how tall to make the Stand?

[WoodchuckDad]

I have dry stacked the bricks and am trying to imagine the 3 1/2 inch slab plus insulation and the floor or bricks for he oven so I am wondering if 5 cinderblocks is too much .That puts it at 38 inches before the stand and first course of bricks....if I get rid of one row or block then it's 31 inches. I am 6'2" and don't want to crouch over all the time when using the oven....but my wife is 5'7".....so it can't be too tall for her to use.


Anybody got advice here?

[Tscarborough]

I am familiar with code for counters, bars, etc. and set mine at a comfortable working height, not the optimal viewing height. I have to bend or step back to look, but the tools work at a comfortable level. 38-44" is the range you are looking at for hearth height.

[WoodchuckDad]

Thanks. I was pouring thru internet photo's of pizza ovens in restaurants. Checking out the height compared to the workers.

[Derkp]

I decided that 4 blocks high with 4 inch slab + 4 in insulation = 40 inches, right in the middle of Toms reccomendations.

Derk

[Neil2]

I'm 6'-0, my wife is 5'-4 and my hearth and counter level is 44 ". My wife, who does most of the cooking thinks this is perfect.

[Archena]

Remember, what works fine for prep might be different for an oven. If your wife likes the counter height you have, stick a cardboard box on the counter with the open side facing out and pretend it's an oven. If fiddling with the peel (or unreasonable facsimile) feels good, great. If not you may need to adjust the height to whoever will cook the most with the peel. The pretend oven idea will work at any height - stack cardboard boxes and a book or two to the height you want to try.

Cardboard box - cheap. Oven you can't half use because you strain something - big waste.

I'm a believer in mock ups, can you tell?

[fxpose]

I calculated my oven floor height at roughly my elbow height.

[Tscarborough]

I just checked mine it is exactly at elbow height.

[scottz]

When I built mine, we had it so when we were checking the fire and working in the oven...you dont have to bend over too much. Elbow height or just a little higher sounds about right.

[lwalper]

"Elbow height or just a little higher" is where we've decided. That worked out to 44" for my wife.

The way my construction is going, I had a layer of 8" tall block on there, but then was doing a little calculating and had to take that course off (while it was still wet, thankfully) and lay a half height course to get the hearth to come out right. It's now really just a smidge low, but I'll make up for that with another inch of insulation under the hearth. Win, win on both counts.