42" in Portland OR

[portland_aaron]

After being a mooch for so long, I finally have something to post to the forum. I have started my 42" build in Portland, OR... going to be doing some wet-weather construction shortly.

We had a couple of nice weekends, so I tried to capitalize on them as best I could. It turns out planning is not my forte... I was tying the last of the rebar together as the concrete truck was pulling into the driveway! It was my first time working with concrete, and I am glad that it will be hidden by the oven stand.





I have shamelessly copied from the wealth of information on this site, and have modeled my stand after others on here. I have a wood storage area in the front, and a shovel / tool storage area in the back.





Finally got the hearth poured, cured, and the form removed. Boy is that a great feeling - being able to stand on a piece of concrete that I poured. My wife was definitely surprised how big these things are...

Were I to do it again, I don't think I would try to use the little mixer for the hearth pour. 3200 lbs of concrete gets a bit tiring when you are lifting it multiple times (into the car, around the house, into the mixer, from mixer to hearth). Who needs a gym with hobbies like this?

[SableSprings]

Re: 42" in Portland OR

I'm impressed! I mixed 2 bags of concrete in the "little mixer" for my hearth slab and then immediately went to the phone book and called for the delivery of a yard of premixed. Guess that I'm too old for the gym or that much manual labor.

You might want to consider putting in a thermal break between your enclosed oven and the landing bricks. It doesn't need to be very wide, but it seems that many here on the forum highly recommend it.

Are you going to build a cover for the oven so you can use it during our rainy winters?

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: 42" in Portland OR

Aaron,

Good start, keep sending pics. You borrowing other ideas is just mode of operandi on the forum. Why reinvent the wheel. I did my share of borrowing!!!

[portland_aaron]

Re: 42" in Portland OR

Thanks for the replies - the thermal break is definitely in the plans.

UtahBeehiver - did you have any issues with the depth of your landing? I was hoping for a shorter one, but had kind of wound up with a 14" to accommodate the 8" duravent pipe (with 2" to support on either side)

Am I missing something here?

Thanks!

[deejayoh]

Re: 42" in Portland OR

Thanks for the replies - the thermal break is definitely in the plans.

UtahBeehiver - did you have any issues with the depth of your landing? I was hoping for a shorter one, but had kind of wound up with a 14" to accommodate the 8" duravent pipe (with 2" to support on either side)

Am I missing something here?

Thanks!

You can get it down to 12" if you are creative with the way you build it. That's how deep mine is.

[david s]

Re: 42" in Portland OR

If you set the flue pipe further back you should be able to get it even shallower. The pipe can be slightly behind the oven opening provided there is enough funelling to the pipe. My view is that a shallow entry is a big advantage when you are working the oven. But you must make sure that it is adequately flued otherwise a shallow entry is more likely to leak smoke out the front.

My entry is only 5", add another 3" for the outer decorative arch. But the oven internal is only 21" in diam. With a 5" flue pipe.

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: 42" in Portland OR

Aaron,

My is abt 14" landing on a 42inch ID oven. I think an 8" anchor plate is 12x12 so you need to factor this in. Good luck.

PS I opted for a larger landing with an inset decorative arch to minimize smoke coming out the front. Karangi Dude gave me insight on this.

[portland_aaron]

Re: 42" in Portland OR

Thanks for all the encouragement. I keep telling my wife that I'm not crazy with this project, but she doesn't quite believe me.

Made some progress this weekend - got the insulation cut, laid and leveled the floor, and mortared in the first sailor course. I was using the "fine" sand from Lowes in the homebrew mix, but decided that it was not actually fine enough for the higher layers. Going to pick up some #70 Dolomite (?) sand in the morning - I assume that will allow for a finer grout line?

Ignore the mess - those leftover pieces of wood are protecting my feet from the Pacific Northwest mud. Of which my backyard is producing a bumper crop.

[deejayoh]

Re: 42" in Portland OR

go to your local concrete/masonry supplier and ask for fine sand. Stuff at lowes is brickies sand, has too much aggregate in it you need to sift.

Fine sand will let you get those fine grout lines

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: 42" in Portland OR

Understand about the better half thinking us crazy or the the WFO is our new girlfriend. But in the end they love the pizza, bread, and roasts. One hint, cover the gap between the second course and floor with duct. This will keep mortar from getting into the expansion gap and hopefully preventing stress and cracking. BTW, most everyone will see a crack in the oven somewhere. Keep up the good work. I used a quartz sand for my home brew.

[portland_aaron]

Re: 42" in Portland OR

So I have a question about the mortaring process... I am using the homebrew 3:1:1:1 mortar, using "superfine dry sand." I am finding it impossible to get nice snug joints; the mortar seems to be in the way!

Maybe my process is off? I soak the brick until the bubbles stop coming out of it, and wet down the area to be mortared. Then I butter the mortar onto the bricks already stuck on the oven and try to position the new brick onto the course. It seems like I can't get the mortar to spread thin enough without driving out all of the water and limiting the ability to move it around.

I have tried watering down the mortar mixture until it is quite runny, which helped a bit - but not as much as hoped for.

This is a challenging project for a perfectionist.

[Gulf]

Re: 42" in Portland OR

With exprimentaion, you will learn how much to butter the brick for home brew. A 1/8th inch mortar joint doesn't need 1/2" thick of butter spread .

If you are a true perfectionist, you will never get finished with your oven .

Try to find a happy medium and get on to the cooking!.

Seriously, A little experimentation will go a long way. It really doesn't have to be perfect. Strive to get the joints as thin as possible to the inside of the oven. The outer joints don't have to be perfect.

Just Sayin'

[deejayoh]

Re: 42" in Portland OR

If you are like me, you'll figure it out about when you finish your oven...

[Tscarborough]

Re: 42" in Portland OR

If the mortar is right, you will be able to stick the brick without a form to hold it. If you are using 3:1:1:1 with fine sand you may need to adjust your mix.



In progress prior to cleaning.

[portland_aaron]

Re: 42" in Portland OR

What do you mean by adjust it? Water content, or constituent elements?

Yours seems to have much better adhesion than mine.