Wet refractory mortar

[hb2474]

I found a spot that would sell me 50# of wet mortar for 35.00. Is that a good price. Also anybody have a clue how many of those buckets I would need for a 36" pompei?

[dmun]

Pre/mixed, wet refractory mortar in buckets isn't generally recommended. Building a dome requires larger joints on the outside than the stuff is designed for. There have also been problems with this mortar setting properly.

Besides, why pay refractory mortar prices for water?

[hb2474]

I asked them for Dry mortar and they didn't have it. They only had wet mortar which I really dont want to use. The search continues.

[GianniFocaccia]

So many builders have reported success and ease-of-use with the homebrew mortar, (not to mention cost-effectiveness) why not just go this route?

[hb2474]

I thought about it and will probably go that route. Now I need to find fireclay. Is this hard to find?

[hb2474]

Found it. Valley building materials down the street from me sells it for 8.62 for a 50 lb bag. Thanks for the help.

[GianniFocaccia]

hb,
what you doing for firebricks?
John

[ArkansasOven]

Reading this... maybe I just made a mistake.
I couldnt find fireclay in NW Arkansas or SW Missouri so I decided to go the wet mortar route... So far I have only used it as a leveling medium under the firebrick floor. Anyone think this will cause me headaches down the road?

[Tscarborough]

As noted, the aggregate is to fine for the width of the joints on the backside of the oven. It is designed for 1/16 to 1/8" joints in normal flat laid firebrick. Where you have used it so far it is not a problem. You can actually use it with no worries to lay the dome, but you should come back and fill in the gaps on the backside with refractory containing a larger aggregate.

The wet mortars are also usually water soluble too, so you need to keep the oven covered while under construction.

[hb2474]

Gianni,

I was thinking about going your route with the .25 pacific clay bricks. I can get them for another supplier for 1.09 a brick. How did you bricks turn out? We're they square enough to use? This could mean the difference between spending around 50 bucks to 290.00. Big Difference. I also dont want to use the bricks then find out that they dont last long and have to rebuild. Let me know how your bricks turned out.