New oven up and running in Missouri

[kinghigh]

Well, the oven is done except for the final coats of stucco on the exterior. The coat that you see on this older pic is just a skim coat of mortar over the brick...the oven currently is wrapped in 4" of ceramic fiber and about 2" of a 4-1 mix of Portland cement and perlite. We've fully fired the oven up for use 2 times now (after a week of slowly increasing fire temps) and it has performed pretty well. The first time was a dry run made about 8 pizza's. The second time we had some friends over and ran about 30 - 12" pizzas through it. Temp got a little hot at one point 900 degrees...it seems like it cooks best at about 700. Also made a couple loaves of bread with some left over dough we found.

I would appreciate if someone could help me with a few questions:
1.) Should I have any concern with the oven not being under roof or not enclosed. (other than me having to cook in the weather)
2.) Would it be okay to leave it open to the weather now with the perlite coat on it or should I keep it covered from the rain until I get the stucco finish and paint on it.
3.) Once I get the finished stucco on the dome I plan to paint it...any need for a special paint on the stucco? The external temp ranged from 80 to 110 degrees.
4.) The interior temp gets to 700 fairly easy and at one point it was near 900 degrees. It seems to cook pizza better in the 700 range....the 900 would burn some of the toppings
before the pizza was done. Would you agree that 700 is good for pizza

Any thought's or suggestions are always appreciated!

I'm just sorry I didn't find this forum until the project was nearly underway.

Thank you too all for all the help and the great information here!

We are located about 20 miles south of St. Louis MO.(for weather purposes) I'll post newer pics when I have a chance.

Thanks again!

[berrydueds]

Thats looking fantastic! Sorry cant help with your queries but will be eyeing the responses myself! Might be a good idea to keep the perlite coat covered with some tarp I suppose, till you get your stucco on.
Side question: Will you be adding insulation blankets?

[gastagg]

Great looking build kinghigh! Let me take a stab at some of your questions:
1) I think most guys would recommend enclosures if you're not in a dry climate. I have an igloo (in Minneapolis) and left unsealed brickwork exposed last winter and ended up having to replace my entry arch, which I replaced with a cast refractory concrete entry (see pics in my thread/album). Then I stuccoed over the whole thing. I would say to stucco over the entire oven and don't leave exposed brick. This will be my first winter of not covering and using the oven...we'll see how it goes.
2) I'm not sure how permeable the 2" of portland/perlite is. You'll be drying out that blanket for a long time if it gets really wet.
3) I've done a bit of research on stucco paint. I have decided at this point not to paint, but if I did, I'd go with the Behr stucco product.
4) I think most people prefer pizza around 650-700 floor temps. I've tried 700 and 900 and had the same experience you did.

[RandyJ]

I second the 650 to 700F range. To cook much hotter you need a very non heat conductive floor. I know it sounds strange but if the floor gives up heat to fast you will burn everything. The guys that cook at 900F or better use a certain kind of tile the has a very low thermal conductivity and you can the get in to the sub 60 sec pizza. But 2 min is plenty fast for me. Nice looking oven good job.

Randy

[SableSprings]

Welcome KingHigh, oven looks great! As you have gathered, moisture/water is the oven's enemy. The best solution is to build some sort of roofed enclosure to keep rain off the dome and platform. (Be aware that you can get some pretty good water absorption into your base ceramic board via the oven platform/oven base interface. Water will seep into any cracks and readily wick up into the insulation as well as down into the insulation from cracks and imperfections of the dome surface.) Note that perlcrete will readily absorb & hold water...consider it a variation of insulation, don't think of it as oven protection from the weather! As Gastagg noted, there are some paints that will work on the stucco, but I think your best option (other than a roof ) is to add a waterproofing agent such as Xypex to your stucco mix and then use a powder additive made to color concrete and stucco. That color additive won't chip off since it's mixed into the stucco--not painted on...

Definitely put a tarp on that oven during any wet times until you deal with getting the area waterproofed...and really any waterproofing (including a roof ) will have to be maintained. Consider that roofing a larger area will give you a lot more quality time working the oven and having more friend and family gatherings outside enjoying pizza and other cooking opportunities.

[kinghigh]

Wow....this is a great forum! Thank you to all for all your help and kind comments. I'm amazed at the ovens and structures people are building on this site....amazing!

berrydueds....the oven now has 4" of ceramic fiber insulation on it and 2' of perlite and Portland cement in a 4-1 mix on top of the cermic fiber blanket.

gastagg......NEVER thought that I would need to cover the brick? browsed your build....EXCELLENT looking work! Everyone on here has done a much better job of cutting and placing all the firebrick than I did...after reading on this site....I guess it's the test of time that determines how well the oven build went!

RanyJ....thanks for the info....I agree on the 2 min pizza...and so far everyone who has made a pizza in the oven is amazed at the cooking time...as well as the pizza!

sablesprings....Looks like there will now be a roof build project over the dome.....especially with the large platform area....didn't realize seeping water would be an issue. Has anyone ever used a foundation waterproofing paint on the stucco to lock out water. we've used that on a few foundations and amazed how it blocks water....would locking the moisture in possibly be an issue? I wish I had read about the water being an issue prior to the build...I've had some issues with that....and am now concerned what a cold st Louis winter will do to the build.

Does anyone have any suggestions on the best way to get this under roof? Would a simple lean to structure suffice.....and I guess I would need to figure out how to vent my flue pipe through the roof....if anyone has suggestions on any of that I would appreciate your help.

Thanks again!

[JRPizza]

I built a fairly simple flat roof shelter over my oven. Used metal roofing and a rubber boot flashing - you can look at my thread for details. Our rain frequently comes in at quite an angle, and almost always from the South West, so I am still needing to put a few sides up to keep the hearth slab dry.

[SableSprings]

Although the waterproofing paint would probably do a good job, the problem that usually occurs is the "normal" cracking of stucco over time. These minor cracks are the primary water paths into your insulation. The stucco and paint option would most likely be excellent for a year or two, but unless you do annual checks and repainting it would not be a long-term solution. Locking in water has been discussed here and a really good solution is to build in a vent for moisture to escape. The vent can be as simple as a piece of pipe embedded into the stucco, providing a path for moisture to escape from the insulation layer. This vent pipe is can be capped loosely with almost anything to prevent moisture/water from entering. Another option is to set a piece of pipe (standard 3/4") as the upright vent and add a 90 degree and then a 45 degree piece so the vent path is open for steam/moisture to escape, but closed to water splashing in since the pipe path is now basically pointing down toward the dome. Gulf's simple vent piece is certainly a great innovation beyond the angled pipe style.

Here's Gulf's dome vent (pg 21, post 304 start)
https://community.fornobravo.com/for...page21?t=17062

and the final view of UtahBeehiver vent cap (p 45, post 673) - go back to his page 43, post 644 for a view before being covered
https://community.fornobravo.com/for...page45?t=17761

Your roofed entertainment area is worth taking time looking at other builds here and talking with friends or family with building experience. As JR noted above, relatively flat roof shelters work great...but it's important to consider wind & rain normals for your area. Don't rush it...think about how much you really want to invest and what size gatherings you anticipate...lots of things to consider here. Our 18'x18' pad is covered and with the oven under the shelter, we really have only room for 6-8 comfortably seated at a table. We've had many more in the screened den, but mostly standing and talking. Another consideration...I don't know what your insect problems are in Missouri, but here in Oregon we're really glad we screened our den to keep out mosquitoes, flies, and yellowjackets.

[david s]

There's some good discussion on venting an igloo dome here
https://community.fornobravo.com/for...dome#post15524
my solution is a little different in that the vent is incorporated around the flue pipe The principle is the same as the little hole in the top of a saucepan lid.

[gastagg]

kinghigh, thanks for the kind words.

Depending on how you constructed the thermal breaks, you may have a vent built in, at least in my estimation. My thermal break between the entry arch and the oven arch opens up into the insulation space. Any moisture and steam will escape through the insulation space and escape through the oven opening and/or vent. At least that's my estimation.

[autumncs]

With the painting/colouring of the stucco, was looking at using an oxide colour in the stucco, then you aren't painting however as mentioned the stucco could/will form cracks which will cause moisture issues. The stucco itself will be/ should be water tight.

[gastagg]

I used a 2lb bag of mortar colorant for an 80lb bag of white stucco, which was not consistent with the instructions. Worked great to get the darkish red I was looking for. If I would have used a gray stucco, it would have even been darker. It was very red at the first. I used Solomon colorants.

[gastagg]

I like varied colors of the non-painted stucco...I was planning to paint, but ended up liking the final finish so much I just left it. We'll see how this winter goes.

[kinghigh]

Have the final stucco on and all is done....now just need to get a roof on. Currently just covering it with a tarp. When I uncover it after a rain you can see where the water has leached into the stucco at the base a few inches. Hopefully the roof will fix that.

Thanks again to everyone for all the information and kind words!

[deejayoh]

That stucco looks good, but I would definitely keep it covered until you get a roof over it. The exposed firebrick at the front of the oven is going to soak up water like a sponge, and some if it is going to leech back into your oven.