Heat Stop cost

[telehort]

I am looking at possibly going with Heat Stop as I am able to find it locally, but was shocked at the price. I was told a 50# wet pail was $150. Does this seem right? Even with gas at $3.30 a gallon, I think it may be cheaper to order some Refrax from James and drive from Sacramento to Windsor and pick it up. Just curious what others paid.

[widespreadpizza]

Re: Heat Stop cost

telehort,
look for DRY bags of heatsop "50", as in 50 pounds, this is the same product as heat stop 2 if I remember right. this gives you 70? pounds or so mixed. locally, the price per bag is $39.~ always ask for "contractor pricing" when placing an order, I used 3.5 bags on my 42". I am liking this stuff more and more as curing goes on! hope this helps -marc

[dmun]

Re: Heat Stop cost

Do not buy the wet stuff. It has a very short shelf life, and is often rubbery by the time you open it.

Heat stop 50 is the same stuff as Heat-stop II, just in a fifty pound bag instead of a 10 pound pail. The dry powder mixes easily into a peanut butter consistency, and you mix just a little at a time.

One poster who used both heat-stop and refrax liked James' product better. It may be worth the shipping.

I paid fifty bucks a bag, from a place that sold firebricks for seventy cents. It's not cheap, but I think it's worth it.

[christo]

Re: Heat Stop cost

I think both products have their place in oven building. I went with Refrax and when that wasn't available for a short while went to heat stop 50. I think I paid 50 odd dollars for the bag I bought - I had to drive an hour and there were only 3 or 4 bags left and water had been leaking on some of them for quite some time..... I picked the driest one.

The Refrax or Remix as now branded - was really tough stuff bogged down the brick saw when I cut through it! It is not as creamy smooth as heatstop. I also used it to bond my terra cotta flue tile together and since then had to recut the radius with a grinder and it held together....

The Heat stop mixed up soft and fluffly and easy to work with. Squoze out really nice. While it does not seem to bog down the saw, it seems to still have excellent bond. When brakeing scraps of cut bricks joined with Refmix and Heat Stop - the Refmix seemed to have a bit more strength. At the end of the day - our applications are probably not overly strenuous.

I ended up usiing both products separately together to build my vent arch when I got to the end of both bags. Used Remix for the short part of the joint and Heat stop to fill in the larger gaps. I was afraid my arch was a bit too flat and probably drove myself crazy for nothing....

I've finished both my bags tonight and came up short to fill in small holes ---- any one have a cup of either I can borrow?

Christo

[wlively]

Re: Heat Stop cost

Just to add, do not use the wet pre-mix buckets. It is for interior use only as it does not tolerate getting wet. The dry stuff is what you want.

I paid $34 a bag (50lb). I could not budget refrax/refmix so cannot compare, am sure both would work fine just go with the cheapest or more asthetically pleasing to you. Heatstop stuck very well for me. I did not use any forms at all. And when I had to redo a poorly engineered area, I tried hammering away at the heatstop joints with the pointed end of a brick hammer, thinking they would crack apart. Well, not exactly the bricks broke apart before the mortar joint did.

You can order direct from manuf online here, or find another dealer.
HeatStop

[RTflorida]

Re: Heat Stop cost

I too purchased Heatstop 50 when Refrax was unavailable. $45 per bag locally (I used 2 bags - YES, I have cup left over ). I've done a lot of other masonry and tile work, this was my first experience with a refractory mortar. Heatstop is easy to work with and smooth/creamy. I've since fired my oven 15+ times - seems to get harder each time.
I do recommend keeping your bricks moist (keep a spray bottle or damp sponge handy during assembly) as the brick will rapidly suck the moisture out of your mortar. As many have recommended - soak your bricks until the 'boiling' stops, then proceed with assembly.
One last not keep it covered and damp for a week (CanuckJim used burlap - I used wornout terrycloth bath towels); this really lets the mortar cure - mine was rock hard after the week.
All in all, the Heatstop 50 (dry mix) is good stuff...

RT

[telehort]

Re: Heat Stop cost

thanks all for the great replies.

[james]

Re: Heat Stop cost

I've finished both my bags tonight and came up short to fill in small holes ---- any one have a cup of either I can borrow?

Christo

This gives hey neighbor, can I borrow a cup of sugar a new twist. :-) If you are really stuck, email me, and we can put a ziplock bag full in the mail.
James

[telehort]

Re: Heat Stop cost

Well I found a supplier that carries the dry Heat Stop today locally and they want $74 for a 10# pail. I mentioned to them this still seems crazy considering that online from Rumsford you can get that same pail for $35 including shipping. I was told by the ever so friendly local customer service person I was talking to to go buy it from them then. Ain't customer service great :-)

[Chris]

Re: Heat Stop cost

Make that drive to Windsor and get some of that Refmix.

[dmun]

Re: Heat Stop cost

What a ten pound pail of heat stop looks like, fingers included for scale:



It's gonna take a lot of these to do any oven building.

[Chris]

Re: Heat Stop cost

I used 150 lb of heatstop to build my oven, using bricks cut into thirds.

15 buckets at $74 each? Forget about buying refmix, just buy an oven!

Rather than open a fourth bag to put on the flue, I mixed up some portland/fireclay/sand mortar. It wasn't quite as smooth, but it bonded very well to the flue pipe. I think it would have done a fine job on the oven.