is my yard to small? Introductions Discuss is my yard to small? in the Good Background Information forums; Well, I live in S. Calif. I live in a townhouse with a very small back yard. Question is, "is ...

[newbreadbaker]

Well, I live in S. Calif. I live in a townhouse with a very small back yard. Question is, "is my yard to small?' What would be considered to small. I have an area that I could put a small concrete pad (it butts up to my deck) and have a smallish oven. Any thoughts? I want one so bad!!!

[Ken524]

An area next to your deck sounds perfect. If I could have done it, I would have built mine so I could access it from the deck.

Really, with even a postage stamp sized lot you can probably work in a full size 42" oven. The footprint of the pad is only 6.5' x 8' or so. Post some pictures of your area and we'll plan it out for you .

[Jed]

Another issue, if your neighbors are close, is the smoke the oven generates.

Just give it some thought, occasionally we hear of folks who end up with a difference of opinion regarding the smoke an oven will generate... Some neighbors take exception to the smoke from an oven...

JED

[newbreadbaker]

With regards to neighbors, I don't have any house to the right of my townhouse, its a huge backyard to the neighbor whose house is up near the street. I don't think spoke would be a problem, for all they would know it could be a chimmenia (sp?) with smoke.

I will take some pictures of the place I have in mind and see what every one thinks. My husband is "game" as long as I have a plan. He said he will build it for me. I don't need anything big, just enough for a few loaves and bread and pizza of course!!!!

[DrakeRemoray]

You may have an offset from your property line mandated by your city/county (mine was 5 feet). In addition you will want to be 10' from your nearest structure (your house) or your chimney will need to be 2 feet above any structure within 10 feet...
Drake

[newbreadbaker]

is it possible to make something kind of "portable"?

[telehort]

Drake makes a great point that you will need to check on before doing any work. As far as smoke, mine definately flows into one neighbor more than the other when starting a fire. I have found that passing a pizza over the fence every couple times I fire up the oven goes a long way to alleviating any problems.

[newbreadbaker]

Has everyone obtained a building permit for these? I don't plan on it. It would be about 10-12 feet from my house in a corner along a fence. I will go take some pictures and post them, if I can figure out how to.

[telehort]

I went and talked to city regarding a permit, but because of the size of the footprint of my oven and for some reason it was not considered "permanent" I was told I didn't need one. I did ask about an offset from the fence and was told they recommended 3ft, but I asked if I am not in need of a permit is that a recommendation or a requirement. They again said they recommend 3ft. I ended up shoving my oven in the corner of my yard with probably 12-18" of clearance off the fence. In fact, I think I needed to loose about 5 lbs so I could get around the back a bit easier when I did the stucco.

[Archena]

Originally Posted by newbreadbaker

is it possible to make something kind of "portable"?

Yes, it is. Someone around here is doing that now - but I don't remember who.