New build - 1.2M dome

[JRPizza]

Yeah I get an out of range at my highest temps. Just keep shooting the bottom 2/3s and you can tell when the oven is heating uniformly. Before my oven completely cured I was surprised at how much cooler the bottom bricks were.

[RandyJ]

On the IR thermometer you will want one that will go to at least 550 C. Once you are past that you will know as it is to hot to put your hand any where near the oven to measure the temperature.

Randy

[jonv]

First pizza

[Damer419]

Congrats.....looks good!!!

[Brad Low]

First pizza

That looks perfect

[Bauldy 2]

Looks great boss I record it will taste better than any shop or restaurant bought pizza.I will get back to working on mine next week repaired my old outside fireplace with my offcutts I'll probably finish end of jan depending on the weather.

[jonv]

Thanks! I look forward to seeing your finished oven

You're right, the pizza does taste pretty good - I expected the proper flour to make a difference, but what surprised me was the flavour of the genuine san marzano tomatoes. I won't use anything else now. Will watching the dough bubble up and cook so quickly ever get old? I doubt it

[jonv]

Back on the job! Just removed the chimney and temporary winter enclosure to start work on the exterior. First task - waterproofing gunk around the insulation and another 3" concrete around the base. Will get the mesh on the dome soon and then I have wait for a few days of nice weather to arrive to render the dome...

Should I coat the insulation with anything before slapping on the render basecoat?

[SableSprings]

...Will get the mesh on the dome soon and then I have wait for a few days of nice weather to arrive to render the dome...

Should I coat the insulation with anything before slapping on the render basecoat?

Try to get the wire mesh on as tightly as possible. You will be cutting wedges to get it to lay down against the dome insulation. The fewer gaps you leave between the insulation and mesh, the less base coat you'll need to keep things "in shape". No need to coat the insulation with anything...it will take up some moisture from the base coat so be prepared for a little quicker drying of the base render than you may expect. The absorbed moisture will get sucked back into the render as it cures and air dries. Anything else in the way of moisture will get taken care of with the next oven firing. Don't forget to scratch the base coat before it dries...the next render layer will need something to grab & hold on to. We used a thin piece of wood (surveyor stakes or paint stir sticks work really well) with some nails pounded evenly through 1/4" or so -- 4 or 5 nails are plenty. The exposed nail points make it easy to pull the stick across the dome and scratch the base render coat. Great job on this and really glad you've been able to use the oven and get some great eats before tackling the "make it pretty" steps.

FYI: if you are intending to put on more base concrete around the dome...it's really nice to embed your wire mesh in it around the perimeter to help secure it while you wrap up the dome.

[jonv]

Thanks very much for the advice. I can see it would have been a good idea to put the mesh on before the base concrete... I'll just have to fix it to the wires that are holding the insulation in place.

[jonv]

Base coat done - will scratch once it sets up a bit. Was quite nervous of this stage but I'm pleased with the results

Planning to colour the top coat; if I don't like the look once it's dry I'll just paint over it.

[cnegrelli]

Where exactly did you put the thermal break?

[jonv]

There's a 10mm gap between the inner arch (the one that's part of the dome) and the chimney stack.

[jonv]

Managed to finish the top coat today. The colour came out a little patchy and will no doubt be much paler once dry, but I'm inclined to leave it that way. I added a waterproofer to the render but I'll brush over some sealer later just to make sure. Provided it doesn't crack or fall off I'm happy with the render; just need to figure out the brickwork for the chimney now

[david s]

I like to wrap the whole oven in cling wrap for a week to hold the moisture in the outer shell to enhance its strength. Especially as theinsulation is pulling the moisture away from it from the inside.