Hearth and Oven Floor installation

[Husker25]

Hi guys-my first post and I'm getting ready to put together my materials list and start my build!

I'm going to be building my 42" oven on a steel frame in the hopes of making it mobile. When building the floor what is the sequence of materils? I.e. concerete/FB Board/Firebrick? Am I missing anything? Is the base layer of concrete needed if you're using FB Board? If so, would it be beneficial to put a layer of FB Blanket between the FB Board and base layer of concrete? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!

[brickie in oz]

Re: Hearth and Oven Floor installation

A 42" oven will be far too heavy to be mobile.

You dont need the concrete, its just for a solid base to start from, a steel base if correctly built will do the same job, then its board>firebrick.

[shuboyje]

Re: Hearth and Oven Floor installation

My 42" oven is on a rolling steel frame and is VERY mobile. The key is building the stand strong enough and then using casters rated for the weight. One person can easily and safely move my oven, I do it all the time. One key point to keeping the weight down is to build on top of a metal base, not a concrete one. A reenforced concrete slab weighs a ton(well technically about half a ton).

A 42" oven will be far too heavy to be mobile.

You dont need the concrete, its just for a solid base to start from, a steel base if correctly built will do the same job, then its board>firebrick.

[Husker25]

Re: Hearth and Oven Floor installation

My 42" oven is on a rolling steel frame and is VERY mobile. The key is building the stand strong enough and then using casters rated for the weight. One person can easily and safely move my oven, I do it all the time. One key point to keeping the weight down is to build on top of a metal base, not a concrete one. A reenforced concrete slab weighs a ton(well technically about half a ton).

Thanks Shuboyje!! I'm actually going to mount mine on a trailer. Do you have any pics of your oven? I'm still struggling with putting together an exact materials list. I'm going to build an igloo style oven with a diameter of 42" on the cooking floor. I keep coming up with between 130-280 fire bricks from various posts! At $2.75 per brick, that's a big chunk of change in my budget.

[deejayoh]

Re: Hearth and Oven Floor installation

You probably need 200-250 bricks, depending on how much cutting/fitting you want to do. More cutting = more work + more bricks. Not sure why any of us do it, but it seems to appeal to certain personalities (I'm in that group). I just used 245 bricks on my 39" build but also did way too much cutting.

Are you in Salida, CO? There must be cheaper sources for firebricks. Here in Seattle they are $1.45 retail. Find somebody with a contractor's license and they're probably close to a buck. Might want to search the forums for recommended resources in your area, and if you don't find anything put a post up in the regional forum asking for help.

[Husker25]

Re: Hearth and Oven Floor installation

You probably need 200-250 bricks, depending on how much cutting/fitting you want to do. More cutting = more work + more bricks. Not sure why any of us do it, but it seems to appeal to certain personalities (I'm in that group). I just used 245 bricks on my 39" build but also did way too much cutting.

Are you in Salida, CO? There must be cheaper sources for firebricks. Here in Seattle they are $1.45 retail. Find somebody with a contractor's license and they're probably close to a buck. Might want to search the forums for recommended resources in your area, and if you don't find anything put a post up in the regional forum asking for help.

Thanks for the heads up!! I've always wondered why the need to cut the bricks in half?

The place that quoated me that price is Rio Grande down in Denver. They are a big construction supplier. Shoot, I thought that was a fair price. I guess I need to do some more digging around for resources. Thanks!

[deejayoh]

Re: Hearth and Oven Floor installation

You cut them in half because you only need the 4.5" of mass for heat retention. But lots of people go further and taper the bricks to fit a spherical shape/reduce the mortar joint size

For resources - this thread is a little old, but might give you some pointers on places to look in Denver area

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f2/f...orado-557.html

[Husker25]

Re: Hearth and Oven Floor installation

You cut them in half because you only need the 4.5" of mass for heat retention. But lots of people go further and taper the bricks to fit a spherical shape/reduce the mortar joint size

For resources - this thread is a little old, but might give you some pointers on places to look in Denver area

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f2/f...orado-557.html

Thanks Deejayoh!! I shot an email out to one of the suppliers listed on that thread. $1.66 is quite a bit cheaper than I was quoted.

[Husker25]

Re: Hearth and Oven Floor installation

You cut them in half because you only need the 4.5" of mass for heat retention. But lots of people go further and taper the bricks to fit a spherical shape/reduce the mortar joint size

For resources - this thread is a little old, but might give you some pointers on places to look in Denver area

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f2/f...orado-557.html

Thanks again Deejayoh! I called the Threewit-Cooper Cement Co. listed in that thread and they have fire bricks for $1.84/ea. They also have Heat Stop 50 for $80/bag.

[Husker25]

Re: Hearth and Oven Floor installation

What do you guys think about adding some insulation under the FB board on my floor. I'll be making a steel tray to mount in a trailer. I was thinking of putting a layer of ceramic blanket down before the FB Board, then firebrick cooking surface. My thoughts are it would obviously supply insulation, but also could help a little with vibration. What do you think?

[Gulf]

Re: Hearth and Oven Floor installation

I would look more into what type trailor supension it was placed on for vibration dampening. I think that the blanket would just flatten out which would loose a lot of it's insulation factor. But, that is just my opinion.

[Husker25]

Re: Hearth and Oven Floor installation

I would look more into what type trailor supension it was placed on for vibration dampening. I think that the blanket would just flatten out which would loose a lot of it's insulation factor. But, that is just my opinion.

Thanks Gulf. The trailer has leaf springs on it. It has a 6000# axle and will be plenty strong. I'm just concerned about the vibration and cracking the cement. I've looked into airbags, but the rep told me those are not used to dampen the ride just to serve as a helper spring for your existing leaf springs.