Vermicrete or Perlcrete as last layer

[mrchipster]

I am building an enclosed 42 inch corner oven. The enclosure is block with an outer brick veneer. My roof is going to be steel and I will be putting sheet metal in my corners to reduce the amount of vermiculite needed to fill the enclosure.

My dome will be covered with 2 inches of FB blanket and then filled with vermiculite or perlite.

From working with both of these materials in the past I know any air movement will cause the stuf to blow away easily.


I am thinking of putting a piece of aluminum window screen over the top of the loose vermiculite and then mixing up a batch of vermicrete 8/1 mix. And put about 1 inch of this over the top to prevent any future blowing around of the loose stuff.

Any comments or other suggestions.

Chip

[GianniFocaccia]

Hey Chip,
I've not heard of this idea before. Won't the loose fill just stay in place once the roof is on?

This might sound like a crazy idea, but do you think it would be viable to mix up a really thin batch of portland slurry and apply it to the top of your loose fill with a garden sprayer?
John

[Tscarborough]

I put building paper over the rafters before I put the metal roof on mine (loose perlite fill).

[mrchipster]

Originally Posted by GianniFocaccia

Hey Chip,
I've not heard of this idea before. Won't the loose fill just stay in place once the roof is on?

This might sound like a crazy idea, but do you think it would be viable to mix up a really thin batch of portland slurry and apply it to the top of your loose fill with a garden sprayer?
John

I will be using vented metal soffit panels to let out any condensation that may build in the future so there will always be some air movement.

Not sure I want to kill my garden sprayer... It is so easy to mix up a batch of vermicrete if I decide to do it I think I would just do a batch.

I am not real excited about adding tar paper under the metal close to the oven.

[Neil2]

If you make a weak (12:1) vermiculite/portland concrete for all of the the fill, you will not have to worry about if blowing or sifting out.

[david s]

Originally Posted by Neil2

If you make a weak (12:1) vermiculite/portland concrete for all of the the fill, you will not have to worry about if blowing or sifting out.

That is true but then you have the problem of removing the water, of which there is plenty (about a third of the total volume of vermiculite used.
Tests show perlite to be a superior insulator to vermiculite, but when you mix cement with either (a 10:1 mix has more mass in cement than vermiculite ) there is no practical measure of difference in the two.
Chip,I think your original idea is a good one. I also like your plan of including vents.

[mrchipster]

Originally Posted by Neil2

If you make a weak (12:1) vermiculite/portland concrete for all of the the fill, you will not have to worry about if blowing or sifting out.

The sifting problem is not an issue I have sealed all of the joints with High temp silicone and covered the outside of the metal seams with Aircraft aluminum speed tape. It does not let go even under heat stress.

I was trying to avoid the large mass of wet stuff around the oven and have just a capping layer to prevent blowing around.

I mixed up a batch of 22:1:1 perlite/portland/lime (equates to a 11/1 mix) for the area of my thermal break between the inner arch and the flue arch and it is quite weak but it does not move around and stands on its own as a vertical wall of at least 14 inches. It was supported by a piece of corrugated until it set up (about 24 hours). I was looking to give some high heat resistance with the lime should there be a high heat breach at some point in the future.

Because this proposed cap layer will be well outside the heat zone I think perlite/portland only would be a better choice i will leave out the lime because of the very long cure.

Chip

[Mike D]

Pictures? We Love Pictures. Why do you need to reduce the amount of vermiculite in the enclosure?

Mike