36" dome build, Tobermory Ontario

[millerlake]

Spent the whole winter/spring and most of the summer still trying to figure out what to do.
Decided on tiling,... now what tiles ...


Even though I flexcreted the top which is waterproof when > 1/4" I decided I wanted more protection
Did a full Mapei AqueDefense on the whole dome

I find the dome is air temperature outside or a bit more 100F basically when the inside is 1000+F
so it reasonably insulated, haven't been able to see how it retains the heat well, since only have a plywood door right now (from construction phase)

Jul 29, 2018

[millerlake]

finally... yeah decided on what tiles to use on the top... not 100% sure exactly the pattern

also decided to use the same bottom slate as the front with fire rated mortar behind that to protect the firebricks on the front

and made a door
door is like other
used 2" aluminum corner piece for sides and bottom
aluminum sheet back and top
rivet those together
add in FiberBoard insulation into the 2" cavity
add front piece of wood
(the insulation leaves a 1-2mm gap from the wood to the aluminum (excellent))
screw that from front to back (not sure how much heat will be transmitted via the machine screw
add 2 handles from grout floats to the door
use fire silicone to bridge the gap from aluminum to wood
use nomex (green egg) insulation around aluminum to make a good seal

Aug 11, 2018

[millerlake]

Having trouble uploading the door photos will try that later

[millerlake]

almost final tiling work, yeah, (again kerabond/keralastic and same grout from bottom slate)

Aug 13, 2018

[millerlake]

hah, ran out of tiles, .... so now it's complete (just need to grout)

Aug 27, 2018

[millerlake]

door photo

need different handles (they are actually molded plastic, need to buy a better floats ... ug but they don't get hot)
put door on when oven walls were 600F then were 500F the next morning, door was cool

[fox]

Looking good..... love the tile pattern.

[JRPizza]

I used wooden handles made by Marshalltown. Found them cheap at a small hardware store, but they were out when I went back to get a spare set.

https://marshalltown.com/float-handles

[shanxk8]

Its nice to see another Canadian builder on the site. Looks like you are a little ways ahead of me in your build. (I still have a tarp covering my insulation on my dome, but we're cooking & enjoying).

You mentioned that you used Flexcrete and then Mapei Aquadefence. Is there a reason you selected these two options & did you consider other waterproofing methods?
I ask because the one that's been suggested (& i'm currently considering) is called MasterSeal 581 (formerly ThoroSeal).

I'm hoping to retain the dome shape with stucco or tiled exterior, rather than building enclosure, even with the long Canadian winters (& Alberta freeze-thaw from Chinooks), and trying to exhaust all options before i proceed.

I really like how your finished tile work on the dome turned out. (If i showed my wife, she'd probably request something similar but I don't think I would be able to create something as nice).
Congrats on your excellent looking oven. How's the pizza?

[millerlake]

I did look at a large number of polymer concretes, flexcrete seemed to be tick all the right boxes, at the time waterproof, but allows vapour to pass
I had looked at Thoroseal, would work well too
any polymer concrete would work, this was available at Lowe's locally so that won out

I had some other comments on another thread, as to seal/not seal/vent/...
https://community.fornobravo.com/for...ing-dome/page2
while I was figuring it out, there a few that say water will get in so make it breathe, other are remove water and seal and the water can come out the front
I drilled holes (and then resealed) a few times through the flexcrete to the CFB right at the top to see if I was getting any water vapour (after each winter) and wasn't getting anything

and the polymer concrete, I was worried about any small crack in it that water would get in and freeze
so i was all in at the time on the flexcrete, but then decided I don't want to fix it if anything happens...

Key may be small/slow fires after the winter (since not using in winter) to slowly drive anything out but not build up a massive amount of vapour

so I may regret the full coating of aquadefense ... time will tell, there seemed to be some people who did something like that or advocated more for that ... and some the other way
or it might be the best thing
again was easy to get, was the base for a normal tile shower setup

pizza is truly outrageous, will post some pics of that this weekend, spent a while on a variety of recipes, methods, ingredients
this summer added a new simple sauce that has made it even better
and now the kids added pesto (without the pine-nuts... just cause at first we didn't have any) which just a bit drizzled on the normal sauce really takes it to another level

[shanxk8]

Looks like I will end up going the flexcrete option as well (the other looks harder to source, just like you also encountered)

Question for you, what amount/ratio of dry compound to polymer is used? Flexcrete looks to be available in 50lb (dry) bags and 1 or 5 gallon (polymer).
I'm wondering if 50lb plus 1 gallon is the right ratio, and also the right amount to cover 36" (inside diameter) oven & vent.

[millerlake]

50lb/1 gal jug

I did 2 bags on 36"i/d oven&vent (100lb/2gal)

[millerlake]

Ok did the grouting on it and counter, so getting to the end
For next year (yr 3) seems it never really ends ...
seal grout/tile,
add some caulking around front slate tile,
maybe figure out a door for the wood storage,
thinking a plexiglass front storm door to keep any rain out
redo the door with new float handles

Sep 8, 2018

[millerlake]

Some Pizza pics and our recipe
(one is just the dough with garlic butter, crazy bread style)

3 cup flour
1 tsp sugar (or slightly less)
1 tsp yeast (or slightly less)
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 cup water

with dough hook mixer
* add water, yeast, sugar, 1 cup of the flour
* mix up, wait 30min (soupy poolash, activating the yeast)
* add salt, rest of flour (probably only 2.5 cup total, making it just not sticky last .5 use to knead etc) (eg 4x recipe used 10 cups or so rest for kneading etc)
mix for 12-15 min
right before end add tiny amount of flour to make non sticky to remove from bowl

add tiny bit of flour in bowl add dough cover with moist towel, leave for 1 hour (approx)
remove, from bowl, add flour a bit to make less sticky make long tube
from on end split off baseball size (~10" pizza and make balls put in containers (depends on container size)
seal containers
let rise 4-5 hours, will 3-4x rise so have enough space in containers (more can do in fridge .. but remove from fridge 2+ hours before using)
remove add bit of flour
pat & stretch from middle, keeping a good edge on it, (edge will be airy so don't roll) to desired size thickness

SImple Sauce (cook garlic in oil, add rest, simmer a bit cool)
3tbsp olive oil
1 clove minced garlic
2x 398ml can Mutti Polpa tomatoes
1 tsp sugar
pinch salt

[cdsbarnes]

Hi there, Im down in Kincardine. You are not worred about frost heave?