I have fired a couple of small fires in my completed dome, and last night I fired it up with a decent size one, not too big though, only with construction type timber.
Now, before this fire, I had some small hair line cracks, but during this fire, a couple of much larger cracks appeared, maybe 1-2 mm wide. They closed up slightly on cooling, but are still there. Obviously I expected some movement with the expansion with the heat, and whilst I don't see the cracks as effecting the structure(yet) I didn't get the temp of the oven up anywhere near the level it needs to be at. the dome had ben drying for well over 2 weeks, as I was building the chimney front and on holiday.
So, how worried should I be? and what can I do about it? I'm thinking, chase out some of the mortar and repoint the effected areas. or just leave it and hope for the best. My main fear is for them to become sturctural or to leak smoke, any advice?
I will try to post some pictures later!
Now, before this fire, I had some small hair line cracks, but during this fire, a couple of much larger cracks appeared, maybe 1-2 mm wide. They closed up slightly on cooling, but are still there. Obviously I expected some movement with the expansion with the heat, and whilst I don't see the cracks as effecting the structure(yet) I didn't get the temp of the oven up anywhere near the level it needs to be at. the dome had ben drying for well over 2 weeks, as I was building the chimney front and on holiday.
So, how worried should I be? and what can I do about it? I'm thinking, chase out some of the mortar and repoint the effected areas. or just leave it and hope for the best. My main fear is for them to become sturctural or to leak smoke, any advice?
I will try to post some pictures later!
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