Firebricks in Britain

[aeu99217]

Hi,

As many others have commented on this forum, finding materials in Britain at a reasonable price can be quite difficult. I've found this site

Fire Bricks | Firebricks | Fire Bricks to Build Pizza Oven

They sell fire bricks at 50p each, but they are smaller bricks than the ones recommended on the Pompei plans. The dimensions are 50 x 115 x 65 (mm), and the ones on the plans are 228 x 114 x 63 (mm).

Could any experienced builders offer an opinion on how many of these would be needed?

I have also managed to source some old pressed reds from a internal tenement wall (built around 1900), would these be ok to use?

Lastly, as the floor of the oven, would it be ok to use floor tiles?

I know it is best to use firebricks for all of the above, but they are really expensive and I'm building on a budget

Thanks for any help and replies in advance.

Cheers Ross

[dmun]

Re: Firebricks in Britain

They sell fire bricks at 50p each, but they are smaller bricks than the ones recommended on the Pompei plans. The dimensions are 50 x 115 x 65 (mm), and the ones on the plans are 228 x 114 x 63 (mm).

Could any experienced builders offer an opinion on how many of these would be needed?

Thats 2 x 4.5 x 2.5 in inches. Since they are less than a third of a brick, you would have to multiply the recommended number of bricks by at least three. At least you wouldn't have to cut them in half.

I have also managed to source some old pressed reds from a internal tenement wall (built around 1900), would these be ok to use?

Some of our Australian builders have used pressed reds. The test is whether the brick is hard enough to break cleanly when hit with a hammer, instead of crumbling. Avoid any brick with holes.

Lastly, as the floor of the oven, would it be ok to use floor tiles?

No. They are too thin and not up to the thermal and mechanical shock the floor is subject to. If you can't spring for firebrick for the floor, used your pressed reds here as well.

[aeu99217]

Re: Firebricks in Britain

Excellent, thanks for the reply

[black olive]

Re: Firebricks in Britain

Ive asked a similar question.
kilnlinings.co.uk do the full range of bricks and ceramic board and blanket.

Ive been speaking to a brick supplier today, and he has suggested using staffordshire blue engineering bricks, which are a clay brick fired at extremely high temperature. Used for below ground work, drainage, and railway bridges etc due to their high compressive strength and low porosity Wickes do them for 85 pence each.

spec here

Ibstock Brick - Staffordshire Blue Brindle Dragface

what do the experts think ??

[black olive]

Re: Firebricks in Britain

further thoughts, having had a further look at kinlinings website, a proper firebrick isnt much more expensive than a staffordshire blue, and will more than offset the diffenece in ease of cutting, I reckon the blue bricks will be like iron.

[tallkenny]

Re: Firebricks in Britain

I got a price of ?1.10 from Central Refactories in Stirling.
They'll get you mortar and blankets etc also

regards,
Kenny

[aeu99217]

Re: Firebricks in Britain

Hi folks,

Thanks for the comments. I'm picking up more pressed reds from gumtree from the westend tonight for free. Not tested the ones i've already got though, going to do that tonight. Cant really afford to spend ?200 plus on bricks. The Leader of the Opposition is already a little miffed cause we've got a little one on the way for July. So need to get building soon

[black olive]

Re: Firebricks in Britain

Im still wavering between reds and firebrick.

may just use new forebrick for the floor then there are no gaps.

Went taking the daughter to look at a pony for loan last night and in the stable yard was a large stack of old reds. will do some more sniffing next time I take her.

[aeu99217]

Re: Firebricks in Britain

Hi Steve,

I suppose it depends where you live and what type of houses are built in the local area, but I've managed to get all my bricks free off gumtree. About once a month somebody posts that they've taken down an inside wall in an old tenement and are looking to get rid of the bricks.

Good luck with the hunt

[turkey]

Re: Firebricks in Britain

Good to see some fellow UKers

I have some yellow stocks and also some modern yellow stock replacements which are sandy yellow with black specks. I will have to smash test one of the modern ones to see if they are any good, otherwise its looking for some of these pressed reds.

What sort of ovens are you guys thinking of making? I have some what limited space so am leaning to towards a long thin oven, possibly like an adobe oven. Seems quite hard to find desins other than pompeii atm. Plenty of reading still to do

[aeu99217]

Re: Firebricks in Britain

Hi Turkey,

Im planning on just building the pompei. Still got a lot of work to do to get the back garden ready in terms of retaining walls and leveling the ground. Hoping to start in June. By an adobe oven, do you mean like a barrel?

Cheers Ross

[turkey]

Re: Firebricks in Britain

i did mean like a barel but that seems to be less in favour in here, so now considering a pompei, but I am trying to work out how much it will cost and what can be done on the cheap,

I think I like the idea of using old red clay bricks instead of firebricks, but it just seems that each part is a sourcing nightmare, i cant just pop out and get some rebar, which is how alot of these builds seem to make it appear.

Hopefully I can get an idea sorted and try to cost it out toget final approval from the forman (other half)

[aeu99217]

Re: Firebricks in Britain

i hear ya! The leader of the opposition has sanctioned very limited spending (why are you building an oven outside when we've got one inside). I've managed to source my old pressed red bricks from the freebies section on gumtree. My neighbour reckons he can lay his hand on some rebar for me. But at the moment im no where near laying the foundations. The section of my garden where i am going to build it is on a slope, so im levelling that off. But im so busy at work at the moment that im only really managing to work on it on Sundays, so progress is slow Good luck sourcing

[turkey]

Re: Firebricks in Britain

I am looking for some pressed reds, but tbh I dont seem to see so much and what I do see is quite expensive here round london as they are "victorian" and "reclaimed" and I think any building work is often forced to use these by the local council so very much a sellable product :/

I suppose most will be half bricks in the dome so I could use ones that are advertised for hardcore, I will step up my searches for rebar tho, I found some on ebay but didnt really want to spend alot on it, especially in postage which is where many internet finds fail with this kind of project.

I am also looking for some insulation blanket, or more info on it (so searching here alot) as it seems key to cutting the size down which I really need to do, as my garden is pretty small.

good luck with the levelling, that sounds back breaking.

[aeu99217]

Re: Firebricks in Britain

When i was searching on the internet for bricks i was puzzled that the reclaimed ones seemed quite expensive down south. Now i know why

I'll be using the fire blankets more than the vermiculite cause im short for space too. This place seems to sell it at a fairly reasonable price Ceramic Fibre Blanket 25mm