Hearth Questions Introductions Discuss Hearth Questions in the Good Background Information forums; Eyesight, Couple of questions before the photos. How long had the oven been assembled? How long did you wait before ...

[CanuckJim]

Eyesight,

Couple of questions before the photos. How long had the oven been assembled? How long did you wait before firing? Is it possible that the floor was wet from rain?

Jim

[eyesight8]

Yes, it possibly got wet. It was built a year ago and got stuck in an open lot, we just covered the whole thing with canvass while waiting for an opportunity to use it. We even noticed that floor had some "growth" on it that we assumed to mold. Could this be a reason for weakening of the flooring and eventual explosion?

[CanuckJim]

Eyesight,

You bet. Canvas wouldn't stop moisture over such a long period. If the floor tiles were soaked, then probably the slab below was as well. In my masonry business, we use a lot of ten inch thick sedimentary stone, which is cut halfway through, then split. To get rid of sawn faces that show, we heat the stone with an acetylene torch. The cut faces literally blow off because the residual water in the stone boils. Use this analogy with the refractory floor of your oven. The water in the floor would begin to boil, then kablooee. Looks like this is exactly what happened.

Jim