Newbie from Eastern Washington State

[BriggsARNP]

I am interested in doing a 42" pompei oven. I want to watch a few more builds before I get started. I can already see that there is a ton of information availalbe here. I am looking forward to being a fly on the wall.
Thanks
Bevan

[Boiler Bob]

Re: Newbie from Eastern Washington State

welcome from Boardman Or. I am currently building a 42 in pompeii. Between work, wind and rain I will get it done one of these days. I sourced most of my materials in Pasco.

[BriggsARNP]

Re: Newbie from Eastern Washington State

I live in Pasco. I will send you a personal message

[terrihoward]

Re: Newbie from Eastern Washington State

I'm in Leavenworth, if you ever get to that neck of the woods you can have a look at mine. I got my bricks and mortar from Wester Materials, they have an office in your area.

[BriggsARNP]

Re: Newbie from Eastern Washington State

I have been looking at Western Materials here in Pasco. They have firebrick for $1.30 I think. They didn't have any refractory mortar but they do have fireclay so I think I will end up doing the home mixed version. They don't seem to have any ceramic fiber board or blanket but there are places in Spokane and Seattle that carry those things and so it isn't too far out of the way. Other than that between Home Depot and Lowes I think that I can probably find everything I will need. Er, maybe not the money or the time but I will have to find those elsewhere

[Boiler Bob]

Re: Newbie from Eastern Washington State

I bought firebrick from Western Materials in Pasco. The firebrick was 1.71 per. I also bought fireclay that I mixed with their amerimax? mortar. I bought the perlite for the hearth from them also, but it is the brick fill stuff. If you want perlite from the gardenstores it is about five times the pricel You can get kaowool blanket at E.J Bartells. I think they are in Spokane. Jim Ward at Western is a good contact, he is interested in wood fired ovens.

[BriggsARNP]

Re: Newbie from Eastern Washington State

Thanks for the info. I made a typo on the firebrick price. It didn't drop. I priced it at Whites Block in Spokane for $1.85. Did you get fiber board for the hearth isulation or use the perlite concrete?

[combustix]

Re: Newbie from Eastern Washington State

Looking to build in Skagit county any one now of a good source for materials. May start on base this fall, but still need to look at more threads. Most likely going with the pompeii, any help would be appreciated.

[Lill Dave]

Re: Newbie from Eastern Washington State

I'm just finishing my 36 in pompeii. I'm going to put all the pictures of my build on this forum when i figure out how.
One word of advice , the plans for the pompeii are very good but if you go the vermiculite or perlite way of insulation like I did the mixture is 5 to 1.
They say to mix it together dry then add water and have a consistency of oat meal ,they don't say wet and goopy oat meal or dry like it comes out of the box.
Make it wet and goopy , for the dome it's real easy to get your 3 to 4 in depth.
Also pick up a gallon of cement binder and a spray bottle .You'l figure out the rato of water to binder , it comes in real handy putting your dome bricks together .
Any queations you have feel free to ask , and if your on the other side othe mountains over by Grapeview wa stop by and take a look at my oven.
Oh get ready for at least 100 hours , its worth it.

[azpizzanut]

Re: Newbie from Eastern Washington State

Hi All,

OOOOOH ! A new build.

I used block fill Perlite and didn't know there was supposed to be a problem. It mixed with Portland cement just fine. The package gave information about masonry block filling so I am sure that was its intended purpose. If the package also says something about a coating to improve flow characteristics then you may want to try a batch to see if it mixes ok.

Look at landscaper websites to source Perlite. It is used at golf courses and other large users including plant nurseries. I covered the dome of my 36" Pompeii with vermiculite from a landscaper supply. It is twice the price of Perlite but I wanted to try it. I saved on cost by enclosing the dome with aluminum window screen with a 4"-6" spacing. No point in filling the far off voids in the corners, etc. when it doesn't do any good there. See my build #2. View it as a slide show.

Cheers,

[combustix]

Re: Newbie from Eastern Washington State

Lill Dave thanks for the tip, may have to come out and see as this will be a major project that I have not tried before. First stab at masonry did not come out so well, but at least I have some experience now. On the vermiculite or perlite, I take it you smear this over the dome? Is this before the FB planket or after. Thanks for being a resource and will be in touch once I get the project under way.

[azpizzanut]

Re: Newbie from Eastern Washington State

Hi combustix,

Properly mixed vermicrete or perlcrete is wet but unlike concrete or mortar. It is more like milk over dry cereal. It even sounds crunchy when you mix and apply it.

Here are some tips that I picked up from the forum. 1. You don't "pour" perlcrete or vermicrete and you don't smear it because it will compress. The texture is not really pourable. You shovel it onto the base or pack it by the handful against the finished dome. 2. you can get too much water in the mix and notice it washing away the Portland cement from the perlite or vermiculite. If there is a pool of water in the bottom of your mixing tub then you added too much. You can also vary the ratio of insulation to Portland cement, 5:1 for the base and up to 10:1 for covering the dome. It will be crumbly but eventually set-up strong. It has acceptable compressive strength but is not like cured concrete at all.

There are a couple of options for applying perlcrete/vermicrete insulation on a finished dome. You can place 3"-4" over the dome bricks like an igloo and then apply blanket or other roll insulation or, you can apply the blanket first then a layer of chicken wire over the blanket to hold 3"-4" perlcrete. Folks who opt to do the blanket/perlcrete method also cover the dome with stucco as a way to complete the building project. On my build #1, I put perlcrete over the dome then a layer of commercial rockwool insulation then built an enclosure around the base and filled it with loose perlite.

Another option would be to wrap the dome in FB blanket then build an enclosure around the dome and fill it with loose perlite or vermiculite. You don't really need cement based insulation on the dome at all and some might argue that all you need is 3" of blanket then a weather cover like stucco or a frame enclosure. More insulation doesn't hurt a thing though.

Cheers,

[Lill Dave]

Re: Newbie from Eastern Washington State

Hi All,

OOOOOH ! A new build.

I used block fill Perlite and didn't know there was supposed to be a problem. It mixed with Portland cement just fine. The package gave information about masonry block filling so I am sure that was its intended purpose. If the package also says something about a coating to improve flow characteristics then you may want to try a batch to see if it mixes ok.

Look at landscaper websites to source Perlite. It is used at golf courses and other large users including plant nurseries. I covered the dome of my 36" Pompeii with vermiculite from a landscaper supply. It is twice the price of Perlite but I wanted to try it. I saved on cost by enclosing the dome with aluminum window screen with a 4"-6" spacing. No point in filling the far off voids in the corners, etc. when it doesn't do any good there. See my build #2. View it as a slide show.

Cheers,

I mentioned the oatmeal question to my wife and she said that always means wet, now I know.
Thanks for the info, my second oven too is having it's second fire today for it's breaking in period.My first oven was a barell type and not insluated enough , didn't make that mustake on number 2.

[Lill Dave]

Re: Newbie from Eastern Washington State

Lill Dave thanks for the tip, may have to come out and see as this will be a major project that I have not tried before. First stab at masonry did not come out so well, but at least I have some experience now. On the vermiculite or perlite, I take it you smear this over the dome? Is this before the FB planket or after. Thanks for being a resource and will be in touch once I get the project under way.

Actualy with 3to4 inches of one of these products you don't really need the blanket, but everyone says you can't realy use to much insulation.My floor has 5and one half inches of perlite.

[combustix]

Re: Newbie from Eastern Washington State

Thanks for the info, I think when I get home from work next week I am going to start sourcing my materials, I do have a brick place in burlington I need to check out. Nicce to know there are resources to fall back on if my dome comes out square
Dave