The Morgan's WFO build

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: The Morgan's WFO build

Hey Mark,
Do you think that QUIKWALL can be used on Durock or Cement Board too? I plan to stucco the back of my oven enclosure and it's dry-stacked blocks for the bottom half and Durock for the top half. Thanks, Dino

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Re: The Morgan's WFO build

http://www.quikrete.com/ProductLines/QuickwallSurfaceBondingCement.asp

hey ken,

Both Lowe's and Homeless Depot have it here in NJ, If HD doesnt have it, Just go to the pro desk and they will order it for you (no extra charge)

QUIKWALL? Surface Bonding Cement (No. 1230-1231) is an alkali resistant, fiberglass reinforced, portland cement based surface bonding cement used for construction of dry-stack (without mortar) cement block walls. Add color with QUIKRETE? Stucco & Mortar Color.

Enjoy,

Mark

[vintagemx0]

Re: The Morgan's WFO build

That stuff sounds like the ticket Mark. I've searched around here and can't seem to find any. Stucco, in general, isn't very prevelant in the Pacific Northwest. Can I ask where you were able to obtain yours? That material really sounds like a good low-fuss way to go.

Too dark for photos tonight, but tonight I installed our outer doorway arch. I still need to finish the area of the ficade above this arch and finish filling in the perlcrete, capping the structure, tiling the landing, some lights, and the stucco. I plan to finish the brick work on the front tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll finish before it gets dark and I'll snap a couple photos.

Ken

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Re: The Morgan's WFO build

We've never worked with stucco before so it should be "fun". I think the trick will be to add acrylic agent to the mix

Hi Guys,
You really want to check out Quikrete Surface Bonding Cement, You can add the acrylic fortifier to it for water proofing.. Its basically stucco with Fiberglass strands mixed in, It adds structural strength as well.. If you can Ice a cake you can use this stuff with no problems, You can trowel it for a smooth finish or sponge it for a slightly rough finish. I used it over my whole oven, walls dome etc.. The quikrete people told me it would withstand temperatures up to 300 degrees without a problem.. I also added color to it for the dome (terra cotta) It looks Great,, And if you dont like the color you can always paint over it..
Time for some more pics ????
Mark

[kebwi]

Re: The Morgan's WFO build

I lived in Albuquerque for eight years and my wife lived her whole life there until we moved to Seattle. We definitely want a stucco exterior. Very "home". Of course, in Seattle, whatever exterior we use is going to have to be REALLY weather proof!

[vintagemx0]

Re: The Morgan's WFO build

Oh, it''s quite alright kebwi, and I feel a little relieved now... That's what's great about forums - others can pipe-in and question such things and spread the knowlege or spark some more questions. I think what you said makes perfect sense. I'm all for doing it right the first time. If this were a commercial build, I think we probably missed the mark a little by not being as efficient as it could have been, but for our casual use it sounds like it should be fine.

Yes, we're planning on a flat stucco roof with a slight slope for water to run off. We've never worked with stucco before so it should be "fun". I think the trick will be to add acrylic agent to the mix, and we plan on painting ours which should help seal it. Hopefully we'll be doing that in the coming weeks, so I'll let you know what we experience.

Thanks,

Ken Morgan

[kebwi]

Re: The Morgan's WFO build

Oops, I didn't mean to scare you. Bear in mind I'm a novice. My own progress currently stands at a dug-out foundation still waiting to be poured, so I have no direct experience with any of this. Yours was simply the first oven I had seen in which a large walled-off volume is filled with 'crete instead of loose, but just because I haven't seen it elsewhere on forum doesn't mean someone else hasn't done it or that regardless of its rarity (ingenuity?) it may be a perfectly workable design.

I'm sure you know a lot more than I do. You've already built your entire oven.

I'm sure everyone else will pipe in and say your plan was fine; I just hadn't seen anything like it before and was curious about it. That's all.

I am curious about your last statement though. Are you planning on a flat stucco roof? I'm not for or against, just asking because I'm doing stucco too (igloo) and I'm curious about how it behaves in general.

Cheers!

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Re: The Morgan's WFO build

Morgan's
Relaxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.... If it needs a repair you will have to do it from THE inside,, dont worry its cool.. on the bright side, If a nuclear bomb ever goes off you can hide in the oven,,, OVERbuilt is always better than underBUILT...
enjoy
Mark

[vintagemx0]

Re: The Morgan's WFO build

OK, now you got me a little freaked-out! Do you think we just screwed ourselves? I had thought about loose but also though we'd be OK with perlcrete.

I know that loose would have been a better insulator, but we used three inches of the wool insulation and when the oven was screaming hot, the outer layer of insulation was cold to the touch. We are also going to rely somewhat on the perlcrete to support the stucco roof that this thing's going to get.

If this thing ever needs major repairs, it's going to be a pain either way. Yes, the perlcrete will create a challenge, but it could be done. I'm going on the notion that most ovens will never need to have reapairs to the dome.

I'm sure what we're doing isn't thermally optimal, but do you think we'll regret it? And as far as assuming that it is unlikely that the dome will need repairs, do you think this is wishful thinking?

We're very glad to have this forum to report our work on and get guidence. Thanks kebwi!

The Morgan's

[kebwi]

Re: The Morgan's WFO build

Why did you fill the void with perlcrete instead of loose perlite? Loose insulation would be more insulating and would permit you easier access to the dome if you ever needed to do major repairs...and would be unnoticeably cheaper.

Just curious.

[vintagemx0]

Re: The Morgan's WFO build

We didn't get quite as far this weekend as we had hoped, but progress never-the-less.

We finished builing up the walls around the dome with 6x8x16 concrete blocks.



All the void inside this structure will be filled with perlite/cement. Here's what it looks like after two bags...



We need around three more bags of perlite to finish the filling. First, we are going to construct the outer arch and fashion a simple heat sheild around the chimney. The area between the arch and the top of the ficade in the front is going to be Durock firmly supported by angle iron. We'll probably cap the ficade walls with some large pavers that over-hang a little for some kind of detail around the top. The durock will be slightly recessed and in that area we will mount an Italian theme plaque. All of the concrete block will be stuccoed.

So, this thing has turned into quite a bohemith! We new it was going to be large, but check it out from the back side...



The large counter top in the front that we had added to double as a retaining really helps a little on the front side to justify the over-all size. Albeit huge, I think it will grow on us. We're really looking forward to using it.

The Morgan's

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Re: The Morgan's WFO build

Hi Morgan's
I often go to my local pizza parlor and just buy dough from them, Its quick and easy and usually good,, Save's a lot of time... I have a place that will deliver it too..

It gives you a good chance to experiment

Mark

[vintagemx0]

Re: The Morgan's WFO build

Thanks Mark... It feels good to be in "the club", if you will....

Well, I can see we have a lot to learn. Last nights pizzas were very tasty, but I think they were lacking a little. We used Trader Joes dough as we do not have much experience with home made yet. We have used the TJ dough for a while in our electric oven on a stone with predictible and good results. Last night I noticed that even though the bottom of the dough browned (greyed) well, the middle portion of the pizza just seemed limp and wouldn't support itself very well. All the pizzas were that way.

Tonight, we made a single pizza in our electric oven with the same dough and it turned-out superior to last night's in the WFO. The electric oven's controls only go to 550 degrees and it took close to 10 minutes to cook. In the WFO, I can't be absolutely sure of the temperature, but the pizzas took less than 2-1/2 minutes.

This all leads us to beleive that this particular dough works best at the lower temperatures. It makes me wonder if the hydration is engineered for use in lower temperature home ranges. I have seen posts on here where people say that the TJ dough pretty much sucks, and I would have to agree with the results I got from the WFO, but in the electric oven, it's really very good!

So, in conclusion, I believe that we need to experiment and develope our skills at building our own dough and exploring the art of doing so. Does it sound like I'm on the right thought about the TJ dough in theorizing is too hydrated to be optimized in a hot WFO and is marketed with home ranges more in mind. Any toughts would be welcome.

We ordered and recieved some Caputo flour and hope to begin our experimenting soon. I'm sure that there are some people that will discount "store bought" dough immediately, but like I said before - In the kitchen range the results are very good.

The Morgan's

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Re: The Morgan's WFO build

Hey, Congratulations Morgans,
They are some good looking pizza's.... Now welcome to the whole new learing curve to cook cool things in a WFO, If your cooking skills are anything like your building skills you'll be great... Congrats on a beatiful build and your first great pizza's...

Mark

[vintagemx0]

Re: The Morgan's WFO build

Well, we still have a lot of work to do to finish this project - back-fill the ficad with perlite/cement, add the outer door arch, stucco, decorative tiles... But, we've been curing since the Thursday before last and decided to have pizza this evening.

For the first pizza, we had to go classic and do a Margherita...



The second one is our house favorite. Olive oil, tarragon, basil, tomato, salt, pepper, mozzarella, and parmesean.



We also made one with witha a little tarragon, basil, mozzarella, prosciutto, olive, and onion. It was a little dry, but tasted great.




So, the oven is functional with some work left to do. We want to seal this thing up very soon, but feel great about having actually used it now.