Alan Scott in Magalia California

[jengineer]

Over the holidays I visited the parental unit in the hills of Magalia. They said one of their neighbours had a pizza oven. I asked dad if it was a traditional Italian pizza oven or a bread oven. He said all he knew was the guy makes pizzas in it. We took a ride over to their place.

There are a few things dad said he would have done differently. I commented, yah like clean up the cement from the brick before it dries. The inside was quite tight and clean.

pf

[George_in_MA]

Jengineer,

Is Alan Scott supposed to have built that oven? If so, it's my understanding that he usually builds only the working parts of the oven itself, and the base and facade are done by local masons.

It may be my inexperience with bricklaying, but that looks like a pretty decent job to me. I'm new at this, but those bricks look as if they may have been recycled, which may account for some of the mortar on them (which is really not that obvious in the photo).

Having built an Alan Scott oven myself, I can tell you there are a number of things I would do differently next time.

I can see by your photo that whoever did the facade cut the bricks by hand. I like that. I think it gives the oven a more rustic look, more character. Brick work that is too perfect never looks quite right to me. For that reason when I built my brick walkway this summer I did all the cuts by hand with a brickset. My neighbor built a brick walkway a few years ago and used a saw to do all of his cuts. His cuts are perfect, but if I must say, his walkway lacks something in character.

George

[james]

I go for the "character" look as well. There was a brand new wall built along a path in the village where we lived, and they used brick, brick fragments, fieldstone, recycled pieces of cut stone, etc. to match the other walls and buildings. Instant old.

The Maglia oven has a lot of character.

James

[jengineer]

clarification

When I talked to the owner he made it sound as though he used the Alan Scott book and design to build the oven. The book was thrashed. As for the sloppy mortrr on the landing it just looked unkept compared to the rest of the workmanship. Yes he used recycled on the facade and new brick for the landing and countertop. The visual problem is that the rest of his back porch landscape was crip and clean until you got to this section. Visually it just didn't mesh in. Function wise - it works, style wise - it is not tied in and looks out of place.

[Tassi]

Brick oven outlook

Allan Scott,

I was wondering if it is okay to cover the brick oven with Granite? Will it fall off in the long run due to the heat?

Tassi

[jengineer]

tassi,

I don't know if Allan Scott ever comes to this forum.

As long as sufficient insulation is betweeen the oven and the outer facade you could use almost any non-flamable material. A tomb like structure around the brick oven would be quite striking.

p

[janprimus]

There are a few things dad said he would have done differently. I commented, yah like clean up the cement from the brick before it dries. The inside was quite tight and clean.
pf

Perhaps he did not understand the need to do an acid wash to clean things up when the job is done. It is common practice up here.
Chad