A modernist Casa 90 build

[Razor]

Fast forward to spring. Once it became warm enough, I stuccoed the interior storage area of the cinder block stand. I had some extra stucco from a project on the front of our house and, luckily, it was already mixed to a near perfect colour match to the final cladding we would be putting on.

In the shot of the the rear storage space below, you can see the curved cement board. I was pretty surprised I was able to get 1/2" Durock to bend that much, but pre-flexing it created enough micro-cracks that it became flexible enough. At the seams, I used metal strapping to the keep the panel edges from blowing out.

[Razor]

A few things happened at the same time next:

1. I starting adding the final cladding. When we ordered the cement cladding for part of a house reno, I made sure to order extra for the oven. We used a product called Cembonit, which is manufactured by Cembrit. Heavy stuff, about 200lbs per 4x10 panel. Cuts pretty clean though with a stone cutting blade. Though not shown, I had also steel framed in below the hearth level to mount the cladding onto. I strapped over the Durock board to give it a bit of stand-off to act as a rain screen and allow any moisture to vent out.
2. I wrapped EPDM rubber gasket on the framing where vertical joints meet. This creates a water seal, provides a black shadow line behind the joint, and allows some movement of the panels. Since the horizontal joints are kept unsealed to allow venting, I spray painted the Durock black to maintain the shadow line at the joint.
3. Using 2x8" I framed a mantle for the front and fastened it to the front with the anchor bolts I cast into the hearth. This was then clad with Durock and set about 1 1/4" below the hearth line to accommodate a stone top. The mantle was sized to line up with the inset around the oven opening.
4. It's good to have connections. My brother owns a tool and die shop and I sent him dimensions for the steel inlay around the oven opening to be fabricated. He also helped out with some of the doors I built, but I'll touch on the doors later.

[Razor]

I ordered a stainless steel BBQ door online, so while waiting for that to arrive I started templating, cutting and fitting a soapstone cap for the front landing. Soapstone is pretty soft, so it was easy to cut with the tools and blades I already had. The framing wasn't quite level so I needed to shim a bit, but could compensate by feathering the amount of thinset.

I also added very small forward slope when setting it to drain water away from the firebrick when it rains. The overhang in the main oven housing is enough that only the outside inch or so get rain anyway.

The capping is also slightly oversized so it will slightly (1mm) overhang the stainless steel wrap that will cover the mantle face later on.

[Razor]

Before adding the final framing for the front BBQ door mount, I installed a perforated aluminium shelf, flush with the opening in block cross wall. I capped the cinder block with a piece of the Cembrit panel. This creates a pretty smooth shelf to slide the long oven tools through and keep them horizontal. I also keep lighters, temperature gun, and other odds and ends there, with wood stacked below it. After the shelf was in, the final framing went on, again with EPDM gasket to seal the gaps and add a black background around the door once it was mounted.

The second photo shows another perf aluminium shelf added to the rear storage area. The area below the shelf perfectly fits my ash can, and the shelf itself is where I put the cast iron grill insert for the oven.

[Razor]

After getting the door mounted, and bending a stainless steel cladding for the mantle, one of the last things to do was to get the final roofing done. I added metal strapping of different thickness to the Durock covered roof to create both an elevated area around the chimney, and an inward slope to the rear. I used two pieces of scrap cladding to create an inward sloping drainage path. Finally, a friend who does eaves installations formed metal capping and a drainage gutter for me, and it all went together.

[Razor]

And that's pretty well where the oven is at. The final to-do's are to form a curved stainless steel door for the back -- you can see the curved, plywood template in the second shot below -- and to finish laying a walkway around the oven.

[Lipstick]

You did a great job - lots of work!

[Razor]

Thanks Lipstick. I finally was able to get access to a friend's sheet metal roller, and finished up forming a curved rear storage access door. Pic below.

[Lipstick]

I love your oven! But I like everything and anything modern. What did you use do the exterior? Steel I'm assuming? Can you tell me about it - how you attached it? I love the door too. I have yet to get a door. I need one like yours! 😊