Greetings from SW PA

[Jethro]

Hi All. Planning my first WFO oven build outside of Pittsburgh, PA (go Steelers!) and this site is a treasure-trove of information!
Thanks to all of you who contribute your time and energy to sustaining this valuable resource.
Cheers,
JR

[Giovanni Rossi]

Greetings Jethro,

Welcome to the Forum. My build would not have been as successful as it was without this resource. I took some inspiration from BeanAnimal's build during my planning. I had a difficult site and reviewing his progress as he dealt with Pittsburgh's challenging topography was helpful. I had reached out to him early on with questions but he must no longer be following this site. I am about 2.5 hrs east of Pgh if you are interested in a site visit.

I'm born and raised in Westmoreland Co. so, yes, Go Stillers!

[Jethro]

Hi Giovanni,
I may take you up on the site visit! Did you happen to use Owens Corning Foamglas as insulation for your WFO floor? If so, where the heck did you find it?
I'm keen to use it as it is waterproof and my oven will not be under roof-cover.
JR

[Jethro]

> PGH topography
Yes - my oven stand will be built into the side of a hill... Think bank-barn...
JR

[Giovanni Rossi]

Yes, I used OC FOAMGLAS. It was a tough find. I got 18" x 24" x 2" thick. Finally located some at Distribution International's Bridgveville, PA location. It was a less than satisfactory experience. I should have made the road trip to pick it up but I was at a critical point in my build and just didn't want to waste a whole day. Since I was paying a crazy amount for freight shipping anyway I had them add 100 ft² of ceramic fiber blanket. That actually delayed the shipment because they had to source that from their Ohio warehouse.

They had only one full pallet of FOAMGLAS (12 blocks). My original plan was to use a 4" layer. I wasn't sure if I could squeeze 2 layers out of the 12 blocks but it became a moot point because the pallet arrived soaking wet and with signs of damage. Refusing delivery was going to wreak havoc on my schedule. The pallet must have been kicked around at their warehouse for a long time and spent sometime outdoors (they were probably glad to be able to dump it off on me). By the time I got the blocks separated and the surfaces dried and sorted out the damaged pieces, I had just enough full blocks and larger pieces to make one 2" layer. I was able to use some of the smaller pieces in my landing and door insert.

FOAMGLAS has interesting properties. It has enough compressive strength to support the weight of an oven but it is easily damaged. You can shape it with any woodworking tool and even use a rasp to form complex profiles.

I still like it because it is truly hydrophobic, but it may not be an option for you. David s recently did a test of standard CaSil and it showed an impressive amount of water absorption. Russell commented on your other thread about the newer water resistant ThermoGold 1200 CaSil board and that may be your most reasonable option at this point.

Topography: If you haven't already, take a look at my build thread. Two sides of my suspended slab are at ground level. While being able to stand on the higher level certainly helped parts of the build, I have to say that the annoyance of constantly adjusting to the different "altitudes" made it an overall negative experience.

Also, while I didn't originally plan for a roof over the oven, it took only a couple pizza bakes in the rain toward the end of my build to change my mind and go forward with a pavilion.

[Jethro]

Giovanni, Sorry to bother, but a have a quick question.
Does Distribution International in Bridgeville sell retail / to the public? I looked at their site and it kept directing me to fill out a credit application. Thanks

[UtahBeehiver]

Call them, last time I bought from them I just told them it was a cash sale.

[Giovanni Rossi]

Sorry, I was off eclipse watching! Yes, as Russell stated, just call their sales guys and they'll be glad to take your credit card.