CasaG90 Build in Houston

[Jodear]

Started on the landing yesterday, and did the first two levels of the arch and let that dry overnight. Finished up the arch today. I'm still freaking out about pulling out those forms. I'm hoping the cardboard I put underneath was enough to let those forms drop enough to pull them out.
1st time doing brick work. I'm telling everyone I'm going for the "Rustic" look. It's really because I'm not a very good mason.....
It did turn out better than I thought it would. (Unless this thing falls down.) I was worried about the double brick landing. I didn't know if it would look good or not. I think it looks just fine.

[UtahBeehiver]

The key for higher ratio pcrete install is small lifts, let dry a day then another lift. If you try and do too much vertical at once it just slumps off, also a curve trowel to compress and form pcrete helps. I did 8 to 1 but it took me a week to complete. But you are done. Remember pcrete contains a lot of water and really needs to dry before you put on the final coat. You can start curing now. Start with charcoal briquettes for a couple fire, transient help gets up to around 200 F. You can throw a dutch oven on the charcoal. as well. Cure "really" slow do NOT get impatient and crank her up.

[Jodear]

Thanks UtahBeehiver, I am really worried about the curing process. I know FB says start at 300, but I will probably start lower, and for a few more days. I have some time on my hands, so going slow isn't an issue. Well, except the impatient part of me that wants to put on a pizza.

[UtahBeehiver]

A vent at the apex would be good preventative maintenance since you are at the pcrete stage you can still install with a little work. This allows any water vapor to escape since when water sublimates to vapor, the volume increases by a factor of 1500 which could cause pressure build up in the dome and crack it or the stucco or the finish coat. There are several options but Gulf and I use a breather vent available at any car parts store for less than $10.


https://community.fornobravo.com/cor...EAAAICRAEAOw==

[Jodear]

I had seen that you guys had added those vents. I actually added two using copper pipe. It's hard to see in this picture, but I put them up on the back side of the oven. I hope they work. I'm going to let things cure for about another week, then start the fires. Wish me luck

[UtahBeehiver]

Those should work you just need to screen off so bugs done use as a some and plug off. I have seen other builders drill holes in copper and cap off end. There is a lot of water in pcrete so a week may not be enough time.

[Jodear]

Thanks for the advice. I can always give it more time. I'm not in a hurry.

[Jodear]

Okay, it's done! Did a broken tile mosaic. If anyone needs more pics of the mosaic process, I've got a few. All I've got to do is seal the concrete countertop and bake some pies!
It's been a very hard, but really fun job. This thing is built like a tank, so I see myself and friends firing up a lot of food in this thing for years to come. (Well, of course till I want to build a bigger and better one.)
Learned a lot. There are a things I would do better next time. I would definitely look at spending more money on cosmetic work, but I am really proud to have taken on this project. Summer's over, now it's time to get back to teaching school!
If there are any suggestions of anything else I need. Let me know.

[leowiz]

This looks really nice. Good work man.

I just decided 4 days ago to build a pizza oven after watching it used in a cooking show. In planning stage but about to pull the trigger on a Casa90 soon. May hit you up in case I run into issues or need ideas.

[UtahBeehiver]

Leo, You should download and review the free eplans from Forno Bravo. It will give you a good baseline on WFO ovens, design, and construction.

[JRPizza]

Jodear , that's beautiful. About how many hours did the mosiac take you?

[broadrun96]

About to start on my Casa90, oven on site but the hearth still curing. The lift of the pieces is making me pause, damn they're heavy.

How did you secure the lathe over the insulation? Looks like tapcon screws, are they just directly in to the material of the dome? I have a 6'6 hearth pour and working on setting the base foam and floor this weekend but want to make sure I'm setting it right for the lathe. Just going to do the insulate and stucco cover rather than a custom mix, unless there are thoughts from the experts?

[SableSprings]

I helped a friend install a CasaG90 several years ago at their lake cabin. We laid sections of chicken wire underneath the rigid insulation board prior to setting the oven sections/cooking floor on the board. It was a little bit inconvenient having the loose wire sections there but put some cardboard on them until oven was assembled. Then we applied the ceramic blankets and simply brought the wire mesh sections up & over to hold the blankets in place and to provide some base for our outer stucco layers. Wire mesh was cut & secured with wire pieces to hold it in the dome shape prior to applying the layers of stucco.

I used tapcons into the base concrete slab (as Russell noted above) for my oven's outer fascade, but we didn't have an impact drill or the tapcons at the lake.

[fox]

That is the method i use too, place the mesh down first…..

[david s]

The manufacturers build instructions should be followed, but I abandoned the use of lathe or chickenwire years ago for three reasons. Firstly getting the stuff to conform to a compound curve is difficult and time consuming, especially over a small oven. Secondly, having a highly conductive material in the insulating layer is counterproductive. I use a 10:1 3/4” (35mm) thick vermicrete layer over the blanket and this is sufficient to hold the blanket in place as well as evening out the uneven surface and restoring the spherical form. Lastly any compression of the blanket, caused by tightening the lathe or chickenwire will reduce its insulating capacity. I prefer to use random mixed reinforcing fibres in the outer rendered shell for much the same reasons.
However, there are many ways to skin a cat and every method has its advantages and disadvantages.