Hoping to choose & begin soon in Chch NZ. Thoughts required.

[uk_exile]

Thanks, no never got an answer re 1/3 bricks. Thought was it would make the oven more time efficent hence would get used more weekdays. As suggetsed I think I'll just build exactly to plan. However due to quake will be minimum a year away before can even start to think about building it.
Suspect it will be 2012 before I see any insurance money. Still not complaining as some people have 2-5yr waits for housing, some needing to use portaloo or chemical toilets for next 2yrs, etc, etc

[Les]

Originally Posted by uk_exile

Thanks, no never got an answer re 1/3 bricks. Thought was it would make the oven more time efficent

UK,
I have no experience with 1/3 brick but I believe David (who's oven is 2.5 inches thick), does not have that much improved heat time. Stick with the plans.

[dmun]

I have no experience with 1/3 brick but I believe David (who's oven is 2.5 inches thick), does not have that much improved heat time.

I have to agree with this. An oven is an object in motion, and you need enough mass to keep things intact. I know firebricks are foolishly expensive in NZ, but I would say that if you have to economize, you should reduce the diameter of the oven, not it's thickness. People talk about how many pizzas they can cook at a time, but realistically, how many can you make at a time?

I'm thinking that a lot of rigid masonry came apart in the recent earthquake. Maybe if you kept your eyes and ears open you'd find some ex-fireplace or boiler bricks that have come available.

[uk_exile]

There's certainly a lot of damaged buildings but I'm seeing very little being recovered for reuse as the scale of the diaster is such that it's mostly going to landfill. There isn't time or resource to do careful demolition. Such a shame and a massive waste but infrastructure re-estabilishment, housing, commerical etc needs are higher priority than recycling.

[azpizzanut]

Hello uke,

The disaster in NZ will make building materials a premium commodity. Don't wait for ins. money if you can locate the basic materials to start your foundation and base. It will make things much easier if you have some kind of start during the interim. Try to make contacts in the demo industry for the needed bricks. If the quake recovery is anything like the hurricane recovery here then small contractors from all corners of the earth will travel there to look for work. Surely someone will be willing to sell used brick. Materials, when available, may become expensive. Kiwi's are resourceful and resilient. You'll find a way to start your oven.

Cheers,