Curing, Cracks & Other Kentucky Conundrums

[Frances]

Re: Curing, Cracks & Other Kentucky Conundrums

We've talked before about AAC, but I don't think anyone has built an oven of the stuff yet, at least that that they've told us about

I thought Carl was using a similar product under his oven.
http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f6/t...tion-2527.html And it says in this thread how AAC becomes brittle with the heat/cool cycles.

[Frances]

Re: Curing, Cracks & Other Kentucky Conundrums

Oh, and I'm glad it seems to be working out Ken! I've still got my fingers crossed, and it's good to know your beautifully built oven wasn't to blame....

[gjbingham]

Re: Curing, Cracks & Other Kentucky Conundrums

Wow,
turn off the computer for a day and everything's changed! Sorry to hear about your insulation board, Ken.

My first thought when I looked at the photo you posted was that the entire board across the front, at least that portion you can see, seems to be compressed to the same height. It seems like you should be seeing different amounts of compression based on the weight of the bricks sitting on that portion of the board.

Have you thrown a long level across the floor of the oven in an attempt to determine if the whole oven has settled downward in unison (sp?)? Hopefully, that is the case.

I agree that burning the moisture out of the floor may be the best fix. I'd throw some kind of vented door on it to maximize the heat you get out in the entryway. Perhaps raking the hot coals out to the front every few minutes would increase your entryway floor heat as well.

Hang in there Ken. It may take some time, but I think the board will eventually stabilize and your repairs will be permanent. I've got my fingers crossed for you.

George

[Ken524]

Re: Curing, Cracks & Other Kentucky Conundrums

Have you thrown a long level across the floor of the oven in an attempt to determine if the whole oven has settled downward in unison (sp?)? Hopefully, that is the case.

The level idea won't work. My floor bricks are all "floating" on the insulation. They aren't mortared to the structure so the oven is settling around the floor. Which is good because the floor is still dead level with no buckling. I think I discovered a good argument against mortaring the floor bricks.

The dome is in good shape; still no cracks, so I think it has settled fairly evenly. I'm guessing the whole structure tilted slightly forward and to the left as you look from the front. Nothing has moved more than a 1/4". Just enough to overstress the arch assembly.

Perhaps raking the hot coals out to the front every few minutes would increase your entryway floor heat as well.

We are thinking alike. That's exactly what I did yesterday morning. In fact I moved part of the fire onto the vent landing and on the concrete hearth.

Hang in there Ken. It may take some time, but I think the board will eventually stabilize and your repairs will be permanent. I've got my fingers crossed for you.

Thanks George! I think the worst is behind. I'm looking forward to getting back to the enclosure.

[Acoma]

Re: Curing, Cracks & Other Kentucky Conundrums

Ken, I am happy that you are working through this issue. No sweat though about mind reading. If nobody was aware of compression giving way when moist, your input is valuable. My wife was suggesting a dry out dome, which pulls moisture out of varying elements. Think of water damage to homes, and those little machines that suck up water from the walls, may work too? Well, Anger gets no positives to this, but the constructive efforts will pay off.

[Ken524]

Re: Curing, Cracks & Other Kentucky Conundrums

My wife was suggesting a dry out dome, which pulls moisture out of varying elements. Think of water damage to homes, and those little machines that suck up water from the walls, may work too?

Good ideas. Tell your wife, thanks for brainstorming! I think the easiest, most cost effective method right now is keeping it covered in the rain; uncovered and on fire on the sunny days.

I'll be done playing Santa Claus in a few more days so I'll be able to get back to setting fires

[gjbingham]

Re: Curing, Cracks & Other Kentucky Conundrums

Hey Santa,
Post some Xmas pics of the family. Merry Christmas and a happy new oven!

[Ken524]

Re: Curing, Cracks & Other Kentucky Conundrums

Had a nice fire yesterday. Dome went 100% white. As Dave said... Don't forget to cook something. So we did.

Cooking Experiment #1

The cupboards were pretty bare so I threw together a yeast dough with 2 cups of Gold Medal flour and bread machine yeast (that had been in the fridge for a couple of years), and let it rise for a couple of hours.

My 16 year old son and I stretched out the dough, drizzled on olive oil, some really old dried basil, dried oregano, a dash of salt and threw it in the oven. Basically, we took what is likely the worst ingredients available for pizza and shoved them in the oven.

...And WOW. We were blown away by what came out.

The second one (pictured) was similar with the addition of a slice of provolone and a few sprinkles of Kraft Mexican Blend cheese that was leftover from heaven knows when (we went all out!).

Again, it was outstanding. The oven works! Can't wait to try some serious cooking with good ingredients.

Pictured are 3 of our 4 kids. The oldest is taking the pictures.

[asudavew]

Re: Curing, Cracks & Other Kentucky Conundrums

Great Job!

I bet the children were very excited!

[gjbingham]

Re: Curing, Cracks & Other Kentucky Conundrums

Great pics Ken. Glad the little problems have worked themselves out, or at least are not affecting the performance of the oven.

Happy holidays!

George

[Ken524]

Re: Curing, Cracks & Other Kentucky Conundrums

Our first Saturday "Pizza Night" was a huge success!

I was getting a bit bummed about my soggy, sinking foundation (post holiday blues) so I figured I had better fire the oven a bit to try to get things dried out. Fortunately, no additional cracks appearing.

I used Dave's hight protein flour dough recipe (Martha White Bread Flour) and made two batches (one for Pita's, one for Pizza).

After 3 hours of aggressively firing the oven, we gave the pita's a try. Amazingly good results. All six of us were huddled around the oven watching the pita's puff up and brown. Coolest thing to watch! We ate them as they came out of the oven (we forgot the grab some hummus when we were shopping earlier that would have been perfect)

Then came the pizza... we bought some thinly sliced Boar's Head pepperoni at the deli, and used Ragu PizzaQuick sauce and Kraft Mozzerella (in the handy zip-lock bag ). The pizza's turned out absolutely fabulous. Even with the substandard ingredients, the results were far better than delivered pizza and on par with some of the pizzeria pie's I've had.

Things are definitely looking up!

[Acoma]

Re: Curing, Cracks & Other Kentucky Conundrums

Now this is what I have been patiently waiting to here. When following your progress all these months, it feels like closure has happily occured. Ken, now when you get the chance, it is frame and enjoy, right?

[Ken524]

Re: Curing, Cracks & Other Kentucky Conundrums

now when you get the chance, it is frame and enjoy, right?

I'm still a bit worried about settling and cracking in the arch area. The insulation board is really wet and mushy around the edges. While we were out of town for the hoidays, a storm blew my tarps off and things got soaked again.

I'm going to try to keep a fire going on sunny days and keep it covered on rainy days until the board completely dried out. While that's happening, I will cover the dome with 4" or so of vermiculite concrete.

After the board is dry, firm and stable, I'll repair the existing cracks, then get the concrete board and roof on and make sure it's weather proof.

[Acoma]

Re: Curing, Cracks & Other Kentucky Conundrums

Ken, I take it you know about Dusty's dome? When we had our monster storm recently, his tent came of, 2-3 inches to the dome....I wonder if the tent went swimming? I purchased premium insurance just before the storm- used extra heavy retaining wall bricks and tied the outside corners down, in addition to the inside corners, 8 total. Also, tied rope around perimeter to keep tent from flapping. Enough about us, sounds like you have a plan.

[Ken524]

Re: Curing, Cracks & Other Kentucky Conundrums

Actually, I missed those posts about Dusty... Just went back and read them. Wow... Hang in there Dusty!