The Badger Build

[Frances]

Re: The Badger Build

Looking nicer and nicer.

And I really like the colour of your sky, too... can I have some of that? Ours is a dingy shade of gray nowadays.

I'd hazard a guess that you'll need to wait a week for the next fire, to give the cement in the perlcrete a chance to cure.

[SpringJim]

Re: The Badger Build

It continues to come along nicely.....good job Dick!

[schallert]

Re: The Badger Build

Dick,

Great work! I live in frost line area as well. Where did you find the plans for how you created the foundation/stand? I do not see how you finished the floor under the stand... Is it just the ground or did you pour a shallow concrete floor?

My location nests the stand partially into the side of a hill and will be flanked by a retaining wall. I am trying to determine if I can pour a foundation or excavate even deeper and use the same technique you did. Any ideas would be appreciated. I am very impressed by your documentation. I can not wait to start!
Dan

[thebadger]

Re: The Badger Build

Dan,

Thanks for the compliment. I asked a lot of questions on the forum and got some advice from my brother-in-law...

Basically, I dug down past my "frost line" (~30" in Cincinnati), put in a 12 inch wide by 6+" footer with rebar. Dry stacked my blocks on top and filled most every core with concrete/rebar.

There are some posts about doing a 'floating' foundation or insulating below the foundation using special styrofoam. Given your location I would put some thought into your foundation - due to the possibility of frost heave.

I was going to pour a concrete footer inside but decided just to use crushed gravel/paver's since it's only going to be used for wood storage and I'll put a door to keep water out...

Good luck.

Dick

[mfiore]

Re: The Badger Build

Dan,

Welcome to the forum. There are some other examples/photos of deep foundations for cold weather temps. Feel free to search the forum. Specifically, you can refer to the above Badger Build, my foundation http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f6/begins-3819.html, or Daren's http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f21/...orno-4194.html.

These are examples of builds where we dug below the frost line. There are others who built on a floating concrete slab (on a bed of thick crushed gravel). I underestimated the cost of having conctete delivered twice (once for a footer below the block foundation, once for the slab). If I were to do it again, I'd dig a more narrow trench, put up forms for slabs, put in a lot of steel reinforcement, both vertical in the fountation as well as horizontal in the slab, and pour it all as one monolithic structure.

Good luck.

[thebadger]

The Badger Build (Chimney question)

Gang,

As you can see, I attached my chimney to my pergola... The pergola does/can move a little to the left/right which doesn't concern me. But what I just thought of is should I be/can the pergola move up/down???

I wouldn't want the pergola putting any extra stress on my arch...

Should I loosen the strap a little?

Let me know.

Thanks
Dick

PS Ran out of perlite but just scored some more (somewhat finer granules) but $8 cheaper a 4 cf bag!

[asudavew]

Re: The Badger Build (Chimney question)

Gang,

As you can see, I attached my chimney to my pergola... The pergola does/can move a little to the left/right which doesn't concern me. But what I just thought of is should I be/can the pergola move up/down???

I wouldn't want the pergola putting any extra stress on my arch...

Should I loosen the strap a little?

Gonna have to leave this one for Dmun.

[dmun]

Re: The Badger Build

As you can see, I attached my chimney to my pergola... The pergola does/can move a little to the left/right which doesn't concern me. But what I just thought of is should I be/can the pergola move up/down???

I wouldn't want the pergola putting any extra stress on my arch...

Should I loosen the strap a little?

I think you should read your chimney install instructions: I suspect you need a two inch clearance to combustibles on that chimney unit. It will move differently than your pergola supports because of humidity effects on the wood and heat effects on the metal, so it should be a loose connection. in addition, I'd engineer some kind of non-combustible offset between the wood and the chimney: a block of left over insulation board wrapped in aluminum flashing, maybe.

[thebadger]

Re: The Badger Build

Dmun,

The bracket is designed (might be hard to tell from the picture) to keep the chimney 2+ inches from the wood support I have cantilevering out from the pergola so I should be set there...

I will loosen the strap a little. It's mainly there to keep the chimney from falling over.

Thanks
Dick

[dmun]

Re: The Badger Build

You're right, I didn't see that. It only makes sense, if it's the manufacturer's sidewall mounting bracket they would make it to conform to code. I had visions of the unit nailed to the wood with galvanized strapping. Sorry.

[thebadger]

Re: The Badger Build

Dmun,

No problem - glad you're looking out for us .

I did special order the strapping from the manuf. who made the chimney. I think it might be galvanized (not sure how you tell) - definitly isn't stainless steel.

Anything special I need to do (now that it's installed)?

Thanks
Dick

[schallert]

Re: The Badger Build

Thanks Dick,

This was the advice I was looking for. Watching your build is a real inspiration and is making my efforts to get to work problematic. I am now officially consumed by this project.

when did you start? Can you provide a rough estimate of materials to date?

Thank You,

Dan

[thebadger]

Re: The Badger Build

Dan,

My obsession started last March when I saw an HGTV outdoor special that showed some pizza ovens...

I started my foundation - digging/filling the cores last fall.
I poured the hearth - to where I am today staring in April. Just about every weekend I've done something. Needless to say my wife and kids are looking forward to me being done...

The materials are going to depend on your unique build - no 2 ovens are alike. I would use the FB plans as a guide as they will give you a good starting point. For example I used way more HS50 than I thought - 4 bags. I also needed more cinder blocks given my foundation needs.

I was pretty lucky in that I could buy everything locally except for the FB blanket/iso board and a couple chimney pieces. If you can swing it I would recommend at least 1" of blanket and the board.

It truly is an obession.

Good luck - and post lots of pictures!!!
Dick

[thebadger]

The Badger Build (Status)

Update,

I guess I?m sort of ?done? with the oven (not according to my wife since I still have more to do). I still need to stucco/waterproof, pour my landing and add stone veneer over the block.

Oven Status
My wife actually did the perlcrete layer (still wet in the attached pictures). I think we both wanted a more ?round? shape but we?re happy with the end result. I added about 3-4? of perlcrete over 2? of blanket so we should be fully insulated. Still need to figure out the ?stucco? portion as I can?t find it in the Cincinnati area ? I?ll post some questions later.

Bringing Families Together
Today, another FB member from the area came over for lunch. We talked ovens of course as our kids ran around and wives commiserated about our ?oven obsession.? Hey, is there a support group for the spouses of FB oven builders?

Curing
After talking with Chris today and reading some more I decided to start ?re curing?? just 1 day after we finished the last section of perlcrete. My rationale ? I already built 5 small curing fires and am using 2? of blanket, which should prevent most of the heat from getting to the perlcrete. More importantly I?m just sticking with some more small burns 350-400? I figure I?ll do this a few more times before going to the 450-550 range. My goal is to have it ready so I can cook pizzas (at least for everyone to taste) for our annual July 4th party. Not sure if I want to trying making pizza for 30 people the first time out.

Stone Veneer
The place I bought my firebricks/HS50 from had some odd/off color stone veneer. It?s normally ~$7 sq ft and I picked it up for ~$3 sq ft. The colors aren?t that off and I?ll be able to mix them up.

Milestone
This marks my 250th posting!!!! I think I might qualify for the pizza cutter ? perfect timing!!!!

The next steps are to finish curing, starting eating some pizza and then put the finishes touches on the oven.

Thanks so much to everyone for his or her help so far!!!! I?m sure I?ll have more questions before I?m "finally" done.

Dick
thebadger

[cplain]

Re: The Badger Build

Dick:

Congrats! It looks great...the shape is very nice. Please keep posting and adding pix even thoug you're "done." I'm interested on seeing the finish with the stone. I'm think of doing the same and I want to see your end results! Craig