Enclosure and Vermiculite Question

[Danno7]

Hello All. I am just in the process of curing and will soon be framing the enclosure for my 36" oven. I have wrapped the oven with 3" of ceramic blanket and I also plan on filling the enclosure with vermiculite. Question I have is, is there any need to place concrete board on the inside of the framing (other than for blocking off the corners to save on vermiculite)? I know this is probably a dumb question, but there is no fear of the vermiculite, which is very light, pushing out on the walls of the concrete board, is there? Thanks a lot.

Signed,
Worry-Wart (Dan)

[UtahBeehiver]

With 3" of ceramic blanket, you should be good without vermiculite, but if you want to dry pour the verm. the have at it. Blocking of the corners is just for saving volume and not necessary, also you can use scrap dry wall as well which is cheaper too. If you go this route, leave an access point to add more later, it will settle.

[Danno7]

OK thanks for the quick reply!

Dan

[mrpubnight]

I second UtahBeehiver's comments. Having just applied 3" of ceramic blanket and having had a fire going for a few hours, I can attest that the outside of my mortar was only about 7-8F warmer than ambient. Assuming when I have full heat saturation, let's say that goes up another 10F or even 20F, it would be no warmer then it will get on a summer's day in the sun.

If you've already bought it and can't return it then fill 'er up, but if you can return it and buy some ingredients for your first pizza or a nice pizza peel then that may better use of that money.

Stephan

[Danno7]

Hey guys, thanks again! I just covered my 36" dome with the blanket yesterday and discovered that in some places there was less than 3". Among the materials I purchased were 3 bags of vermiculite, 4 cubic feet per bag. I calculated that this amount would not be near enough to cover the dome by a few inches, even if I blocked off the corners. Also, I saw another poster say that he purchased 2 rolls of ceramic blanket and had at least 3", if not 4" everywhere. So I contacted the store and they have no problem with me exchanging the vermiculite for another roll of blanket (only $25 more total). So I will be using 2 rolls of ceramic blanket with no extra vermiculite within the enclosure. Chicken wire and wire to hold it all in place.

Question (and I do appreciate all your feedback - this is a great forum): Oven will have an enclosure, so no way of entry except standard vents in the eves. Will the chicken wire be sufficient, or should I skim some cement over the insulation to protect from pests? I don't think anything will be able to get inside, except maybe insect-size, if they even go in there. Thanks again all!!

[Danno7]

Stephan, special thanks to you! Thanks for all your insight and helpful advice! Nice to have made the connection with a fellow Burlingtonian!

Dan

[UtahBeehiver]

Just secure the blanket and move on. You can always place a piece of metal mesh on the back side of the vents if you are concerned about insects.

[thebigt]

Hello All. I am just in the process of curing and will soon be framing the enclosure for my 36" oven. I have wrapped the oven with 3" of ceramic blanket and I also plan on filling the enclosure with vermiculite. Question I have is, is there any need to place concrete board on the inside of the framing (other than for blocking off the corners to save on vermiculite)? I know this is probably a dumb question, but there is no fear of the vermiculite, which is very light, pushing out on the walls of the concrete board, is there? Thanks a lot.

Signed,
Worry-Wart (Dan)

I see you are from Ontario....I live in Saskatchewan and I only did 2" of ceramic blanket as it was difficult to get. I wasn't sure how well it would hold the temp so I did add vermiculite into my enclosure. It insulates pretty good and the vermiculite didn't cost that much more to add. I had it running a couple of weekends ago and the snow on the roof of my enclosure didn't even melt.

[Danno7]

Hey thanks for the info!

[david s]

To fill the corners it is easier and cheaper to fill them with empty plastic bottles.

[Danno7]

Thanks David!

[Dino_Pizza]

I just criss-crossed my insulation with wire and tied the wire off to a few small cement screws into the oven concrete base, just enough to hold a couple of turns of the wire so the insulation did not slide off where I overlapped. On the back of my "out-house" style oven enclosure, I installed an aluminum12"x12" hinged access door I got from Home Depot and of course its a bit useless, but it is fun to open it to show friends the insulated dome a few inches away in the dark. And its always fun to place your hand on the ceramic blanket and feel pretty much no heat with the oven at 800 deg inside! That's also why I agree with others, you don't need the vermiculite.
Good luck on your oven build,
Dino

[Danno7]

Thanks Dino!