42" Brick Oven & Grill in Los Angeles.

[ATK406]

Re: 42" Brick Oven & Grill in Los Angeles.

Great score! I had just about given up on finding the color of reclaimed brick that I wanted (all I could find was red brick and I wanted something lighter). I had actually resigned myself to buying new tumbled old chicago brick when my wife ran across an add for these --for Free. We managed to get about 1800 for two loaves of bread (it was good bread). These aren't as old as yours and they aren't solids but I managed to pick up another 300 or so solids from somebody else for $20, so I'll have some contrast in my decorative arch. Looking forward to watch the rest of your build.

AT

PS My kids think I'm nuts but I still search CL for used bricks (kind of a strange habit) but old bricks are so cool!

[Laurentius]

Re: 42" Brick Oven & Grill in Los Angeles.

Hi ATK406,

Be a sport, give the people more bread! At Free, your bread ain't that good! You are one lucky son of a gun! And buy your wife something nice.

[V-wiz]

Re: 42" Brick Oven & Grill in Los Angeles.

There is just something about old brick. Great! score there V-wiz!. With that many extra old brick, your imagination is the only limit .

I agree they are amazing, i think i can still use more. I plan on doing alot with these bricks. Well see what happens but id like to use them at the decorative arch and chimney of the oven, at the face of the outdoor kitchen over the cinder block, on the floor in my backyard and some other areas around the house. The wife and i love anything rustic and vintage so well put these to good use

[V-wiz]

Re: 42" Brick Oven & Grill in Los Angeles.

Great score! I had just about given up on finding the color of reclaimed brick that I wanted (all I could find was red brick and I wanted something lighter). I had actually resigned myself to buying new tumbled old chicago brick when my wife ran across an add for these --for Free. We managed to get about 1800 for two loaves of bread (it was good bread). These aren't as old as yours and they aren't solids but I managed to pick up another 300 or so solids from somebody else for $20, so I'll have some contrast in my decorative arch. Looking forward to watch the rest of your build.

AT

PS My kids think I'm nuts but I still search CL for used bricks (kind of a strange habit) but old bricks are so cool!

1800 bricks for free? Nicee man. Here in Los Angeles everyday bricks are given away. If i had the time and the proper vehicle i would have had over 5,000 bricks by now. Do you have picture of those bricks all dressed up somewhere?

[ATK406]

Re: 42" Brick Oven & Grill in Los Angeles.

I'm not sure how to "multi-quote" my response but I'll try to answer your questions all at once;

Yes I am a very lucky guy and I do owe those generous people at least a few more loaves of bread...maybe after I've finished the oven enclosure and outdoor kitchen this Summer. As for my wife, she's just happy that I built the oven (it was her idea) and I can stop spending money on the materials (almost).

In Michigan it is not uncommon to find a hand full of bricks for free (usually scattered amongst a debris zone of busted block, bricks and concrete etc.). Prices for reclaimed brick vary from $0.05 - $0.5 for common bricks. Bricks as old as yours (with names on them) often sell for even more. I've seen one guy asking $3.00 a piece - he claims they were taken down from Tiger Stadium or something.

What makes my find even more amazing, they were not only clean and stacked (unused from the home construction 15 yrs earlier), I wasn't the only person to get in on the deal! When I called, the add had been posted for a couple of weeks and somebody had already come and gotten 1200 to 1500 for themselves. I estimated that I needed about 1600 to do my kitchen and I ended up with about 1800. As much as I like them, I don't dress them up (but that might make for a funny picture), but I do plan to use them this summer. I'll start a thread of my own build someday.

Regards,
AT

[V-wiz]

Re: 42" Brick Oven & Grill in Los Angeles.

I'm not sure how to "multi-quote" my response but I'll try to answer your questions all at once;

Yes I am a very lucky guy and I do owe those generous people at least a few more loaves of bread...maybe after I've finished the oven enclosure and outdoor kitchen this Summer. As for my wife, she's just happy that I built the oven (it was her idea) and I can stop spending money on the materials (almost).

In Michigan it is not uncommon to find a hand full of bricks for free (usually scattered amongst a debris zone of busted block, bricks and concrete etc.). Prices for reclaimed brick vary from $0.05 - $0.5 for common bricks. Bricks as old as yours (with names on them) often sell for even more. I've seen one guy asking $3.00 a piece - he claims they were taken down from Tiger Stadium or something.

What makes my find even more amazing, they were not only clean and stacked (unused from the home construction 15 yrs earlier), I wasn't the only person to get in on the deal! When I called, the add had been posted for a couple of weeks and somebody had already come and gotten 1200 to 1500 for themselves. I estimated that I needed about 1600 to do my kitchen and I ended up with about 1800. As much as I like them, I don't dress them up (but that might make for a funny picture), but I do plan to use them this summer. I'll start a thread of my own build someday.

Regards,
AT

Lol, dressed up meaning installed pictures of/using those bricks. The particular brick i have sell for $1.00 each, and i got them for free, i got lucky . Here is the history for those bricks.

http://calbricks.netfirms.com/brick.simonssm.html
http://simonsbrickyard.blogspot.com/...-number-3.html

[ATK406]

Re: 42" Brick Oven & Grill in Los Angeles.

Interesting history. Nice to have the "provenance" for your building material. You'll have to see if you can include a few bricks with the name revealed in your plan.

The second lot of bricks I bought for $20 (about 6 cents each) have some names on them. I'll have to see what I can dig up on the internet....but I don't think they are as old as yours.

[V-wiz]

Re: 42" Brick Oven & Grill in Los Angeles.

Interesting history. Nice to have the "provenance" for your building material. You'll have to see if you can include a few bricks with the name revealed in your plan.

The second lot of bricks I bought for $20 (about 6 cents each) have some names on them. I'll have to see what I can dig up on the internet....but I don't think they are as old as yours.

Oh i definitely will incorporate the named bricks into my build. I also have bricks that were removed from a chimney from 1930, so i will use those also. Getting to that point is going to take a long time, i have not even started on the actual oven part, im really hoping to start the floor this weekend.

[V-wiz]

Re: 42" Brick Oven & Grill in Los Angeles.

Ive decided to build a 40" oven instead of a 42" oven. Should my door opening still be 20"x12.5"? Thanks guys.

[dvm]

Re: 42" Brick Oven & Grill in Los Angeles.

Re door dimensions 20"x12.5"
The wider the door the more heat you let out, and the more narrow (combined with the depth of the entry and landing) the more difficult to reach the side of the oven.
Regarding the height, I would choose a dome height (for a 40 inch diameter oven, 20 inches, or lower) and make the door height 63% the dome height. This ratio affects the air flow into the oven / and combustion of fuel.

[V-wiz]

Re: 42" Brick Oven & Grill in Los Angeles.

Re door dimensions 20"x12.5"
The wider the door the more heat you let out, and the more narrow (combined with the depth of the entry and landing) the more difficult to reach the side of the oven.
Regarding the height, I would choose a dome height (for a 40 inch diameter oven, 20 inches, or lower) and make the door height 63% the dome height. This ratio affects the air flow into the oven / and combustion of fuel.

Thanks, so i will do the dome height 20" tall, therefore the door opening height should be 12.6" (based on a 63% calculation) and the width should still be 20" ? is there anything im missing?

[dvm]

Re: 42" Brick Oven & Grill in Los Angeles.

From the FB Pompei plans Pompeii Oven | Oven Dome Construction, the specs for a "High Vault" oven are:

Interior Diameter = 42
Interior Height = 20
Opening Width = 20
Opening height = 12.5

At 36 inches on a high vault, the width of the opening is 19". I think any thing between these points will work great.

[V-wiz]

Re: 42" Brick Oven & Grill in Los Angeles.

Hey Gang,

My buddy and I drove down to the brickyard and had them load up the truck with some Muddox firebricks, the Alumina content is 27%. I decided not to go with the high Alumina bricks i was planning on building with.

Here they are



And here im just dry laying and selecting the better bricks for the floor. May i state that the Muddox bricks are not straight at all, very curvy, and not true at all. Im going to have to level them with sand underneath and fill in the side gaps with sand, just like you would with pavers.




And here i used a few different sanding/grinding pads/stones to get and idea of what the countertop might look like, after i sand, polish and stain i will seal it with a concrete sealer.

[Gulf]

Re: 42" Brick Oven & Grill in Los Angeles.

They look very simular to the wire cut brick that I used for my dome. The dome is all cuts, they will work fine. I did buy pressed brick for my floor, but all cracks fill with ash anyways .

[V-wiz]

Re: 42" Brick Oven & Grill in Los Angeles.

Very true. These were just randomly laid, im sure i can make them work better when i actually have the 4" Cal-Sil down