Joe's Kaysville Utah Oven Pompeii Oven Construction Discuss Joe's Kaysville Utah Oven in the Pizza Oven Design and Installation forums; Let me know how I can help. I drive between Kaysville and Provo almost every week day, so it's not ...

[jmhepworth]

Let me know how I can help. I drive between Kaysville and Provo almost every week day, so it's not terribly out of the way to come up to Alpine. Refractory mortar was my biggest challenge. I couldn't find anything available locally except the water soluble pre-mix that requires very narrow joints. And I like all of the "might as wells." If you intend to stay at this house forever, load it up.

Are you planning on building on the existing slab? Is it a well drained floating slab that won't crack with frost heave? I suspect your frost line will be a bit lower than mine, and I suspect you will have rocky soil, so footings might be tough.

[wateronlydries]

Hi Joe,
Thanks for the offer. It's been a crazy week. Our holiday rush at work has begun and I haven't had much time to do anything. Right now I've been trying to plan where in our yard would be the best place for the oven. I've read that it should be near the house which make perfect sense except for the layout of our yard. We have a covered patio in the yard which would work great but it is in the far corner. I figure we have the winter to plan and then hit it hard in the spring. I also have a friend with an antique store in AF that would like to build one as well. I'll definitely have to pick your brain as we get through the winter. Thanks very much for you willingness to help.

[gbohnstedt]

Joe,

Might be another oven maker here in Lehi. I was able to go to the FB Expo and see the ovens in use and I'm seriously considering a Casa 2G, primarily because I've got another project (Teardrop Trailer) to finish. How much of your time would you guess was spent on the oven itself vs. the surround and stand?

Greg

[jmhepworth]

I was careful not to keep track of time or money. I'm sure the cost in both would make the pizza ridiculously expensive. But just guessing, I'd split the time into thirds. One third in digging the footings, poring the foundation slab, building the stand and pouring the hearth slab; one third in the oven itself; and one third on the enclosure, which still isn't complete. One of the problems with enclosures is that you can cook without finishing them. I'm sure I'm not the only one who really slowed down once the oven was under roof and protected.

I'm not opposed to you buying from James. He does a great service by hosting this forum. But without question, the most satisfying part of this was building the oven itself. The rest was just work that I would have been happy to pay someone else to do (I did pay someone to do much of the concrete work). Building the oven was really fun. The neighbors love the oven, and it's really a trendy thing to have. But they are much more impressed that I built it rather than bought it.

If you want to come up to Kaysville for a look, you're more than welcome. Now that the snow is gone, we're firing it up again. I'm still not willing to stand out in the snow and cook pizza.