How much did it cost to build your oven?

[gjbingham]

I went over $2K on mine. The eight feet of Duravent chimney was a killer.

[Frances]

Originally Posted by dmun

We keep hearing about aluminum foil. What's it for? You certainly don't need a vapor barrier, and any slight reflective effect it might have will disappear as it dulls up and rots in contact with the caustic portland cement.

One reason is, if you're using rockwool for insulation, you have to make sure it doesn't get too damp while you apply the next layer... a layer of aluminium foil should keep a lot of the moisture off until the vermcrete or stucco or whatever has cured and dried, and after that it doesn't much matter if the foil rots.

That's one practical reason - my rockwool actually came with its own foil layer alreay attached... but it does seem that some builders are using a layer of foil in the hope of getting more insulation value.

Crowtrapper, while the vermcrete will insulate you oven perfectly well (or so I've been told) might I suggest that 200 USD for insultation is not actually all that much... how much did you spend on the firebricks? The insulation is at least as important as the bricks... scrimp on the stucco, cover the oven with recycled materials or rocks from your local river bed... but don't try to save on the insulation!

The killer on my oven cost was the stand... 2500 for the lovely lime stone blocks... aftr that I stopped counting

[david s]

I found that rockwool insulation tended to compress very easily and that made it difficult to get a good shape when trying to render over it

[tigersmith]

Do you have to put a render over your insulation if you are building an enclosure around your dome, or is that only if you plan to make the finished project an igloo??
Thanx
George Stein

[Purple Grin]

$550 US on the oven itself...than I spent almost $500 on the granite tile (really wanted to match the kitchen), and then another $100 worth of stone veneer I already had from another project....so total about $1150.

[christo]

render if you do an igloo type - if you are making a weatherproof sturcture around the dome you don't need to render it unless you want a stucco finish on your stucture.

If you pour vermiculite or perlite into your structure - make sure it is absolutely sealed - that stuff will find any crack to escape!!!

Christo

[THX1138]

I was speaking to one of the suppliers down here discussing a castable oven...

He said that placing a couple of sheets of foil between the cast & blanket is for slippage purposes, to help the blanket absorb some expansion to lessen cracking of outer insulation layer... maybe to reduce pressure points??

I asked if it was to help repel any heat & he said, no, not at all

Incidentally, the oven I am about to commence will come in @$700.00 - $900.00AUD, DIY Castable refractory Igloo

Phil

[boofalu]

where did people get their bricks from in aus? Any good suppliers in QLD? Hope to start soon and I'm in the process of gathering.
thanks

[berryst]

My oven cost about $700 US. I made a point of scrounging and buying off craigslist. I didn't want to get heavily invested since I didn't know if I was was even going to like it. I do. I would like to do another one and would budget $1500 next time
berryst