A New Journey

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: A New Journey

Doug pulled all of his threads off the forum a while back so we lost a great build and cooking resource. I got an email from him the other day and he still continues to teach WFO cooking classes. Like Gulf say, maybe he will come back some day.

[kanoer54]

Re: A New Journey

Good thread. I may have missed something along the way, or gotten off subject, but...... I did for my first WFO, a build which had a 39 " diameter and a 15 inch dome height, not the typical ratio. (Totally inexperienced builder). Guess it was for the challenge which i wanted. I did the lazy susan type IT which wasn't any problem. I wasn't sure why I did this, except for something off the normal build. (I was green and probably still am). In the big picture I probably would not have noticed any energy efficiency difference regarding dome width to height ratio. The one big thing I did follow was the inner arch height/width ratio which I think is a major element in the overall WFO efficiency. Another thing which I did was to over insulate.....no such thing as too much insulation....top nor bottom.

jon

I am certainly looking forward to another WFO build next fall.

[the_dr_masuess]

Re: A New Journey

Thank you all for your tips and suggestions. I'll give it some thought. My IT is adjustable but I'll read over the math page and then make a final decision

On Wednesday I poured my Counter and filled almost all the rest of my cores needed to fill. I only have a remainder of about 6 cores left which should be about 4 bags of Concrete. On Wednesday I used 39, 80 LB bags of cement mix to fill the remainder of the cores and pour the counter. By the time I end with these last cores I will have used about 55, 80 LB bags of cement in addition to the 4 yards I used to pour the Pads for the Oven/grill island

We also moved the grill island out on to its pad. I will have to make a small adjustment to one of the bottom supports so that my electrical will fit through the bottom to move it in to its final resting spot.

Today I am going to remove the forms and pour the final cores. I will also take my template out on to the newly poured counter and get all my insulation bricks and Firebricks layed out for the floor of the oven.

[kbartman]

Re: A New Journey

Hello Loren,
I've been following your build for a while, looking good. I see your in the planning stages of your heat break. I too really followed and model a lot of my build from Russell's. My heat break is similar, I think he used rectangular tubing and his middle arch, sat in front of his inner arch. I found his pictures worth a thousand words. I have included a couple of quotes from my build that may help you if your interested. Just click on the blue arrows which will take you to the post with some picture of my heat break. Russell has a link to all his picture in his signature. I found it very useful to be able to quickly scroll thru all his pictures Gulf's and others, for quick reference. I need to do the same for all my pictures.

I managed to finish my vent floor and heat break.

My floor heat break is blend of the those whom trodden before. I'm not sure how well it will perform, but it's better then nothing. I should had used a wider piece of stainless. it would have allowed a thicker section of insulating brick beneath. I ended up with only a one inch sliver of insulating brick. I thought about beveling the two types of brick but didn't thing I would gain much. Most of all the angle cuts would have been a nightmare of difficulty. So it is what it is. I can always put a wider insulating and stainless barrier later if I don't like how it performs.

I incorporated a ceramic fiber band like Gulf did, this should slow some of the heat transfer to the stainless and beyond. We will see......... I allowed the stainless tubing to be slightly higher than the surrounding bricks. This should keep the edges of the bricks from chipping. The square tubing has a nicely rounded corners the and any tool or pans etc... should glide over it easily I hope.

Still slow going here.

I manage to finish the chimney penetration, finish my heat breaks and put some masonry fire clay home brew cladding on the dome. I used Koawool caulking to seal my heat breaks. The neutral white turn bright white after drying.......ouch. I wish I would have placed the fiber rope deeper into the recess and hid the caulking joint.....Oh well...........the joint is very firm and I agree with DJ and think it will hold up well..... I would have like to have used the safe stuff Utah used, but it was just too pricey at $43.85 each........Now that I think about it 23, bucks difference is nothing............

[the_dr_masuess]

Re: A New Journey

Hey Bart,

Yes I have been debating what to do there and both of your ideas are spot on what I think I will do. Maybe Russell will be nice enough to stop by my house when he is visiting family by where I live . We live about 30 min from each other. I think right now I need to prioritize finishing up the floor (I need a couple more firebricks), Deciding how wide to make my inner arch, And buying my 3:1:1:1 mixes. Once I have those items nailed up I can really start building the dome. I also have quite a bit more cutting of my blocks. If you remember in my thread I have huge monster bricks so I am working on cutting them down. Thanks for adding your exact thread messages here so I can always reference them.

I moved my grill island in to place and also need to get the stucco on that. For now I just have a tarp covering it.

on a side note my wife wants me to follow this design of the fireplace at the citycreek mall for the oven so imagine a square flue running up with rock and this design on a smaller scale for the rest of the structure...

I'm getting ahead of myself here...

[CV_Oven]

Re: A New Journey

Loren,

Your build is getting there and looking great. Weather is good for working outside again-best wishes as you head towards the dome!

Jim

[the_dr_masuess]

Re: A New Journey

So I have quite the unfortunate news. I had a City Ordinance officer come to my house to find out what I was doing in the back and I told him my plans and showed him designs of what I want to do but he asked that I put things on hold. I would probably be done with the dome by now but he stopped me right when I was getting started.

There is a city code which says "any structure of geometric shape, larger than 30 sq/ft and higher than 2' must be 3' away from the property line. I'm trying to fight them on this since it is not even close to any structures now and wont ever be close to any other structures for fire to travel yada yada. So for now everything is on hold.

When I started building the house our builder told us that our property line was a barbed wire fence that ran across the back so I thought while things are on hold I will just make sure I'm not over the property line... turns out that I am over the property line by a little over a foot. ... Obscenities ...

The property behind me has all the approvals already to split up the parcels so I can't take anything from the larger parcel behind me but will have to wait until the larger parcel is split up and I can buy a sliver from a single property. The ordinance officer doesn't know that I am over the line at this point but I just hope when the time comes that I will be able to buy a section of land behind the oven so I don't have to cut the back section off and move the pizza oven or worse tear the whole thing down.

Needless to say I've been pretty down about the whole subject. Especially since my neighbor/friend who was going to build one ended up finding a pizza oven online that used to be in a restaurant for $1500. We will be installing it in his back yard on Saturday. It is a huge oven and really sweet. It was built to be able to take apart and move. I'll just have to use his to get my fix.

So it could be another year before I'm allowed to continue (or until they develop the land behind my house. Otherwise I can change the entire Layout I had planned and re-think what I should do.

Since WFO is on hold I've started working in the yard and getting ready for sod in the back yard. I've also been prepping for all the additions I want to make to my truck. I have a bunch of things I need to install (winch, fog lights, suspension enhancement system, Hi-Lift Jack mount). Just trying to stay busy and keep me distracted from what I really wish I could be doing.

[NCMan]

Re: A New Journey

I was going to recommend applying for a variance, which alot of times works, even after the fact. However, since you are over the line, I see no recourse now. Wish I had better news. Wish you all the best.

[GIANLUCA]

Re: A New Journey

Move the oven on your property line and file for permits as needed I have a neighbor that encroaches on my property and I could tell you first hand it's very upsetting no matter how small or little it is with that said I feel bad for you I'm sure it was unintentional

[deejayoh]

Re: A New Journey

Wow. That sucks. You are not that far along though - even if it feels like it! I'm sure it will be painful, but I am guessing the easiest path is to tear down what you've built and move it to a conforming location. Waiting to get the developer to sell you a piece of property, for the city to grant a variance, you'll have pizza in 2020 if everything goes according to plan...

[Greenman]

Re: A New Journey

That is a real blow. Once the authorities are involved it gets messy and slows to snail pace. My experience with local authorities is that you can do what you want until someone involves them and then it is difficult to get any minor variation from the prescribed standards.

I hope you can find your way around the issue, the alternative is not attractive.

[CV_Oven]

Re: A New Journey

I'd tear it down and move it to fit whatever code requirements your city has. With your weather and the few weekends lost to tear out and rebuild you'll still be cooking in your own WFO before the snow comes again-I'd bet even earlier than that!!
Best of luck!!

[the_dr_masuess]

Re: A New Journey

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. The hesitance comes from how large it is already. it is almost 20' wide... I'll follow up with the city ordinance officer this upcoming week and keep you all posted. If I have to move it/tear it down so be it... maybe I'll just rent a crane to come lift it up and move it a couple feet forward... that would probably be cheaper then getting equipment to tear it all down and rebuild... we'll see... I have to look in to all my options. To add... I wasn't reported by any neighbors I'm just in a new neighborhood and so we have ordinance officers around all the time and he was just curious about what I was doing back there.

[Novaslo]

Re: A New Journey

Truly a bummer. I walked out immediately and measured mine. it is just over 3 feet. I am sure it is hard after your initial burst of energy. I am mid build and that would really set me back. But....Now you have all the knowledge, you can get the new one done in half the time.

Let's face it, the whole thing is pretty therapeutic, is it not?

Good luck.

[Greenman]

Re: A New Journey

What has to be done has to be done but if a crane is the answer then it may well be the best option. It opens up some questions but I am sure it is not beyond what can be done.

If I had to move mine I would cut it where the slab met the base and drop that onto a new base. Everything is an option when things go astray.

I hope it works out for you and you find and official with some perspective.