a quick question about refractory mortar and the soldier course Pompeii Oven Construction Discuss a quick question about refractory mortar and the soldier course in the Pizza Oven Design and Installation forums; That's what it's supposed to look like. Keep at it. Joe...

[jmhepworth]

That's what it's supposed to look like. Keep at it.

Joe

[Matt916]

well, I'm almost done. all I have left to do is the dome. the problem that I am encountering right now has to do with the heatstop 50 that I am using. I've checked some of the posts here and it seems as if I'm paying an obscene amount of money for the heatstop 50. The place that I found it at charges about $150 for a 50 lb bagI'm seeing that some people have bought it for less than half that price. I need to buy another bag this weekend, but I don't know if a 50 lb bag will be able to finish off the dome...i can probably suck it up and buy one bag, but if i need more, i may not have the funds to do so. Can anyone tell me how much mortar is needed approximately to do the dome of a 42 inch oven

[jmhepworth]

The problem with HS 50 is that it comes from New York. Shipping is very expensive. I believe you can get it for less than that directly from the manufacturer. I did, but I'm not quite as far west as you are. If I had been closer to James, I would have bought the FB mortar. You might want to check into it. Although I did not change mortar mid-stream, I know others have without reporting any ill effects.

The amount you use depends a lot on your approach. If you are cutting every brick to fit on all four sides, you will use a lot less mortar than if if use mortar to fill in the gaps on the outside, as I did. And then if you slather more on the outside, you will obviously use even more. I used 250 pounds of the stuff. At $150/bag, I would have found another way. I know the FB would have been much less than that, even with shipping.

Joe

[DrakeRemoray]

What Joe said! $150 is really high! Call fornobravo because sometimes their online shipping calculator is not accurate (it quotes too high a price).

Drake

[pizza_bob]

I tapered all my bricks for smaller mortar joints and will end-up using five 50lb bags of HeatStop 50 for my 42". The price in Connecticut was $48.00/bag...

[Matt916]

wow! 5 bags would bankrupt me. that's all i need to hear. FB it is! I read that it is base out of Windsor, Ca so i might have to make a special trip out there to avoid the shipping cost...which is ironically why i bought the heatstop 50 in the first place. Man, i have to give anyone who has built a WFO all the credit in the world! This is a complex project