42" Pompeii in Eastern NC

[SableSprings]

...As we finish up the countertop structures, we're really starting to figure out what we want the upper enclosure of the oven to look like. We're planning a 'dog house' style enclosure, with maybe a single slope shed roof. Our original thought was to clad the entire structure with the same stone veneer as the base,, but now I'm worried it will look too monolithic (especially since we have almost a full 6' of structure from the backside/ground level area of the oven. we're playing with the idea of mixing the stone veneer with some other material (brick?wood? metal?) but are stymied. Any suggestions welcome

I've attached a link to a trip advisor review and the Fol Epi organic bakery web site in Victoria, B.C. for you. The trip advisor photos are probably the best to show you what they did around their oven exterior and bread cooling/display shelves...looks to me like a river of stones in the brick structure. Thought it might give you some ideas for your oven's enclosure. I thought I had a picture of the outside and will keep looking for it, but hopefully a couple of pictures on these sites will show you enough...

https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g154945-d1753958-i150818085-Fol_epi-Victoria_Victoria_Capital_Regional_District_Vancouver_Island_Bri.html

http://folepi.ca/

[Damer419]

Looking good.........I will be following your finishing closely. Keep the updates and pics coming!

[Caliea]

Been a while since I posted (real-life got in the way of oven progress!!), but here's my updates:

Finished the dome, and the outer arch. One of the attached pictures shows the finished arch if you look closely. We used full length fire bricks for the lower part of the arch, and then the last few at the top of the arch are only 1/2 length, in order to leave us a gap for chimney gasses to escape upwards. We're planning on using a clay flue liner, and building a chimney on top of the inner/outer arch area to direct the fumes upwards.

I also included one picture of the interior of our dome - it needs to be cleaned in this picture, but I don't have one 'post cleaning'. I have to say - this was the most frustrating area of the build so far. Figuring out how to taper the bricks with the limits of our saw was difficult. You can see that we have more of a mortar joint that is ideal, but I've got my fingers crossed that it won't just crumble in while in use.

We've done some test pours of our concrete countertops. I've used a few different colors from Cheng Concrete (Saddle, charcoal and Ocean). I'm glad we did the test pours, as it's given us a chance to fiddle with the amount of water to include, and also given us a canvas in which to adapt our grinding/polishing techniques. I'll try to take some pictures of those test pours and put them on here, just in case anyone wants to take a peek. We haven't quite decided which direction we're going, but we're getting there.

We built the counters out of treated 2x4s and plan on skinning them with a concrete backer board in preparation for a stone veneer we'll be applying later. The brick 'cube' you see on the right side of the picture is the beginnings of our open BBQ pit. We made a basic form out of 8x8x16" CMUs and then skinned it with reclaimed brick that we had. We've only got the base laid and haven't started the sides/back of the BBQ. It will make more sense once we get a little farther along in the process (we ran out of mortar).

As we finish up the countertop structures, we're really starting to figure out what we want the upper enclosure of the oven to look like. We're planning a 'dog house' style enclosure, with maybe a single slope shed roof. Our original thought was to clad the entire structure with the same stone veneer as the base,, but now I'm worried it will look too monolithic (especially since we have almost a full 6' of structure from the backside/ground level area of the oven. we're playing with the idea of mixing the stone veneer with some other material (brick?wood? metal?) but are stymied. Any suggestions welcome

[Ron-NC]

good to hear you guys are ok - we live in a high sand dune area so no flooding. The lower surrounding areas got a lot of flooding but you can get around ok now that the water is slowly receding.
ron

[Caliea]

Thanks for asking, Ron. We have some major flooding in the areas around us, and lost power for a while, but we're okay. The rivers and sounds are still rising, so there's some anxiety about how high it will get, and some frustration with trying to maneuver around the area, but overall we're doing well. My business just reopened, with no major losses, and we're able to offer free lunches to people who are displaced and without power, so I'm feeling blessed

Also - the oven is still standing and not full of water. So that's a success!


How are you doing? I know the OBX had tons of water - has it mostly subsided for you?

[Ron-NC]

Just checking in to see you guys are all right with the floods from Matthew. I realize your area got hit real hard -
ron

[Caliea]

I am planning on putting up metal stud walls, with durarock (or similar) as a backer board, then a stone veneer on the facade around the oven. We'll be pouring concrete countertops for our kitchen area, and I'm hoping that we can also pour a concrete slab roof (single slope, shed style) for the roof of the oven enclosure. I was worried that we wouldn't have any working room around the oven if we started an enclosure first. Maybe a mistake? Too late to worry now - My curing process may take months at this rate! We've definitely had a monsoon season since I started this project. Our typical rainfall in Sept is about 6". Locally, we've had closer to 18", and Matthew hasn't hit yet.

Is it too late to just seal it up and consider it a cauldron instead of an oven?

[JRPizza]

Good luck with the storm! Whatever water gets in you'll be able to get back out - it will just take time and slow curing. Were you going to wait till the oven is done to put up your roof? You probably wish you had it now, but then would have to worry about it getting blown away too.

[Caliea]

Thanks Gastagg! I'm not sure I'll be posting pics of the insides - there's definitely some wonky things going on in there, but I'm assuming that once the food starts rolling out, no one will be looking too closely at my joints

I've gotten the dome closed in to about a 12" diameter. I'm hoping to get it completely finished before Hurricane Matthew hits us this weekend. We have tarps protecting it from rainstorms, but all I can imagine is going out and watching the 140 mph winds ripping off my protection, and filling my beautiful masterpiece with 20" of water. Not sure I can calculate how long *that* would take to cure out!!!

On the brighter side, the kids are convinced that the oven may possibly be the safest place to weather the storm. We'll see how 4 boys fit into a 42" pompeii....

I've attached a pic of the current status. It's looking similar to my last pictures, but I want proof I got this far in case it blows away/crashes down this weekend!

[gastagg]

The brickwork looks great Caliea! Looking forward to seeing the dome finished!

[Caliea]

Had a chance to work on the oven a few nights this week. I'm up to the 10th course, and it is still spherical!

The arch hasn't fallen, although the back side is....unique and one- of-a-kind.

[Caliea]

We cleared the arch today! Ran out of mortar, but got enough mixed to set the inner arch, and run the course that clears the top of that arch. It's not pretty, but I think it's functional.

Won't get much done this week - husband out of town and kids to ferry around, but we have next weekend clear and are hoping to finish the dome then!

[Caliea]

I reckon you've got some pretty tight joints and tolerances there, nice build keep up the good work

Thanks Crisp - as long as everything going holds together, I'll be a happy camper! Thanks for the encouragement.

[crisp]

I was asking about the arch bricks, and how to figure those out, but I think we have it now.

We laid course #5, and are building the arch in conjunction with the dome courses. I have to say, a lot of builds on this site are super impressive and precise. My build is not one like that. So if you're into super tight tolerances, and have little patience for wonky angles, look away now. I'm posting current pictures of my build. It's not perfect, but I'm pretty thrilled it's upright and starting to look like a sphere!

We have an unexpected free day tomorrow, so I'm hoping to get a few more courses laid, and will post pictures if so.

I reckon you've got some pretty tight joints and tolerances there, nice build keep up the good work

[Caliea]

JR, I've been following that build and your comments made a lot of sense. Thanks for the link