spalling hearth

[KEmerson]

Hello,
Have any of you had to deal with a spalling hearth? I'm tempted to just leave it but what would it require to fix? None of the hearth brick is cemented of course. But how would I get some out? Is it easy to get a new one in? Is it all that necessary to replaced spalled brick?
Thanks
Kim

[Neil2]

Refractory brick should not spall. Is it just one brick or all of them ?

[Tscarborough]

Is it actual spalling? That is, are small circular convex chips popping off, or is it simply deteriorating, or is the face of the brick delaminating. A picture is worth a 1000 words, because before you bother replacing, you need to solve the issue that is causing it.

[KEmerson]

I'll get some pics and post.

[nissanneill]

kimemerson

But how would I get some out?

It is easier to et them out if you drill a couple of holes in the offending bricks and insert what we call dyna bolts. You can bolt some chain or wire under the nuts and lever them out with a jemmy bar.

Neill

[KEmerson]

Ok, sorry for the delay. These pics aren't great but I think they show what's happened. I assume moisture had something to do with this. I have made bread in the oven and I have "mopped" the hearth after the coals came out and sprayed/misted as the loaves went in. I know I have to do this at the bread baking temps and not the pizza baking temps so I wonder if I did it too soon. I simply don't remember. Also (not that this is the culprit but I thought I'd pass it along anyway because it could be) for one bake I tried the wood simply was not dry enough, which I discovered after lighting it and trying to keep a good heat going. Eventually the breads were baked but I decided that after I was finished for that day to simply put a ton of logs in the now hot oven and let them stay in there until I was ready for the next bake, figuring it would dry them like a kiln. A couple of weeks later as I was readying another bake, I noted that the logs in the oven had gotten mildewy. Still, I went ahead. I cannot recall if I had this brick issue before or after the removal of the mildew logs. Anyway, the bricks are indeed deteriorating somewhat. Any ideas? Thanks.
Kim

[texassourdough]

Hi Kim!

The mildew and logs are not the culprits. Using too wet a mop or spraying the hearth could be. If it is under area you have your fire or otherwise not in the area where you bake your pizzas I wouldn't do anything.

The mildew would be an indication that your oven did get wet over the winter. Mine does too. Good idea to heat it up gently with a few increasing fires. In theory a big fire on wet bricks could potentially cause similar damage but I don't expect it.

Look forward to others thoughts!
Jay

[Neil2]

From what I can see in the pictures, they do not look like refractory bricks.

Mopping the floor with a damp cloth is common and true refractory bricks are not affected.

[KEmerson]

Well, I bought refractory bricks. Have all the receipts. I even helped load them at the time and I saw the label on the skids they were on. We had very specific conversations about refractory brick when I bought them. I know the color on the photos is not true, so what makes you think they're not refractory? They are all the same as all the other bricks and the inner dome is dong fine. I think.
Kim

[KEmerson]

Jay,
the damage is fairly distributed on the floor. It is definitely right where I place pizzas and breads.