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Howdy Everyone,
I?ve been keen to build a WFO for a couple of years now and my wonderful wife has allowed the space of one of the veggie gardens to be used for the oven! I?ve been in Adelaide 5 years and previously lived in the Redondo Beach, CA area for 22 years so my writing is mix of US and Aus speak. Thus far, the slab, walls and hearth have been completed. The following design aspects might be of interest:
As steel lintel iron goes for $28+ apiece in Adelaide and 4 were needed, (being a cheapskate) I chose to frame and pour concrete lintels instead of going with the typical steel lintels and cement blocks (known as Besser blocks in Aus). Each of the 2 lintels has 2 pieces of rebar about 4/5 of the way down in the form.
A single pillar rather than a wall is under the hearth as this gives as few more options with storing wood and long items underneath. The first 1 ? pillar blocks were filled with cement and rebar was added before the hearth pour. The remaining 2 ? blocks were poured with the hearth. I did the same mix of filling with the foundation walls ? hopefully this provides a well tied-together structure. All cells were filled and every other has vertical rebar.
Some 3? high letters were added to the inside of the front from to produce some indented lettering ? If someone steals the WFO, I should be able to easily identify it! Some Mothers car wax was used to coat everything inside the forms before the pour. In retrospect, I should have even waxed the outside of the form boards and bits of concrete dribbled everywhere when we screedded the top. I also chucked-in a couple 45deg wedges in the corners of the front from to round the corners a bit.
Two 5mm thick, 50mm x 50mm by 750mm long galvanized posts were dropped into the pour to serve as anchor points for a yet to be designed roof/awning. ?Actually and 8lb sledge hammer was needed to get them into the wet cement. I got one down a bit further than the other and the longer one will eventually be cut to make them even.
The family was off on holidays soon after the pour so a timer and dripper hose were set up to soak some old blankets laid on top of the heath. The timer gave 10 min of water every 6 hrs. A plastic tarp went over the whole works to keep the wind from evaporating the water. The soaking went for 10 days.
I?m now waiting for an order of CaSI insulating board. We?re expecting some 40+C temps the next couple of weeks so there may not be much progress on the build for awhile.
The following pictures are attached:
I?ve been keen to build a WFO for a couple of years now and my wonderful wife has allowed the space of one of the veggie gardens to be used for the oven! I?ve been in Adelaide 5 years and previously lived in the Redondo Beach, CA area for 22 years so my writing is mix of US and Aus speak. Thus far, the slab, walls and hearth have been completed. The following design aspects might be of interest:
As steel lintel iron goes for $28+ apiece in Adelaide and 4 were needed, (being a cheapskate) I chose to frame and pour concrete lintels instead of going with the typical steel lintels and cement blocks (known as Besser blocks in Aus). Each of the 2 lintels has 2 pieces of rebar about 4/5 of the way down in the form.
A single pillar rather than a wall is under the hearth as this gives as few more options with storing wood and long items underneath. The first 1 ? pillar blocks were filled with cement and rebar was added before the hearth pour. The remaining 2 ? blocks were poured with the hearth. I did the same mix of filling with the foundation walls ? hopefully this provides a well tied-together structure. All cells were filled and every other has vertical rebar.
Some 3? high letters were added to the inside of the front from to produce some indented lettering ? If someone steals the WFO, I should be able to easily identify it! Some Mothers car wax was used to coat everything inside the forms before the pour. In retrospect, I should have even waxed the outside of the form boards and bits of concrete dribbled everywhere when we screedded the top. I also chucked-in a couple 45deg wedges in the corners of the front from to round the corners a bit.
Two 5mm thick, 50mm x 50mm by 750mm long galvanized posts were dropped into the pour to serve as anchor points for a yet to be designed roof/awning. ?Actually and 8lb sledge hammer was needed to get them into the wet cement. I got one down a bit further than the other and the longer one will eventually be cut to make them even.
The family was off on holidays soon after the pour so a timer and dripper hose were set up to soak some old blankets laid on top of the heath. The timer gave 10 min of water every 6 hrs. A plastic tarp went over the whole works to keep the wind from evaporating the water. The soaking went for 10 days.
I?m now waiting for an order of CaSI insulating board. We?re expecting some 40+C temps the next couple of weeks so there may not be much progress on the build for awhile.
The following pictures are attached:
- 01 Form for Lintel
- 02 Rebar in Lintel
- 03 Center Post and Temp Pillars
- 05 Lettering Inside Form
- 06 Forms Ready
- 08 Hearth Lettering
Regards