Build Enclosure First or set insulation first???

[gummz]

Hi All,

I am building a vault oven and i'm not sure if i should build up the enclosure first or set the fibre blankets inplace then finish the enclosure. Gaps between the vault and the enclosure is about 2~3 inches.

As the gap is narrow i'm worried the brick laying will get difficult if i set the FB inplace first, as i probably wont be able to see the back of the brick (probably rub against 2~3" of FB). Not sure if mortar will affect the FB too as i lay. It takes me ages to lay bricks so i'm worries about my health too as i'll be working right next to the FB.

If i build up the enclosure first is it possible to carefully "fill" the gap with the FB. I've never touched or seen FB so i'm not sure how easy it is to compress or mould.


Also for those who have used FB, can you sandwhich a 1" thick FB into a 20mm gap???

Thanking you in advance~!!!

Cheers,

Gummz

[tusr18a]

Based on my own experience, you will want to build the enclosure first. Like you, I am definitely not a mason. It took me weeks/months to finish the brick work. The ceramic fiber blanket that you will wrap the top of the oven w/is literally like a think blanket. I simply rolled the blanket over my dome. It was by far the easiest step of the whole project. It definitely wasn't the cheapest. The blankets cost an arm and a leg. After putting the blanket down I filled the cavity between the dome and the enclosure with a perlcrete mixture. Hope this helps!