Hi from Chiang Mai, Thailand

[WesinThailand]

Just completed my oven and have not finished curing fires but it seems to hold heat for a long time. It was a challenge to find materials here but it can be done...glad to help anyone wanting to build by providing details.. I used the free plans and had to adjust some things. #1 is soak brick!! The sun is just too hot and sucks water out. So many things are made from concrete in this country and I see lots of repaired cracks in many buildings, etc. I had to slow the drying time by soaking longer and covering with wet cloths, plastic; both on the bricks & stucco covering. Still have some very minor cracks in my stucco but have coated with a sealer and crossing fingers.

[WesinThailand]

I am getting a little smoking out the door. Is this normal? Will increasing the chimney height fix this? I kept to the recommended ratios for door height & width to interior dome height and i.d. of the chimney is 6"x10'. There is not a lot of smoke but its annoying to see any.

[Ken524]

Hi Wes,

Your oven looks beautiful! Congrats. Good luck with the curing and enjoy the cooking!

[Laurentius]

Hi Wes, what is the white material that your oven is sitting on?

[Lburou]

Congratulations! Glad to see another oven so high off the ground, it saves your back I'm sure.

[Gulf]

Originally Posted by Lburou

Congratulations! Glad to see another oven so high off the ground, it saves your back I'm sure.

WesinThailand,
Beautiful country and a great looking oven. I'm looking forward to see how you deal with the humidity etc.
I totally agree with Lburou. At my age, if I can't work standing straight up, I have to set dead on my as.

[WesinThailand]

Originally Posted by Laurentius

Hi Wes, what is the white material that your oven is sitting on?

The insulated base is covered in white tile. I used "air block" as an insulating base rather than a insulating concrete. I'll post a series of photos (after I conform them to this site's requirements) to show some different aspects of my build.

[WesinThailand]

Originally Posted by Gulf

WesinThailand,
Beautiful country and a great looking oven. I'm looking forward to see how you deal with the humidity etc.
I totally agree with Lburou. At my age, if I can't work standing straight up, I have to set dead on my as.

Thanks,
Ah yes, the rain season, as they say.... Well #1 is providing water channels - I have made places between the decorative brickwork and I also used a "waterproof swimming pool ground & grout" (by Weber) for tile covering. On the stucco dome, I used a double coating of an exterior acrylic concrete sealer. This stuff is tough, shiny and made for walking traffic, so I am hoping it sheds water and does not attract mold. The hot sun may deteriorate it but it can be recoated. After using the garden hose to see how much water leaves the dome, I can say that I need more channels(I will cut with a 4" diamond blade) and water does not like the acrylic coating. I can only wait until the rain season to see what high humidity and no direct sun does. No leaning over is good!