Construction time start to finish

[awolkoff]

Hello,

Assume a willing but inexperienced oven builder who will be constructing the oven in his "spare time." What is the general consensus on how long it takes from groundbreaking to completion? Thanks!

[mfiore]

I think this ones going to be all over the map. There are many factors to consider, including (not limited to), experience, your time commitment, how much help you have, how quick you are to make decisions, your preplanning, and access to resources. I am likely on the extreme end of the scale, with zero meaningful construction experience, no help outside my 4 year old son, work full time (including many nights and weekends), and live in an area with few resources. I'm going on over a year with my build. Still hanging in there.

When you estimate time, don't forget cement and refractory mortar need time to cure. No matter how efficient you are, you have to give it all proper time before either moving to the next step or building fires.

As I said, I think I'm one of the slower builds on the forum. There are others that will hopefully chime in with more encouraging time frames.

Good Luck

[Les]

Mike is spot on – way to many variables. I went back to see my time frame. I broke ground in April 2007. Had my first fire in July of 2008. Pretty much had it finished in February 2009. Time flies when you are having fun.

Les...

[awolkoff]

Thanks for the insight.
Do you find that it is "life" that gets in the way of faster completion, or is it the complexity of the project? I've never done any masonry work and have done only very few other construction projects. At the same time, I've thought about building an oven for a long time...just trying to go in with my eyes open.

[Cypress]

I started my build on 5-1-09 and hope to have it done by 7-4-09 with some luck I will hit that date. I work full time and only work at night and weekends. I can say that when my family looks for me they start in the dome. I have been waiting to let it cure that is what is taking me so long. I was able to pick up all my materials on my lunch hour in one day. I am sure that speed up the process. As for help just me but that is ok..

[wesslock]

We broke ground on July 4 th weekend last year (2008) and had pizza the first week in september. This is only working weekends with a solid week towards the end of August for the dome. The beginning went pretty quick - day or so for the foundation - cure for a week.
same for the walls , then the insulation layer, it is hard but didnt take to long. With the dome only did a row a day to let the mortar set, thats when I needed to be there every day. Would do a row then stone the base a little every day.

On that note still have not "finished" the top - I had to finish by Mid september as we were habving a party for 60 or so people for the weekend.
Pretty much havent done anything since.

[Ken524]

My oven, including foundation, stand, oven and enclosure, took about a year from start to finish. I had a 2-3 month break during winter.

[DrakeRemoray]

I have a standard reply that pretty much works for all of my projects....
"every weekend, all summer long"

[Ken524]

Originally Posted by awolkoff

I've never done any masonry work and have done only very few other construction projects.

The masonry work isn't too bad. My oven was my very first brick and mortar work (as it was with many builders here). The first two rows of bricks are built with a lot of trial and error. Once you hit the groove, it'll go pretty smoothly.

The oven really isn't that complex of a project when you break it down into different small tasks. If you are comfortable with basic do-it-yourself power tools, you can do this.

[exceloven]

I started mine in Nov. 08 and was making pizza by the end of Jan. 09. That being said I am still not finished. The amount of detail that you want on the finish will also effect the amount of time.
I would stronger recommend using the "indispensible tool", such as the one Greg is using. I wish I had used one, I think it saves a lot of time. Just do a lot of copying (Les' Build) and you can't go wrong.

Mark