If you had it to do over again

[dusty]

Hi folks...dusty here,
I built my oven @ four-five years ago. I was fairly active on the forum back then but haven't been around here much since.
But I am gking to do it again. My pal is building an outdoor kitchen and asked if I would help build his oven.
My question to all you veterans, "if you had it to do over again, what would you do differently?"
Myself, I would insulate the oven floor better. My oven seems to hold heat adequately, but the storage ceiling gets very warm when the oven is up to temp. This tells me that I'm loosing heat through the oven floor.
Also, I tapered all my bricks on both sides and the top so they fit perfectly together and required a minimum of mortar. This was very labor intensive and not sure it it holds heat that much better than slapping' a bunch of mud in the joints. Did I mention this was someone else's oven?
Anyway, what would you do different? Les? Ken? Francis? Anyone?

dusty

[deejayoh]

Re: If you had it to do over again

Good place to start...
http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f28/...our-12453.html

[Bacterium]

Re: If you had it to do over again

Welcome back dusty......above mentioned thread is good.
I'm on second build myself, greatest changes on here I noticed since coming back are things like thermal break and more insulation

[RTflorida]

Re: If you had it to do over again

Hey dusty, welcome back. I am in that just over 5 yr time frame. Board insulation would be #1 for me. At that time it was unGodly expensive, I went with the vermiculite at the time. I would also only insulate directly under the oven, I did the vermicrete over the entire support slab and if it gets saturated with water, it takes weeks to dry out. The wetness leads to #2 - an enclosure with a nice overhang or awning of some type over the entry. Driving rain in the entry is still a problem. An igloo does not cut it in FL.
The above mentioned thermal break woud be #3, even after adding a new brick facade overlay to help keep the water out, I still have an annoying entry arch crack. Not a problem, just sucks to see everytime I use the oven.

RT

[dusty]

Re: If you had it to do over again

Thanks for the warm welcome and advice guys. Fun to be back.
RT, sounds like we have a lot in common. I also used the vermiculite base, like most of us did at the time, and have an unsightly entry arch crack. I'm not hip to this "thermal break" thing but I will check it out.
Nice talking to you guys again. Hope all is well.

dusty

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: If you had it to do over again

Dusty,

Read through Lee's newbie advice. It will shorten your research time:

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f2/n...res-15133.html

John

[Les]

Re: If you had it to do over again

Anyway, what would you do different? Les? Ken? Francis? Anyone?

Hey Dude! It's been a while. I would have liked to built a cover over my entire island but if I was able to do it again, the wife would still say no. Outside of that, I would use something (soapstone?) in the entry that will not stain when cooking. Pizza is not a problem but sliding the grill in and out with dripping meat makes a mess of things. I would cut the bricks again so no mortar is used on the inside and I would over-insulate again. Pretty happy with my first attempt.

[dusty]

Re: If you had it to do over again

Hi Les!
Great to here from you. The entry, soapstone type info, is what I was looking for. I didn't realize someone had already started an identical thread. No problem, just fun to be back and conecting with you all again.
I'm happy with my oven, but I knew I leared a few things. Figured that we all probably did.
Thanks for chimin' in, and I hope all is well.

dusty

[dusty]

Re: If you had it to do over again

Les,
I almost forgot, do you know what ever happened to Robert and family from Reno?

dusty

[Les]

Re: If you had it to do over again

Les,
I almost forgot, do you know what ever happened to Robert and family from Reno?

dusty

I know he lost his job and unfortunately he had to sell his house. The was the last I heard.

[Annomoose]

Re: If you had it to do over again

Hi Everyone:I'm Dusty's buddy and am excited about getting the build going. Thanks for your insights and sharing your expertise!