Oven stand - will solid concrete blocks work?

[Mullster]

Hi - I started my Pompeii build today using the plans on this site and the advice and experience of many of you! Looking ahead to building the stand I’m wondering if a stable stand can be achieved with solid rather than hollow concrete blocks? They seem to be much more widely available. I know I would need to mortar rather than simply dry stack if I did use the solid ones. What do people think?

[NCMan]

They should work fine. They'll be a bit heavier and tougher to work with, but will do just fine. Either way, you want to mortar them.

[Chach]

Sure you can use them. They are a lot heavier and would be harder to cut than hollow core block unless you have a decent brick saw.

[JRPizza]

A guy I used to work with built a very fine oven using solid wall stones - the kind that are angled on the sides to build curvy walls etc. He used them to build a round oven, which I was going to copy till I decided to do a corner build.

[Yokosuka dweller]

As has been said, yes solid blocks should be fine. One caveat is of course you can't fill them with rebar or concrete to create a strong bond between blocks as you can with hollow CMUs. But as long as they're level and plumb I guess the sheer weight of the oven on top will keep things firmly in place.

[Mullster]

Cheers guys - reassuring. Bit challenging sourcing materials at the moment with the lockdown in place - Im sure I’ll find a decent deal online soon!

[JRPizza]

As has been said, yes solid blocks should be fine. One caveat is of course you can't fill them with rebar or concrete to create a strong bond between blocks as you can with hollow CMUs. But as long as they're level and plumb I guess the sheer weight of the oven on top will keep things firmly in place.

Yeah, if you look at the bricks my friend used you can see they were "keyed" which with a little mortar should keep the base pretty stable and reduce chance of any shifting over time.