Let’s Roll! 40” Pompeii in Nanoose Bay

[peterlyn]

Finally, after stumbling across Forno Bravo 2 years ago, I’m happy to announce that our Pompeii is underway!
Bit of background: My husband Dave is a stonemason/bricklayer (ex-Brit and old-school) who has had his own construction company since 1981 in Alberta, California, Oregon and BC. As well as masonry, he specialty is concrete, both precast and poured in place. I am an ex-restaurateur, foodie and THE right-hand gal! We moved from the mainland to an acreage on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada, a couple of years ago and are undergoing renovations; this season, our deck revamping included plans for a WFO. Our 23 year-old son is a masonry apprentice so will be helping and learning alongside.

Karen

[peterlyn]

Re: Let?s Roll! 40? Pompeii in Nanoose Bay

Foundation:
We built the concrete pad and block foundation last month but (paying!) projects got in the way so Dave was only able to begin the WFO last Thursday. I am taking pics and notes as he goes so that we can share our experience and views, adding to the goldmine of information here which has helped us.
Dave incorporated an ash-dump which will be at the back of the oven, connected to a clean-out door at the back of the base. Both the ash-dump and the clean-out door were ordered through Woodland Direct (USA).

Dave poured a concrete lintel over the firewood box, reinforced with re-bar. Cheaper and stronger than angle-iron, we believes in using as little metal as possible.

Karen

[peterlyn]

Re: Let?s Roll! 40? Pompeii in Nanoose Bay

Re: the perlite, insulating concrete mix.

Dave used a 5:1 ratio and found that the following method best (contrary to FB): Mix the portland cement with water until a creamy wet slurry (he used a barrel mixer). Slowly add the perlite until all incorporated. He poured a 4? bed which took 3-4 days to get really hard in our cool climate.

Karen

[peterlyn]

Re: Let?s Roll! 40? Pompeii in Nanoose Bay

Oven Floor:
Dave started working on the oven floor the day after pouring the perlite floor, which is a bit early. Keeping the forms on helped protect the edges.

The floor was made from skagits, a 12?x24? firebrick we sourced from Calyburn Industries after contacting Andrew (Saltspring Tuscan Oven) on this site. Despite 30-odd years in the trade, this product was new to Dave but he felt the larger size/lack of seams would be beneficial to the oven floor. They were expensive ($35 each) and a bugger to cut but he says he?d use them again. After much debate, we reduced our oven size from a planned 42? to 40? to better fit the foundation and the planned exterior materials.

Karen

[peterlyn]

Re: Let?s Roll! 40? Pompeii in Nanoose Bay

The Dome:
Using medium-duty firebrick and refractory mortar, Dave started on the radius for the dome today. Son Alex did most of the cuts which helped speed the process. The angled slice taken off each brick is of course the perfect dimension for wedging the brick. (These will be cut-off later).
With the top of the oven calculated at 20?, Dave made 6 wood templates, 20?x20? (1/2 the diam) to align courses and support the brick. They are not fastened in any way and allow for some jointing on the inside of the dome, leaving a pretty clean interior as he goes.
He was working a wee bit faster than the mortar was drying so it was a tricky day.

Karen

[peterlyn]

Re: Let?s Roll! 40? Pompeii in Nanoose Bay

The inner Arch:
Dave will close the dome tomorrow but finished the inner arch today.
(Just a note on the downloaded Pompeii oven instructions: the suggested amount of firebrick for the dome of a 42" oven is 135 - we'll be well beyond that on a slightly smaller oven.)

I'll be back!

Karen

[tfasz]

Re: Let?s Roll! 40? Pompeii in Nanoose Bay

Congrats on the project! Looks some nice masonry work - you have a good crew. Thanks for sharing the pictures.

[peterlyn]

Re: Let?s Roll! 40? Pompeii in Nanoose Bay

So we have closed the dome! It was more challenging than Dave thought it would be and had to be done over a couple of days. He ended-up supporting the last few rows on a mound of sand (this was formed over a plank supported by buckets placed inside - very high tech!). Most of the difficulty was because of the bricks not being sufficiently dry; our weather is cool, damp and the bricks are being cut on a wet-saw. With relatively quick bricklaying, the bricks didn?t have enough dry-time and Dave recommends cutting them the day before under these conditions. You can see our creative drying methods!

Karen

[peterlyn]

Re: Let?s Roll! 40? Pompeii in Nanoose Bay

The Dome inside:
Dave dismantled the forms while the mortar was still wet; this enabled him to joint-up the inside and remove excess mortar. For Dave, this is important; ?snots? (mortar overflow) shouldn?t be left to drop onto food and are extremely difficult to remove when dry since this mortar sets so hard. Dave used excess mortar to parge the top of the dome and will continue once we get some more.

Also, as you can see compared to previous photos, he cut-off the extensions of firebrick ?wedgies? that were sticking out between the brick around the whole dome. He added a concrete floor to the firebox as well.

Next up, the exterior. Stay-tuned!

Karen

[dmun]

Re: Let?s Roll! 40? Pompeii in Nanoose Bay

Very neat dome! I like the pentagonal plug, and the five bricks radiating out from it, with triangles in between. A neat solution to a perennial difficulty.

[peterlyn]

Re: Let?s Roll! 40? Pompeii in Nanoose Bay

Thanks, dmun. I will pass along the kudos - he'll be pleased it was appreciated.

Karen

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: Let?s Roll! 40? Pompeii in Nanoose Bay

Very sound looking build so far. It must be nice to see the oven come together with the collective family help and the expert reporting and pics! BTW - What kind of mortar is Dave using?

[WoodchuckDad]

Re: Let?s Roll! 40? Pompeii in Nanoose Bay

Great looking dome. Can't wait to see how you finish it.

[peterlyn]

Re: Let?s Roll! 40? Pompeii in Nanoose Bay

Thans, GF.
The mortar is 'monolithic refractory' called "Super 3000" by Vesuvius of Canada. Comes in black, 2.5 gallon buckets that you can probably see in a few of the photos.

Re: the oven floor; we used the large 'skagit' firebrick to minimise the seams on the oven floor. We figure the smoother the floor, the easier to keep clean, to slide pans and peels, less liable to buckle, etc. Well, Dave had an idea today which he has carried out; using his wet grinder/polisher and a diamond pad, he ground the oven floor a bit so that it is as smooth as a baby's backside! I remember that this technique tended to added a wee bit more imperviousness to our concrete countertops so should work out very well practically speaking. Proof, however, will be in the pudding (or pizza!).

WoodchuckDad; you wouldn't believe the number of designs we have 'discussed'! We did not have the exterior confirmed at all when we started. I saw a picture last week of an oven I really like, and have rarely seen, so hopefully, this design will be THE final choice. It may not be done, however, until next spring.

Karen

[eprante]

Re: Let?s Roll! 40? Pompeii in Nanoose Bay

Peterlyn,
very nice looking dome. I am interested to see the outer arch and flue. Never seen the diving board landing you guys are doing. Good luck, hope you get to it before the weather turns snotty.
Eric