Outdoor Pre-cast dome

[PiRoDa]

Gents,

Some quick questions:

- I decided to make my oven based on a pre-cast dome. Can I do "whatever I like the most" to the opening, or is it limited to certain depths? The dome I want to use has a hole included for a chimney, but I would like to add a brick arch in front of it, just for the looks.

- My oven will be outdoor and not under any protection. I read that his is not the best thing to do, but I like it better as a stand-alone dome. I will for sure add water tight sealer on my vermiculite, and on the outer layer. In winter periods, I plan to cover it. I was wondering if I could add some sort of water tight blanket over the fibre insulation, and under the chicken wire as an additional measure? I was thinking of using regular aluminium foil.

Thanx!

[david s]

The outer decorative arch in my design is not connected to the inner oven parts. I have a gap of around 8-10 mm between it and the flue gallery. The gap is filled with ceramic fibre blanket and sealed in with6:1 vermicrete to encapsulate the blanket fibres. The inner oven and gallery can then expand without placing stress on the decorative arch. The arch is tied into the outer rendered cement shell, leaving it ok to touch safely and reduced heat sink effect as well.
Foil is not a good idea as it holds moisture in once it does get in, and it will. We live in the tropics and had a wild storm last night delivering 100mm (4”) rain with more on the way. My oven is out in the weather and I’ll have to give it a long slow fire to dry it out, even though it’s outer shell is waterproofed. Not really a big problem