39 inch Corner Build

[JRPizza]

Russell, I have a partial bag of briquettes from before I got my gas grill that I might use, but with all the tall evergreens dropping branches this winter in my yard I have way more small fuel than I am going to need. I was able to keep the temps low - I think I might have spiked into the 350 range briefly, but my dome is pretty dry as I finished it last fall and kept the rain off it. Most of my moisture is in the floor bricks and CF board. I'm still going to go low and slow.
Larry, I am curing without chimney. I could put it on, but would need to remove it if the rains came. I pulled back the temp tarp over my structure, mainly because I could and the forecast is dry for the next few days, but the heat was low for the first fire. I have one more row of bricks to "cap" off the chimney bricks, then I need to work on building up my roof structure. I am struggling to figure out what kind of roof, how to flash the pipe, and how to make it as minimalist as possible but still be able to get up on it if needed to fix a leak or even to drive fasteners. Also need to work on my permanent door, and maybe a heat resistant temporary to use during curing, as it will take me a little time to make the good door and I don't want that to be a pacing item. Sorry to hear you are expecting rain - we are having a mini-heat wave and may hit 80 in Seattle today!

[Larry P]

I saw the forecast for the PNW this morning. Strange inversion of our weather patterns!

Right now I have a 12x12 canopy over my oven. If I install my 3' chimney pipe, it won't clear, so that has to come down. So I was debating, forget the fire this weekend, leave the canopy up, and just start
insulating? Or leave the chimney off, canopy up, and figure that should be fine for the small fires for a few days? I'm leaning towards the latter. Maybe install a short pipe, 1-2 foot, from the hardware store.

Normally we'll get to the point where I can count on no rain for several months, but really good news we're not there yet.

I put a 500W halogen work light in there this morning. I'll stop by at lunch to see if that's managed to heat up the dome at all.

[Larry P]

Not sure what style you're planning for your oven, but if I was doing a minimal roof, I'd probably lean towards a weathered metal roof like e.g. Hell's Backbone Grill in Utah:

[JRPizza]

If you saw my pictures, I only have the adapter plate installed, and really did not have a problem getting a good draw once I got the fire in the middle of the oven. If you have any winds at all, you probably won't melt your canopy. All a short pipe will do is get the heat closer to the canopy so I'm guessing you should just go for it. That is if you don't mind the possibility of a little smoke staining underneath. You could also run a box fan to blow the heat out - something I considered till I saw how little heat I was putting out.

[Larry P]

All good suggestions JR, thanks. If it's raining I guess that will keep the canopy cool but yeah I think I don't need to worry about draw too much, and also don't care about smoke-staining the ebony bricks on my outer arch either.

[JRPizza]

This is why we cure low and slow. My first two fires I kept the dome around 300-350, Today I was shooting for 400-450. Started the fire early and after about 6 hours I noticed water coming out from under the CF board on one side of the oven. Second pic is from a few hours later and the water is still being pushed out. My first course of bricks is around 220F. I'll keep going at this size of fire for the rest of the day/night, then do the same tomorrow (and beyond) as long as water is still appearing. When I don't see any more coming out I'll go for 500-550 at the top of the dome. .
The oven has been covered since last fall except for dry days where I uncovered to allow moisture out. This water is probably what got trapped late last summer when it got dumped on with only a few courses mortared in. I hate to think what might have happened if the first fire had been a big one - thanks to the forum for the curing advice!

[RandyJ]

I am glad you caught that. It is a good lesson for all future builders. It shows that there really is a good reason that you need to do the curing fires in the proper way. Good luck with the rest of the curing process.

Randy

[JRPizza]

I thought it might help folks understand. Here is one more "morning after" shot of how much water came out last night after we shut down for the evening. I tried to add the shot to my previous post but the forum is being kind of wonky.

[Larry P]

Wow! Would not have expected that. It will be interesting to see if mine does the same thing.

[JRPizza]

If you have trapped water it'll either come out like mine did or as steam if you get it that hot. Did you start your burn this weekend as planned? I'm on my fourth burn and the water keeps coming...

[david s]

If you see steam, back off, you're going at it too hard and you risk damage.

[Larry P]

If you have trapped water it'll either come out like mine did or as steam if you get it that hot. Did you start your burn this weekend as planned? I'm on my fourth burn and the water keeps coming...

First burn today. It's been going for about 6 hours now. I've been Pretty good holding the dome under 350, but it has gotten up near 400 a couple times.

[JRPizza]

Got done with my 5th curing fire. First picture is evening after the 4th and I'm still pushing out water. Before I lit my 5th I test fit the chimney vent pipe. The 5th fire got locally hot enough to partial clear the dome. The base was dry but later when I checked it was starting to leak again. Cooked some brats with the coals ;-).

[RandyJ]

Hi there Jr I have one question for you. What is the roof going to be on your roof there? The top of your chimney looks kinda low in comparison. I know code is different from place to place, but wee need to be 3' above the top of the closet roof line.

Randy

[JRPizza]

Yeah, I'm checking with the county. I think code is 2 feet above the nearest roof line within 10 feet, which in my case is the structure roof. I have an extra 3' of supervent I got free cause it was dented, but want to keep the pipe as short as possible. I'm out in the sticks and don't need a permit for my structure, but exempted structures are supposed to comply with code nonetheless.