First Post Approval

[JDub36"]

Finally getting ready to begin building my 36" WFO. All I have to go by is the Ver 2.0 Pompeii Oven Inst and this forum. The 2.0 Inst are very basic and consequently a lot of gaps to fill for a first timer. Looking at some of the drawings, I can't seem to reconcile how to start oven floor on top of FB insulation without some form of mortaring of brick to concrete hearth. None of the pictures that I can see show a first course on top of FB and how it adheres to the hearth. Does the FB with brick on top just 'float' on the hearth without any mortar? There is some discussion about an 'underfloor paste' but that is just for leveling, not bonding. I guess I'm missing something?

[JRPizza]

Hey @JDub36", welcome to the forum! I moved your post to the introduction section. The Pompeii plans are a good introduction but leave out lots of details. The forum will be your friend! I always recommend finding a few builds that represent the size and type (igloo vs dog house) that you want to build and learn from those. I bookmarked the builds of Gulf and UtahBeehiver beehiver as those guys are craftsmen. I build a 39" corner but tried to document it fairly well so you might find some information there. We also have a newbie section that has links to several quality builds.
In general, the insulation board just sits on the hearth, unattached, as do the floor bricks on top on the insulation. I didn't even need to level before placing the floor. Kind of depends on how flat your slab and insulation is, and how uniform of thickness your floor bricks are. If you buy most of your bricks up front, it's a good idea to select enough matching ones to do the floor.

[JDub36"]

Thank you very much JRPizza, I have a feeling this is going to be a lot of fits and starts and me asking dumb questions. I started this project a few years ago, building a brick patio as part of an outdoor kitchen, with the WFO in a corner and then the stand and just before last winter, poured the hearth. Stand and hearth are based on specs in the Plans for a 36" corner build. As I've begun to actually build the WFO-bought the 2" FB from Forno (expensive, ouch!) and some fire bricks, I've only now started diving into this Forum. I built my stand and hearth as per the Plans, but come to read in the Forum yesterday that the specs for this particular build in the plans are a bit off. Bummer. I should have joined the Forum before I built the stand, obviously. Would I be wrong to the think that the easiest fix would be to just build a smaller diameter oven, say, a 35 or 34"? Do I even need to worry.

I haven't quite decided whether I'm going to build an igloo, or a doghouse. Seems the doghouse would be a good way to cover a multitude of errors. I'm happy to just build something that doesn't fall apart and can get hot enough to cook pizza and bread, and not so much building a Swiss watch, as some of the Forum pros seem capable of! But unless I adjust the oven to be small enough fit the already built stand-if indeed the Plan dimensions are off-I may have no choice but to build the igloo..? Some of these nice builds and pictures in the galleries are intimidating but inspire me to up my game, such as it is.

If anyone could advise on this potential problem with the 36" corner build: stand dimensions vs 36" oven as per the Plan specs, I would be grateful. Thanks!

[JDub36"]

[JDub36"]

As I look at more pictures of oven builds on the Forum, which of course prompts as many or more questions than answers, perhaps the potential solution is in the landing? The landing is optional, no? Desirable, perhaps, but not necessarily needed?

[UtahBeehiver]

When you decide on the type of oven, start a thread in the appropriate oven type and I will move these post out of the introduction into your build thread rather than the "introduction" section.

[rsandler]

Hey JDub--not quite sure what the dimension issue is, so hard to provide advice here (i.e. what dimensions do you have now?). You do need a flue gallery, but you'll definitely find ovens with no landing beyond that. Less landing means you can work closer to the oven mouth, so less awkward reaching inside; not all bad. You certainly can adjust the dimensions; 36" and 42" are popular just because they make for a round number of feet in imperial measurements.

[JDub36"]

Has anyone else had difficulties logging into the Forum using iPad? IPad does not recognize my username/password though I can log on at work with PC no problemo....Very frustrating as I don't (not supposed to!!) take home my work PC every night. As I've plunked down dinero for FB and 100 bricks, and diving into 1st build (36" corner buiild with small? hearth as per Forno Plan specs) I am finding I need to read more and more details as offered on the Forum.. Thanks!