Building support for a natural stone dome

[chrism]

Hi Everyone - I'm new here, just got one of the Premio2G100 40" ovens. We're excited to get started baking and cooking. We're having a mason build a stone veneer around the oven and insulation. I'm curious what folks who have done this have used to support the dome. Normally I'd say you could build it around wood and then remove that once stable, but since it's the top of the oven and there's plenty of insulation between the oven itself and the stone veneer, I'd love to hear some other ideas. Thank you

[dakzaag]

Sounds like you are putting a dome over the dome? A natural stone dome will need a form or support to build on and then typically the support is removed. In your case, I guess you could leave the support in place as the oven is insulated well enough to protect the support structure. I could see some potential complications, but removing the support structure is tricky also. I think the mason will probably have a plan, something like leaving an opening in the back to remove the "centering" then filing in the opening. Peg board is pretty flexible and stong enough with additional support to hold up a fresh stone dome until everything is motared together or laid dry and tight.
I will suggest that you think about your moisture control as a stone dome will have a lot of joints that are prone to leaking, so you need to manage the water and get it away from the oven before it penetrates the insulation and starts to cause a real problem. Think about a shower/tub liner material that is applied before the tile is installed.

[cobblerdave]

G'day
A layer of render over the insulation then use the stone over that. We dealing with the dome one of the strongest structures on the planet.
I brick "veneered" over my oven strong as
Regards dave

[chrism]

Thanks for the insights. Turned out there was about 12" between the top of the insulation and the stone itself because the structure of the dome and as they were curving in, couldn't come in too fast for support. There's 4-5" of insulation around the entire dome, so no worries there. The mason thought stucco would have been too heavy on the top of the insulation because of the space needed to fill. They ended up using an upside tomato cage for that cone shape, laid more insulation around that just to give some structure to built the stone around.That insulation isn't functional at all for retaining heat; simply something to give form to build off. I'll attach a picture when they are all done today. Dakzaag - to your question about sealant. He has said the mortar is waterproof, but of course there is always consideration of a small hole somewhere.

I was considering a product like hydrotop sealer on the entire outside for added protection. I would guess this is perfectly safe - the stone itself won't get hot with so much insulation around it.

Thoughts?

Thanks you!