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Re: Starting over
Cracks in your mortar joints are not nearly as big a problem as it is made out to be. In an oven that will experience intense heat cycles every time you use it, you are going to get stress cracks. The smaller the joint size, the less likely it will crack and when it does crack, the less likely it will be a problem.
Crushed granite is about the same as sand in terms of insulation. Personally I would stop now before you get a lot farther along and replace the granite with vermicrete. 6-8 inches is best, 4-6 will do. This is the same concern as your floor extending out to the edge of the slab, it will bleed heat away from the floor and make cooking a frustrating experience because you will always have heat escaping the oven via conduction.
The insulation layer under the floor is what allows you to cook into the next day and longer as it retains the energy in the oven. If you just intend to cook pizza with an active fire, then just go with the crushed granite and plan to keep an active flame going while cooking. It will still be slow to heat up and fast to cool down, and slow to cook, but you can use it that way.
Cracks in your mortar joints are not nearly as big a problem as it is made out to be. In an oven that will experience intense heat cycles every time you use it, you are going to get stress cracks. The smaller the joint size, the less likely it will crack and when it does crack, the less likely it will be a problem.
Crushed granite is about the same as sand in terms of insulation. Personally I would stop now before you get a lot farther along and replace the granite with vermicrete. 6-8 inches is best, 4-6 will do. This is the same concern as your floor extending out to the edge of the slab, it will bleed heat away from the floor and make cooking a frustrating experience because you will always have heat escaping the oven via conduction.
The insulation layer under the floor is what allows you to cook into the next day and longer as it retains the energy in the oven. If you just intend to cook pizza with an active fire, then just go with the crushed granite and plan to keep an active flame going while cooking. It will still be slow to heat up and fast to cool down, and slow to cook, but you can use it that way.
. I would suggest you buy a cheap dry saw, since you?re on a tight budget like pretty much all of us here. You can buy a new dry saw and multiple 14 inch diamond blades all for around $170. Add a good quality respirator mask like the one below and a $20 ear muff @ bunnings, suddenly you look like a PRO.
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