Questions/Clarification,

[mmissler]

First of all thanks for all the posters on here, I have read hours of posts and am getting ready for my oven to be built (by someone else). I live in Thailand so sourcing of some items are a challenge. I realize I will be asking duplicate questions but it is for peace of mind, my builder only speaks Thai so there is a lot of interpretation going on between him and my wife.

First of all I have found a good souce for ceramic installation.
1. The ceramic board is only 2 cm thick (.78"), is it ok to stack 3 pieces to get my desired thickness? I am not planning on using vermiculite on the floor.

2. Ceramic blanket can be obtained in either 1 cm (.4") or 2 cm (.8"). I plan on 3" so is one thickness better than the other for layering? Vermiculite will be added on the dome.

3. My biggest area of confusion. Once I lay the ceramic insulation, should there be a gap between the insulation and soldier blocks? also a gap between the soldiers and fb's since they are on top of the insulation???
I have also seen some desgns with the bricks on top of the floor insulation? I assume the fire brick floor would also have a gap to the soldier blocks?

I hope I am explaining this correctly....I need to get this across to the builder so if I am confused then there is no hope.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Mike
(I promise to post my build once I get started.)

[Gulf]

Re: Questions/Clarification,

Mike,
Welcome to the forum. I sure hope that somebody else jumps in here who may have read your questions a little more clearly than me

1. The ceramic board is only 2 cm thick (.78"), is it ok to stack 3 pieces to get my desired thickness? I am not planning on using vermiculite on the floor.

2. Ceramic blanket can be obtained in either 1 cm (.4") or 2 cm (.8"). I plan on 3" so is one thickness better than the other for layering? Vermiculite will be added on the dome.

I would go with the 2 cm in both cases, If that was the thickest that I could source.


3. My biggest area of confusion. Once I lay the ceramic insulation, should there be a gap between the insulation and soldier blocks? also a gap between the soldiers and fb's since they are on top of the insulation???
I have also seen some desgns with the bricks on top of the floor insulation? I assume the fire brick floor would also have a gap to the soldier blocks?

The entire oven, both the floor brick and the walls of the dome should be placed on top of the insulation. Think of the insulation as a cocoon, that totally separates/incapsulates the firebrick from anything structural that could possibly "suck" the heat out of your cooking compartment.


I hope I am explaining this correctly....I need to get this across to the builder so if I am confused then there is no hope.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Mike
(I promise to post my build once I get started.)

Mike,

Some sketches of what you are planning to do might help us understand more clearly. It is a lot easier to redisign a sketch than it is to tear down and start over .

[TropicalCoasting]

Re: Questions/Clarification,

I assume 3 is wall sitting on floor v wall and floor being separate.
The reason for a gap and separate floor and wall is for easy replacement of floor at a later date.
Either way as Gulf said insulation between the oven and the base and the world.

[david s]

Re: Questions/Clarification,

.
Either way as Gulf said insulation between the oven and the base and the world.

To insulate oneself from the world, I prefer self medication.

[mmissler]

Re: Questions/Clarification,

Thanks for the replies. We just met with the builder, what a fiasco that was. I think I got in 2 words for every 500 by the builder and my wife. I do think we made progress. One thing that did get clarified during the meeting was that my wife had the thickness of the ceramic insulation and board wrong...it is inches so that problem is solved.

The only problem I have with his method is he doesn't want to put anything between the ceramic floor and the fire bricks. He thinks they will be level and since he doesn't know where to get fire clay ( and either do I) we decided to discuss later. I think I saw somewhere on the forum where someone just crushed fire bricks to smithereens and mixed with sand. That brings me to the sand, he thinks it will explode. Any comments???

I did finally get him to buy into the 63% design theory, that took a while in itself.

[NCMan]

Re: Questions/Clarification,

Mike,
Good luck w/your build. You certainly have a wealth of knowledge and experience here to tap into. I am about to get started on my first WFO, too. Send us pictures when you have some. NCMan

[mmissler]

Re: Questions/Clarification,

NC,

Will post pics, I am in the final stages of a house build so this is wearing on me. I have read so many posts that I am dizzy.

Mike

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: Questions/Clarification,

mm,

I attached a pic of insulating away from the concrete base. Also, I left about 1/4 gap between floor and wall for an expansion joint. If you go this way make sure you cover the gap while the build is going on to keep any surplus mortar from falling in. Ash will fill in the gap later on. But if you are enclosing the oven then you could lay the dome walls right on the floor rather than around the floor saving a lot of tedious circular brick cuts.

Gulf - I saw Zapps at the store today so picked up a bag, I am now a Nawlins foodie.

[NCMan]

Re: Questions/Clarification,

NC,

Will post pics, I am in the final stages of a house build so this is wearing on me. I have read so many posts that I am dizzy.

Mike

Mike,
I have built houses for years, including three of my own over the years, so I can definitely relate. Good luck w/it all.

[TropicalCoasting]

Re: Questions/Clarification,

To insulate oneself from the world, I prefer self medication.

The bottles make good insulation if used correctly

[mmissler]

Re: Questions/Clarification,

UtahBeehive and others,

Thanks for the posts, Utah that's the pic I need to show my builder.

BtW, I now have several glass bottles for insulation, I needed everyone of them last night!

The oven build doesn't begin until mid-March so I am sure you will see many more dumb questions from me since I tend to over plan things.

[Laurentius]

Re: Questions/Clarification,

Hi MM,

What are you insulating with glass bottles?

[Gulf]

Re: Questions/Clarification,

Hi MM,

What are you insulating with glass bottles?

I think, that it was just a joke.........without an emoticon

[mmissler]

Re: Questions/Clarification,

Sorry, the glass bottles had beer in them, I was using the beer for insulation....not the bottles. My head feels a little "insulated" today.

[mmissler]

Re: Questions/Clarification,

But on a brighter side as translated details work there way out of my wife's head it has now been determined that fire clay is available. Luckily for most of you the oven build is all you have to deal with, try translating all of this through someone that isn't really sure of what I am trying to do.

Ok, now that I can get fire clay, I just mix with sand and a little water and use for leveling ( if required) between the ceramic board and the fire brick floor???