Stucco over Blanket Pompeii Oven Construction Discuss Stucco over Blanket in the Pizza Oven Design and Installation forums; Couple questions here. Do I really need to put vermiculite over my blanket or can I just go with 3" ...

[blacknoir]

Couple questions here.

Do I really need to put vermiculite over my blanket or can I just go with 3" of blanket?

Can I put stucco directly over the blanket? If so, what should I wrap the blanket with to hold it down while applying stucco?

If I really really must use vermiculite, which do you find easier to do. Loose vermiculite in chicken wire or a vermiculite/portland mix? How much of the mix do you apply?

I just ordered my blanket so I'll have that for my first firing, hopefully by this weekend.. once I've had a pizza I'll start the weatherproofing steps.

Thanks,
Shay

[stidik]

If you use enough FB blanket, then I believe that vermiculite is unnecessary. I used 4 layers on top and 3 layers on the sides without vermiculite. I covered the insulation with aluminum foil to keep it dry. Next came rebar, then plaster lathe, then finally the stucco. I am not certain, but you probably could skip the rebar and put the stucco directly on the plaster lathe. After a large fire, the stucco never got above room temperature. However the 3.5 in of vermiculite concrete in the hearth did not work as well. The morning after my first big fire the bottom of the concrete was 120 deg.
Best of luck, I am one day ahead of you.

Stephen

[blacknoir]

I had an arch collapse so I rebuilt that this weekend and plan on getting my vent in by next weekend.. sooo.. no firing for at least another week after that.. you're a bit more then a day ahead of me now..