Price of new ovens

[jlwildeman]

Hello,

I was wondering what the average cost of building this oven in the U.S. is? How long does it take the average weekend warrior? I live in the northern part of the midwest; what exterior product should be used to prevent freeze cracking? Is it a bad idea to fire this type of oven when it is below freezing? I love the idea of building and using this oven. I just want to make sure its something that will last in the environment I live in.

[stonylake]

jl... i have the better part of a bag of fireclay, hydrated lime and portland cement that you can have. i only have about a half a dozen excess firebrick. i am also working on my material list for my 36" build, and will post that as soon as it is completed.. i'll add the prices that i paid. there are some pretty good sources for materials in GR, Spruit Brothers, Industrial Firebrick (ceramic insulation), Belden Brick, Behler-Young (SS chimney). i have a warehouse in Holland, and can get my excess materials to that location if it helps. i took a little over a year to build mine, but i took the entire summer off. i think that if i had kept at it i could have done it in 90 days.. nites and weekends

[dmun]

what exterior product should be used to prevent freeze cracking?

I'm increasingly negative about exposed stucco domes in wet climates. Even if the dome is perfectly sealed against water infiltration (which it never is), there are just too many places where water can leak inside, like the chimney opening, and the joint between the base and the dome. I really think, if it rains at all, there's no substitute for having a roof over the thing.

Is it a bad idea to fire this type of oven when it is below freezing?

Not at all, if the oven and the insulation is dry (see above). It will take a little longer to get it up to temperature, but brick ovens work fine in freezing weather.

I was wondering what the average cost of building this oven in the U.S. is?

That's strictly a matter of time and money. If you have time to scrounge for used or leftover materials, it can be done quite cheaply. If you need to get it done in a limited time window, then it's a bigger outlay. It's hard to make generalizations about cost.

[stonylake]

mine is stucco. i have yet to do my counter top and am nervous about the joint between the base and dome especially when we start to get to the freeze/thaw cycles this winter. i have some very high tech water cure caulk around the chimney, but i plan on watching it very closely... if i dont like the looks of things next srping or summer, i will probably build an enclosure and just fill it with vermiculite... wont be that big of a project.... and being a roofing and exterior building products distributor i have some pretty cool stuff to enclose it with

[Faith In Virginia]

I used mostly new materials excluding my base because the location is temporary.
I have not done a true tally of costs but I have at least 3K into it. Keep in mind that my oven was built for bread and has a large thermal mass. And I went high end on materials. I could not be accurate about time it was a work I did on weekends but not every weekend so three months was to a usable oven. It's now covered with a tarp for the winter so come spring I will work on the housing and such.

Hope that helps

[Lburou]

Originally Posted by stonylake

mine is stucco. i have yet to do my counter top and am nervous about the joint between the base and dome especially when we start to get to the freeze/thaw cycles this winter. i have some very high tech water cure caulk around the chimney, but i plan on watching it very closely... if i dont like the looks of things next srping or summer, i will probably build an enclosure and just fill it with vermiculite... wont be that big of a project.... and being a roofing and exterior building products distributor i have some pretty cool stuff to enclose it with

Don't be shy Stonylake....We're all eyes here to see what you envision

[Neil2]

"when we start to get to the freeze/thaw cycles this winter."

A freeze/thaw cycle needs water to do damage. If your design is such that water is drained away (for example if you have your suspended slab slightly sloped outward ) you won't have a problem.

[stonylake]

my slab is dead flat. i have some slate that i think i'm going to use to finish it, and i plan to set it like floor tile and slightly slope it away from the dome... but i need to wait till spring. 25 degrees and snow here today...

[Lburou]

The cost is going to depend on how much help you need during the process and the availability (pricing) of materials in your localle.

You can see below that, since November 2010, I have added a piece of sidewalk, poured a slab for the oven stand, set blocks for a base and poured the oven hearth and a wing table. Cost of what you see is about (whispering so my wife doesn't hear) $1100. Fortunately, I have used this mason and carpenter before and I think I got a lot for the money.

That said, I elected to get some help with hauling the aggregate and mixing the concrete, pouring the slab, laying the block, pouring the sidewalk, and, forming and pouring the hearth and wing table....$770 in labor to get it where you see it now. (It could cost you two or three times that much in some areas). Of course, I was there all the time, pointing and working.

I bought some used firebrick $350, some ingredients for the home brew mortar, and refractories casting material for the flue edifice; and some rigid insulation for the oven floor $160. Will need more materials soon, but it is downhill from here.

I'm hoping to get it all done in a target range of (whispering so my wife doesn't hear) $2,250-2,750 including an insulated enclosure and roof for the dome. Just one man's reality, a data point, your reality will be different.

HTH

Does anybody have an indespensible/Hendo tool to loan/rent/sell to me?