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Got finished the dome and made a few pizzas in the fall. Everything worked great. Closed it up for the winter (to where I THOUGHT no moisture should get in). Just fired it up for the first time this spring. When I first opened it, there were signs of moisture inside (I left a grate in it over winter and it had rusted, and there were beads of sweat on it). First firing, I couldn't get it up to high heat (it wouldn't seem to go past about 600). Next day I fired it again, and it seemed to get up to a much better temp. However, the next day (this morning) I noticed a hairline crack in the front of the concrete pad. I investigated further and found that the underneath of the concrete pad was quite warm (this is almost 24 hrs after firing). I have never noticed this warmth prior to this, and I assume the Fiberboard and bricks, along with 3.5 inches of concrete, should keep this kind of warmth from penetrating to the outside. I'm wondering if the fibreboard got wet over the winter and has lost its insulating value. My questions are: Does that theory make sense, and if so, will the fibreboard regain insulative value once they fully dry out? Is there anything specific I should be doing to help the process. Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.
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Richard, it sounds like your fiberboard might have sucked up some water during the winter. Did you have the dome and hearth covered in something waterproof? I think the prudent course for any oven taken out of storage showing signs of moisture present like yours is to do some curing type fires to drive out the moisture. My board got quite wet during my build, and it took several fires for the floor to dry out, and I had quite a bit of water draining out of the periphery that didn't show up till over 5-7 hours of slow firing. The underside of my hearth was very warm during this period.My build thread
https://community.fornobravo.com/for...h-corner-build -
Thanks, JR, that makes me feel better (which was the entire point of posting in the first place). Thanks for your helpComment
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