Pizza at the Cottage

[garch]

After a couple years of looking and lurking, my build has begun. I probably I ihave more questions than answers, but am trying to not let that bother me. I will figure it out as I go along.

My oven is at my cottage in Fenton, MI and is about a 50 minute drive from my home. My building will be limited to the weekends, as my regular job seems to pay more than the cement work

Pictures coming soon.

[ggoose]

Re: Pizza at the Cottage

Looking forward to watching your progress, garch

gene

[garch]

Re: Pizza at the Cottage

Thanks Gene

I thought it might be helpful to give you a bit of background on the oven and my thinking on building it. I am not exactly a pizza fanatic, and although I like to eat, I certainly am not a foodie. Somewhere along the line, I read about WFO's and found Forno Bravo and this forum. Thanks James, for this great resource.

Bottom line is that I think it will be fun to spend the day on a lake, then have family and friends make their own pizza for dinner.

Once I decided to go for it, I had a couple of issues to work through as the cottage is in Michigan and we have the whole freeze thaw issue. To complicate the situation, the foundation is about 3 feet above the lake level. The lake is spring fed, and was used to dig Marl at the turn of the century. Marl is a lime like substance that was used in the construction industry years ago. Marl is wet when you first excavate it, but turns to dust when it is dried.

Pictures soon as I figure how to post them

[garch]

Re: Pizza at the Cottage

i have a ipad and am struggling to post pictures....any help out there?

[dmun]

Re: Pizza at the Cottage

Forums know all.

Pictures FROM iPad to a website ~ how? - Apple iPad Forum

Apparently there's a photo bucket app, which allows uploads to their site. Then you just copy the image URL and paste it into the dialog box that appears when you hit the "postcard" icon above the message box in the FB forum.

[garch]

Re: Pizza at the Cottage

Thanks dmun!

[garch]

Re: Pizza at the Cottage

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A few weeks ago, I removed six bushes that were next to the deck and staked the area for the pad

[garch]

Re: Pizza at the Cottage

Because of the soil conditions (the Marl i mentioned earlier) and the high water table, I decided to use a floating foundation, sometimes called a mat foundation.

I dug down until I hit marl, in some spots it was 26 inches deep in the shallowest about 18 inches. I did find the original well and made sure to try and not disturb it at all. By the time I was done digging and trenching, I figured that I removed about 2 yards of materials


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[garch]

Re: Pizza at the Cottage

I bought a yard of 3" crushed concrete and a yard of 21aa (2 trips with my buddys trailer). I lined the bottom of the footing with landscape
fabric and put in the 3", interlaced with a plastic mesh that some workers gave me while working on the road in front of my office. A layer of 3", a piece of the road plastic mesh, tamp, repeat. I topped the whole area with the 21aa.

The oven will follow the existing deck, with a area to the right of the oven opening for a drop in grill at the one end and counter space in between. I did not dig the mat foundation in this area as i was not as concerned with the weight as I was on the pizza oven itself.

I ran some plastic conduit for future power. This was a bit of a guess as to placement, and in retrospect I wish that I had moved it to the interior of the pad a bit more.

I had a truck bring the pad cement, it was $50 more than mixing it myself and my back thanked me. Although the Husky mixer that I bought on craigslist for $140 has been a champ.[IMG][/IMG]



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[garch]

Re: Pizza at the Cottage

Once the pad was cured, I dry stacked the block. I have decided to put the door opposite of the deck, so i will have to walk around to get my firewood.

I bought the block at HD, they loaded it onto a pallet and my muffler was dragging on my e150 ford work van. We took it off and only put on a half of the pallet and I had to make two trips.

I drilled into the pad about 4" to make a spot for the rerod in every other core. I was suprised at how long the stacking process took me. Again, another day that ended with Aleve.

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[garch]

Re: Pizza at the Cottage

I took Friday off and put in the rebar over the top of my hardibacker. After a brief rain, I poured the structural hearth. My 75 year old Dad came over to help me with the pour. He filled the buckets with water and did a great job vibrating the concrete and helping me screed. It is great working with my Dad, it reminds me of when I was a kid.

I have been doing everything by myself as my 19 year old college son is working non stop this summer and is not giving me any help.

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[garch]

Re: Pizza at the Cottage

ok, now a question---fb board or vermiculite?

I am concerned that in either case, the insulating layer will get wet from the elements. Is one better than the other?

[ggoose]

Re: Pizza at the Cottage

The FB board can get wet, but not regularly. It is somewhat fragile, and moisture makes it moreso. You can always throw a tarp over the build every night to protect it. The vermicrete, as it contains portland cement, cures better in the presence of water, so no problem if it gets wet (after its initial set).

[garch]

Re: Pizza at the Cottage

Thanks ggoose--I went with the board. I am on vacation this week, but I bought my HF saw, so i should come back ready to cut some brick

Gregg

[garch]

Re: Pizza at the Cottage

I have a quick (and probably silly question), on the oven floor I seem to remember that someone talked about the correct way to lay the herringbone floor so the peel does not catch. Any suggestions?

Also when laying out the oven, I want the walls that span the vent floor to "flare out" so that it is easier to tend the fire and adjust the pizza while cooking. Any suggestions on the amount of flare between the inner and outer arches?