Nikki's 42" in Phoenix, where it's hot as a...

[fullback66]

Re: Nikki's 42" in Phoenix, where it's hot as a...

It has been 4 years already!!

[Xene]

Re: Nikki's 42" in Phoenix, where it's hot as a...

I baked cakes professionally for a short time while my kids were little like yours too, then I went computer geek; I thoroughly enjoyed this thread. Trust me, there is plenty of time to finish that 5% later -- you are making pizza memories, who cares about veneer? If it doesn't make the pizza any better, it doesn't matter. Enjoy your little ones, it passes in the blink of an eye.

[Modthyrth]

Re: Nikki's 42" in Phoenix, where it's hot as a...

Don't be in too much awe. I STILL haven't finished the veneer work and the baby who was in utero during the build is now 4. ;-) I'm brilliant at completing a task to about 95%.

[Xene]

Re: Nikki's 42" in Phoenix, where it's hot as a...

Fabulous thread. A baby and an oven? I was impressed with my build, but thankfully I wasn't pregnant or managing little children at the same time. I'm in awe.

[Modthyrth]

Re: Nikki's 42" in Phoenix, where it's hot as a...

I'd seen a couple ovens done like mine before I built, so I felt pretty confident. Still, I did put an iron support under where I poured the slab (probably didn't do much in truth, but I felt better with it there), and put in *lots* or rebar reinforcement there, just in case. It's marvelously sturdy, and I'd have no hesitation doing it again.

[cvcrash]

Re: Nikki's 42" in Phoenix, where it's hot as a...

Nikki, thanks for the dimensions.... was there any concern not having any support for the slab under the entrance to your wood storage?

thoughts?

i am planning a similar build with two accesses to the wood, one where yours is and another one as a U shape on the back 62" side supported with angle iron such as the stand in the FB plans

[roobqn]

Re: Nikki's 42" in Phoenix, where it's hot as a...

Wow just read through this entire thread and am sad that it is over. Just like finnishing up a good book you wish it could go on.
We finished our part of our build and not being comfortable with what I call the "pretty brick work" we have a contractor doing that part for hunting rights on our land. With that said it has been well over a month since he started and has gotten half way through.

Don't get me wrong, the price is right, but we have been more or less chased out of cooking while he is building as we do not want to have to clean up his mess everytime we want to fire up only to have him come back and mess up the place again. That and we don't want to have a hot oven he needs to work around. Haven't seen him in a couple of weeks so maybe this weekend we will just clean up the area and fire it up.

All of that long rant is just my jealous way of wishing I had the skills or at least the attitude to do it myslef as you have done yours. BEAUTIFUL job all the way around. I love the door as well. And can that baby be any cuter!

Great Job Nikki!

[Modthyrth]

Re: Nikki's 42" in Phoenix, where it's hot as a...

the concrete slab under the oven was 62" square, with the corner clipped off. The exact dimensions for the five sides are 62", 62", 41", 41", and 26". The block stand ended up being a little smaller than the pad, but it worked pretty perfectly.

The slab for the workspace countertop to the right of the oven door was 48"x30" and the slab poured for the grill unit was 114"x40".

[cvcrash]

Re: Nikki's 42" in Phoenix, where it's hot as a...

great outdoor kitchen area. can you post the dimensions of the concrete slab and the block stand?

[cvcrash]

Re: Nikki's 42" in Phoenix, where it's hot as a...

this is a great outdoor kitchen. can you post the dimensions on the concrete slab and block base you used?

[Modthyrth]

Re: Nikki's 42" in Phoenix, where it's hot as a...

My pleasure! Please let me know if I can help in some other way. I love my oven *so* much, and am happy to do whatever I can to encourage others to start their projects.

[Spybug]

Re: Nikki's 42" in Phoenix, where it's hot as a...

Wow! Thanks for all of the help! We'll post photos and ask questions once we get underway. For now it's all going to be about pricing out the project.

[Modthyrth]

Re: Nikki's 42" in Phoenix, where it's hot as a...

I'm delighted to share what I've learned along the way.

I ended up buying the bulk of my firebricks from AZ Brick Source. Specialty brick and stone supply in Phoenix They charged $1.50/brick, which is about the lowest price I found in this area. I picked up a bunch of other stuff (lime, fireclay, portland cement) from Marvel Masonry on Country Club and Southern, but their prices on firebrick were more like $1.75 each for the full sized bricks.

I bought my refractory mortar, Thermal Ceramics brand, from AZ Brick Source as well. It's not an item they typically carry, but they were able to get it with only a couple day's notice. They also were the only people even willing to look for refractory mortar for me. Everyone else simply tried to sell me fireclay. Being completely new to masonry, I wanted the nice and sticky refractory mortar. They were willing to order Heatstop 50 for me, but investigated other options, and found that they could get the equivalent Thermal Ceramics brand for much less. AZ Brick Source also took me seriously and treated me with respect--no, "Oh honey, why don't you just let your contractor take care of that for you" BS. They definitely get my endorsement.

I ended up using the insulating blanket and board from Forno Bravo for insulation. I wanted to support James in some way as thanks for the plans and forum, plus it was easier. I found vermiculite and perlite for about $25/4 cubic foot bag at various nurseries around town. Never had any luck calling to pool suppliers and builders. One of the largest vermiculite manufacturers is reportedly in Chandler, though, so it might be worth poking around and seeing if they have factory seconds bags hanging around that you could get inexpensively.

If you're planning on doing any stone veneer work, I highly recommend the guy I bought mine from. I found him on craigslist, and he runs a small veneer manufacturing company in southern Tempe. He sells all his stuff, including corner pieces (and he makes every shape and color you could imagine) for $4/sf (and ends up giving you quite a bit more than you actually pay for). He also often has remainders from larger orders. I bought everything I need, including corner pieces, for $2.25/sf. It costs WAY more at landscape supply shops and the big box stores. Just materials can easily go north of $10/sf and even more expensive for the corner pieces. His name is Jim, and I believe his business is called Canyon Stone. His phone number is 480-544-1127 and email address is fsilverhill@aol.com.

The paver guys who finished installing the patio today did a very nice job. $3.85/sf for over 500sf (that's labor and materials included), or $4.10 for under 500sf. Don't let them overestimate the square footage to pad the bill, but they did listen and defer to our (correct and precise) measurements and did good work when they said they would. Jose Perez of Got Pavers? Landscaping. jperez140@q.com

The 10" wet saw from Harbor Freight really was a wonderful thing. It made the job so much easier. There's a Harbor Freight at Southern and Gilbert, I know, but there may be other locations closer to you.

Have fun with your build! We'll have perfect weather for it soon.

[Spybug]

Re: Nikki's 42" in Phoenix, where it's hot as a...

Hey Nikki - We're thinking about starting our pompeii oven in Scottsdale once the weather cools off and are looking to compile a list of product sources. Because you've already gone through the process, we were hoping to crib off of you. Can you tell us where you found your firebricks and other products in AZ?

[dmun]

Re: Nikki's 42" in Phoenix, where it's hot as a...

I have a question. What is the insulation board under the the oven made of. I haven't seen that discussed here before.

There are two types of refractory insulation board. There is calcium silicate board which is a bit of overkill for our thousand degree application. Most of us use a mineral fiber board (I used insblock19). This consists of fibers in a temperature resistant matrix. Two inches of either of these two will do the trick. There also used to be a vermiculite board which is the same efficiency as vermiculite concrete, in other words you need four inches of it. Vermiculite board is obsolete and mostly unavailable in the US.