Concrete stand hollow cores Pompeii Oven Construction Discuss Concrete stand hollow cores in the Pizza Oven Design and Installation forums; Hello everyone Thank you for all the support and information that is so generously shared here. I had been lurking ...

[Marino]

Hello everyone
Thank you for all the support and information that is so generously shared here. I had been lurking around the forum for quite a while before registering, and a couple of months ago bit the bullet and started digging. This is my first post. I am building a 42'' Pompeii and will be pouring the hearth slab on tuesday. I have no masonry experience. My first question is, how do you fill the stand's hollow cores? is it just a crumpled bag on the top or you do you try to stuff the core with paper as deep as you can?
I am worried that the paper filling will collapse, the concrete will fill in the cores and I will end up short on concrete for the slab
Marino

[WoodchuckDad]

I filled every core. Some of them I left a foot empty till the hearth pour, but if you crumple the paper in there fairly tight I don't think you have much to worry about. the concrete tends to be a beast to move around when it's in the open. I imagine it would easily get stuck in the cores.

[Tscarborough]

Rubble, rocks, beer cans, etc.

[WoodchuckDad]

oh,, yeah.....in several of the cores there are beer bottles. I felt like that made it mine and forever bonded me with the oven.

[Dino_Pizza]

Marino, 1st of all: welcome to the Forum. I enjoyed my "lurking" period too and am envious of the you when I recall the day I decided to make it real and actually start. Did you already do your pour earlier this week?

In my build, every other cell in the CMU (concrete masonary unit) had steel in it. Therefore every other cell also had cement in it. It's probably a good idea to cement fill the cores in our earthquake prone area. Even though most of us don't build these wfo's to formal codes, the steel and cement in every-other-cell conforms to current codes for CMU construction of most anything. If you didn't use steel rebar, then filling with "stuff" and cement certainly will add some structural integrity.

I had zero masonry experience too but found the help on this forum made up for it. Have you posted any pictures or started a formal thread on your build? Enjoy the build, and keep asking your questions.
-Dino

[robs]

I filled mine with a old terracota water fountain that i broke into small pieces. I made the fountain about three yeas ago but didn't realise you were supposed to seal the terracota so over time it had started to crumble. There is also some brick cut offs as well. That saved me from having to dispose of all the rubble. Our new yard doesn't really have room for a pizza oven and water feature as well. So you know which one has lost out.