Finally getting to building WFO in Calgary, Canada

[UtahBeehiver]

I not sure what gauge SS I used and I do not have a mic. but it is fairly thin. Notice that the welds, done with a tig, are not continuous but at intervals. This is was done to prevent warping during the welding phase also allowing for some expansion. If I were to do again, I would make the cavity a little deeper for more insulation, IE 2" instead of 1.5". Too deep and the doors get heavy fast. I normally place the door on the oven after a pizza party with the interior temp. abt 600-650 so hot but not blazing hot.

[mongota]

I'll chime in regarding RedGard...

I used it on my slab, between my slab and the board insulation.

I do NOT recommend using it on the stucco layers over the dome.

I think you always have to plan on moisture getting in to the oven some way, some how. As a result, you need a safe way to clear the dome of moisture.

RedGard isn't just a waterproof membrane, it's also a vapor barrier. If the dome was encased in RedGard, moisture drying fires could drive the moisture into the insulation and then into the stucco. When the moisture hit the RedGard, it'd be trapped. Trapped moisture, plus added heat from the drying fire? The insulation and stucco could then become hot because of the trapped moisture. The "rubberized" Redgard could then overtemp and stank the place up.

I used Thoroseal over my stucco as a waterproof coating. It's cement based, and it's vapor-permeable. So it resists liquid moisture, but allows moisture vapor to be driven through it by drying fires.

If you want a liquid-type membrane similar to RedGard, look at Laticrete's Liquid Hydroban. It's a waterproofing membrane, but unlike RedGard, Hydroban Liquid is a vapor permeable membrane.

If I had to pick one...which I did, lol...I'd choose Thoroseal because it's a cement-based product, not a "rubber membrane" type of product. And it's vapor permeable.

[shanxk8]

Thanks for the suggestions on waterproofing Mongo.
I've already done my curing fires, but suspect I will still be driving moisture out due to rain and snow.
I also plan to include a breather vent at the top of my dome. I will look into thoroseal. (Search tells me it's called MasterSeal 581)

Is there maintenance to keep it waterproof? Do you really after a certain period like a paint?

[mongota]

No maintenance with the Thoroseal/Masterseal.

I have a 42" diameter dome covered with 4" of blanket insulation and maybe a 3/4" to 1" thick stucco render over the insulation. I weighed out 12-1/2lbs of Thoroseal powder for each coat and mixed it with latex admix and water. It gave me the perfect amount of material for each of the two coats. Zero waste. I used half of the 50lb bag.

The directions will tell you to do a thorough initial mix to a loose consistency, followed by a 10 minute slake. Follow those instructions. I used a small mixing bar on my cordless drill, and remixed it several times while applying to loosen it up. It can stiffen up in the bucket when left alone, but as soon as you hit it again with the drill, it loosens up and flows like pancake batter.

I painted it on with a masonry brush, a standard brush, mine is from Marshalltown. Went on fine. When I got towards the top of the dome I just dumped a bit of it on the dome and schmeared it all over with the brush, that was faster. Work it into the pores, then a quick back brush, then leave it alone.

It helped to moisten the dome prior to applying it. If you apply it on a dry dome, it can seize up as you brush it on.

I'll be adding a vent pipe in my dome as well. I have the threaded pipe and cap. Should have done it already, but I forgot about it.

[shanxk8]

After pizza the other night, we made our first attempt at bread the day after using residual heat. I woke up early and couldn't fall asleep, so decided to check the oven temp and attempt to bake the bread.

The oven was at 450°F done and 390°F floor temp . Was colder that the recipe called for 450°F (which wasn't achieved in the floor). I decide to go ahead and that I would just bake longer if needed .

The bread (NY Times no knead bread, let sit for 18 hours) turned out quite good, better than what I've made before in the regular oven. I suspect the longer rise time helped.

Decided I need to make a larger batch the next time, that single loaf looks really lonely.

[shanxk8]

Hello all, was away for a while on vacation, so haven't had much progress of late. I've only had time to slowly work at cutting granite into pieces to hack into a countertop. Here's a couple pictures on the layout of the granite in progress but not attached yet.

[shanxk8]

However, the vacation was kinda interesting from the WFO front as we were in Italy, and we got to visit Pompeii. (Not only is it the namesake for the oven plans I followed, it's also the ancient City that was buried by erruption of Mount Vesuvius)
It was really cool to see how most everything was so well preserved from nearly 2000 years ago. That included an ancient bakery with a wood fired oven!

Here are a few pictures of the outside and inside of the oven. the last photo was described by our guide as the mill used to grind grains into flour. A wooden bar was inserted and the apparatus pushed around to do the grinding.

[JRPizza]

Now that's one heck of a heat break

[shanxk8]

In the last little while, I've been working to finish assembling the granite countertop. I've now finished with that part and pan to next tackle stucco over the ddome One picture with the "finished" granite. It still needs some polishing at the joints and all the edges.

I've also completed a basic insulated door. It still requires some finishing with rustic hardware, but it is more functional than a straight wood door to retain heat. It is 22G plain steel, bent, and attached with machine screws.

[shanxk8]

I also spent my morning with friends whom are much more experienced bread bakers getting a lesson and all learning a but more about baking bread in a WFO. We made what we thought would be an oven full of bread , but ended up having to cook it in to batches.

We started off a little later than we should do the oven was colder than needed, around 405 to 410°F on the floor (wanted 450).
I also did not realize how much the oven would cool off upon putting in the loaves. It was already down to 380 almost right after putting in the first 5 loaves. We ended up putting fire back into the oven to try and get the second batch to brown as desired.

Either way, the end result (of those we've tasted so far) was excellent. First 5 were pain ordinaire and next 4 were sourdough.

[shanxk8]

Our son (3 1/2) also got in on the bread shaping and baking. He was very happy to join in and pleased with his end result.
(a happy dad here)

[shanxk8]

Have been in a holding pattern until the last few days, and I've finally gotten started with stucco over our dome. We had an unusually cold and rainy September and early snow in October.
with overnight temps getting above freezing again I've gotten 2 coats of stucco on.

The first coat I had #20/30 silica sand which was much too coarse. Second purchase was #70, and made for much nicer to work with stucco.
Finished the second coat in the disk this evening, so I only have lifted off the first , coarse coat.

[shanxk8]

Whole is waiting for good weather, I also made myself a metal flashing top to go around the edges of the brick chimney up to the metal chimney and cap.

Made a form from a scrap of 2x6 to pull the flat roll of flashing thru into a bend length that I then had to make angle cuts to get a square topper. (The pictures below will hopefully explain better)

[SableSprings]

Nice flashing construction David! Did you just seal the overlay seam/fold with silicon? Also, in looking at your cap, I'm a little concerned that the middle band inside might constrict the upward air flow. I don't think I've seen one of those chimney caps with that much screen area blocked off. Just something to watch over time when you are firing...as long as there is no constriction it's great, but...

I had used a 1/4" (5-6 mm) hardware cloth on the inside of a chimney cap in a BC Canada Casa 2G90 and found that the mesh would actually plug up with black ash to the point that it would not draw properly. We changed it out to 3/8" (~10 mm) hardware cloth and never had the problem again. (In all fairness, the soot buildup could have been because we are burning fairly pitchy pine wood there since hardwood is not available.)

[shanxk8]

There is a metal double wall insulated chimney inside the brick facade. It is mounted to a chimney mounting plate sandwiched between bricks. My only concern is that the flashing is a little to flat & I need to put something inside to provide a little slope so melting snow (or rain) don't puddle & flow to the middle and go into cavity between insulted metal chimney pipe and the brick facade.

Future problem to solve, it should keep the majority of the snow out for now.

Can't seem to get the forum to bring-up already posted photos well, but here is the post that show's what chimney looks like inside the brick.
https://community.fornobravo.com/for...685#post405685