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Hello, my name is Eric, and I am about half-way into the construction of an indoor 36" Pompeii. What an ordeal in Minnesota! The outside foundation next to my home's kitchen had to be dug 48" down, and then we poured a 12-foot tall reinforced concrete box to get the hearth platform to the right level in the kitchen. The one night I made the leap and took a sledge hammer and busted the kitchen wall out. Last week I poured the structural part of the hearth and now it's time to set in the insulating hearth. I bought four 2" ceramic insulating boards and plan to set these in a bed of perlite-portland. In three or four days when the stuff cures, I get to do the fun I have been waiting for--laying the brick. As this labor of love progresses, I have now one question which I think will require the experience of the group, and it centers around the insulating boards:
The FB insulating boards I received seem to have good compressive strengh, more than enough I think to support the firebrick oven floor. I am worried about the walls of the dome, which will transfer close to 1000 pounds, if not more to the boards beneath them. From the perspective of an amateur engineer, this weight will be distributed over appx. 100 square inches, and again I think there is no need to worry about the compressive strength of the FB boards. But what about after a heat? The ceramic material is expected to shrink, and has anyone noticed deformation of the dome relative to the floor after a few firings? Probably not. But I'd thought I'd ask before setting in this relatively expensive part of the build.
Many thanks!
Eric
The FB insulating boards I received seem to have good compressive strengh, more than enough I think to support the firebrick oven floor. I am worried about the walls of the dome, which will transfer close to 1000 pounds, if not more to the boards beneath them. From the perspective of an amateur engineer, this weight will be distributed over appx. 100 square inches, and again I think there is no need to worry about the compressive strength of the FB boards. But what about after a heat? The ceramic material is expected to shrink, and has anyone noticed deformation of the dome relative to the floor after a few firings? Probably not. But I'd thought I'd ask before setting in this relatively expensive part of the build.
Many thanks!
Eric
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