How long would it take to build a 36" pompeii oven? What would it cost?

[lostandconfused]

I want to build a pizza oven. I got a copy of the V2 pompeii pizza oven plans and have been going over them. But before I begin...about how long (average?) would it take to build one? I'm sure every build is different but I'm just trying to get a general idea. I also would like to know about how much I can expect to pay if I dont use very expensive materials for design purposes. I just want a functional pizza oven. I live in the midwest USA. I think the frost depth is 36" here. I really appreciate any help you may have!

[Mongo]

I built my oven in 6 months and I believe that would be considered quite fast. Many, especially in cold weather climates go much longer. A cold day where I live is 48F.
I'm not retired, work 5 days a week but also worked on the oven an average of 4 days a week for the entire time. I'm still not technically finished by the way but am very close.
It's a mother of a project.

Cost: I stopped keeping track. I'm not the only one judging by what I read. Very likely could have purchased an oven for what I've spent. But that's not really the point. I'd do it over again for sure.

I think the big 3 costs are oven bricks, Insulation and venting. Consider tools as well. Renting a tile saw is a losing proposition. You will need one. Check out Harbor Freight.

Use the material estimator for the brick count in the plans. It's pretty good. Source and price your bricks. Decide on your insulation under the floor and over the dome, price that, then the venting.
Add those up and that's where you START.

Venting is easy to source and price. Mounting plate, pipe and spark arrestor .
You have to buy brick, there are no alternatives and take care you get proper brick. Lot's of info in the forum.
There is ceramic fiber board - under the floor, and blanket, over the dome.
There are lower cost alternatives to CF using vermicrete or a combination.
Also alternatives to purchasing ready made venting.
For me, purchasing insulation and venting that were 'ready to go' were dollars well spent.

EDIT: There are other build methods like castable refractory. I've given you anecdotal information on what I built and the methods/materials I used.

[lostandconfused]

Mongo, I want to thank you for taking the time to reply to me. I went through all of your posts and pictures. Honestly, it looks like a pizza oven just might not be for me. Well, building one anyway. I think i could handle building it, with difficulty, but I just don't know that I'd use it enough to make the apparent tremendous amount of effort worth it. I cannot believe how complicated it is for a relatively small structure. In fact, I was thinking I would use it more to make bread, and my indoor oven is pretty good for that. Maybe later on in my life I'll give it a go--right now it seems like it takes too much time, effort, and money, and I don't know how long I'll even be in my current location for. Either way, thank you so much and AMAZING job on your oven. Wish I could taste the pizza and bread that comes out of it! For now, the 1/2" baking steel I bought will have to do, haha.

[UtahBeehiver]

There are ways to build an decent WFO on a budget, you just have to flexible, willing to repurpose, scrounge, etc. There are several dense cast ovens going on right now. Check the Other Oven types. I would only advise to NOT, go with the current YouTube rage of building a dome made from perlite or vermiculite/concrete mix, these are insulating materials and fine for covering the dense cast dome but not the dome itself. These ovens are a labor of love and only you can decide if you have enough time.

[Petter]

The stand was more costly than I thought.

On a budget, use used or natural materials. Make your own concrete, dont buy pre-mixed. Use straw and clay slip as dome insulation. Cast your chimeny. Cast a clay-sand dome. Use only fire brick splits as floor but with 3 cm compacted clay-sand mix underneath (but above the floor insulation). You basically only need a stand, dense shell, chimeny and insulation. The look is (only...) for the personal satisfaction.

[Petter]

Dig and wash your own clay.

[Mongo]

Mongo, I want to thank you for taking the time to reply to me. I went through all of your posts and pictures. Honestly, it looks like a pizza oven just might not be for me. Well, building one anyway. I think i could handle building it, with difficulty, but I just don't know that I'd use it enough to make the apparent tremendous amount of effort worth it. I cannot believe how complicated it is for a relatively small structure. In fact, I was thinking I would use it more to make bread, and my indoor oven is pretty good for that. Maybe later on in my life I'll give it a go--right now it seems like it takes too much time, effort, and money, and I don't know how long I'll even be in my current location for. Either way, thank you so much and AMAZING job on your oven. Wish I could taste the pizza and bread that comes out of it! For now, the 1/2" baking steel I bought will have to do, haha.

I did you a disservice with my over enthusiastic response and feel bad that I may have put the fear into you. Go with UtahBeeHiver's advice above and browse the forum. So many builds and different approaches. Each one with a different DNA.

[RandyJ]

I built my oven in 3 months time. I kept a rough count of hours and it was about 300 hrs start to finish. If you do something simple for the enclosure then that can be reduced by 30 to 40%. And for the cost it all depends on how well you can scrounge materials and find deals. The shorter your time line and higher your expectations the higher the cost. I spent clost to 6k on everything on my last oven. I am guessing the next one will be close to that as well. I hope to reduce the time though and just hammer it out and not be as concerned about the details as NO ONE BUT YOU will notice that.

Randy

[Gassman]

On the other end of the spectrum i just finished mine in about 6 months and had around 1,500 into it. Insulation, pipe, and brick were definitely the biggest cost. But mine is just a simple dome with a stainless exhaust. I enjoyed every aspect of the build and have never done anything with masonry before this. Homebrew was easy to work with. Hardest thing of the whole build was finding fireclay. I had more into the gas to get it that what it cost.

[Gassman]

Also, the amount of knowledge already in print on this sight is overwhelming and if you cant find the answer just ask and you will quickly get a reply.