firebrick, laid flat, usually without mortar. There are other floor options. Modular ovens have floors that come in sectors, and are solid pieces of refractory material. There are also things called "refractory tiles" that come from the furnace industry, and basically are big flat pieces of firebrick. Since they are specialty items, they are a lot more expensive per square foot than firebrick. I've even seen oven floors made of slabs of soapstone.

Whatever your oven floor is, it should be a hard refractory (heat proof) substance, to absorb and reflect the heat of your fire. There should be an insulating layer underneath, to keep the floor hot and prevent heat leakage. This can be vermiculite/perlite concrete, or an insulating board like super-isol. This choice is a cost/space one: both work well.

You would never build an oven to cook on the insulating layer directly. It wouldn't hold the heat. It's also porous, and would absorb oven junk, which with a brick oven burns away with your next fire.

[dusty]

James,
How would you describe this "expantion gap" between the floor and dome. Just an empty space?

dusty