Dave's Northern Virginia Build Pompeii Oven Construction Discuss Dave's Northern Virginia Build in the Pizza Oven Design and Installation forums; Hi Joe, I liked your entry design so much I printed a copy and used it for a guide. However, ...

[DaveW]

Hi Joe,
I liked your entry design so much I printed a copy and used it for a guide. However, I did not notch the floor for the inner arch (because I was lazy.) I am hoping that if the floor expands outward it will shear the small amount of mortar on the floor before it pushes the arch outward. I am particularly concerned with arch strength because I will have a masonry chimney. Although, I will further support the chimney with some angle iron just to be on the safe side.

Dave

[jmhepworth]

I wasn't sure if anyone would follow that idea or not. I thought we should name the wider sides to the entry arch the "double wide."

[Dino_Pizza]

Really nice build Dave. Good use of steel and concrete and that bond beam...wow, your wfo base and outdoor kitchen will be really solid and strong.

I just noticed your ovens floor (the herringbone) it looks like you have laid the oven floor bricks on their side, not flat. Was that intentional with the thought of longer retained heating for serious bread backing? Just curious since so much discussion goes on here about heat up times for the thicker oven walls/floors. Or are you using thinner bricks and it's just an illusion that the floor is more than 2.5" tall?

Great job! Puppy is cute. -Dino

[Tscarborough]

Looks great, nicely engineered. I would clean the coved fireclay off at the entry though, if possible. It is feathered and that won't last.

[DaveW]

Originally Posted by Dino_Pizza

... it looks like you have laid the oven floor bricks on their side, not flat. Was that intentional ....
Puppy is cute. -Dino

They are standard firebricks laid on edge. I felt like we might want the extra mass for bread. My thought was that I would rather use more wood than wish for more mass later. However, I am not convinced that I made the right decision.

It seems like puppy (espresso) is pretty popular. His favorite game is to steal my tools and run off with them...He becomes more of a puppy every day.
Dave

[Dino_Pizza]

Yup, I've already experienced having to re-fire at the all-night pizza fests.

You're right: just add a bit more wood. After it's fully cured and insulated, it surprises you how much/big of a fire you can get going in there. It'll just suck it up and release it all night. Enjoy the building process, it's quite a ride! -Dino

[DaveW]

I think I will pull up my floor. I was in a hurry to set the floor bricks and did a lousy job of getting them level. So I decided to grind the floor smooth with a grinder. The only diamond wheel I could find at Home Depot was a 7 inch one with the cutters tangent to the wheel. For whatever reason the grinder chipped the bricks and opened up the gaps allowing the dust to fall in.

When I think of all the work ahead of me I just can't bear to have a floor in this state. So, tomorrow I will likely rip out the bricks and try again.

An adventure it is.

Dave

[glindhout]

Dave,

They don't really look all that bad... I'm wondering if the gaps will fill up with ash pretty quickly and leave you with a smooth floor? Or you could pour some fireclay back over the surface, and tap around with a rubber mallet to fill up the cracks. That's what I did to fill any small gaps.

Or since you have your bricks on edge, you could use a different grinder and see if you can get it smoother before ripping it all out!? I could mail you my diamond cup wheel if you want to give that a shot... let me know!

Greg

[Tscarborough]

A note on brick, no matter what type. There is usually a 1/4" or less of true vitrified material before the soft inner portion of the brick begins. It is better to lay the floor in a mortar bed and get it right rather than to try and true it by grinding.

[DaveW]

Originally Posted by Tscarborough

A note on brick, no matter what type. There is usually a 1/4" or less of true vitrified material before the soft inner portion of the brick begins. It is better to lay the floor in a mortar bed and get it right rather than to try and true it by grinding.

I did notice that the inner part of the brick seems more prone to giving up dust. I think I will chalk it up to experience and re-do it.

Greg,

thanks for the encouragement and the offer to send the disc but I think I want to take another shot at setting the floor.

If this one doesn't work I will break down and buy the large tiles from FB.

Dave

Dave