Big Als 46” oven and outdoor kitchen

[ECjeep]

Hello all! I’ve been working on the oven for a month or so now. Started with an idea for an outdoor kitchen I saw on Pinterest, then I got lost in the vortex of wood fired ovens and dove in head first . I am near completion but I’m hoping to make a post a week until I get to the end. First off, thank you everyone for the incredibly helpful information posted on this website as well as FB for hosting it.

This all started when I bought a “ fixer upper” home several years ago. Had I know the amount of money time and effort I would eventually dump into it, I never would have bought it. But here I am near the end and finally ready to enjoy my home and yard with my family. The back yard started as a jungle , the previous owners turned the irrigation off ten years ago and NEVER PICKED A WEED SINCE. Believe it or not those pictures are after a decent amount of clearing the vegetation off of the house

[ECjeep]

After the inside remodel was finished it was time to start on the outside. First I cleared the yard and dug the slab for what would eventually be the pizza oven base and surround . After a few slipped disks and what I’m sure will result in a lifetime of back problems, the yard was clear

[ECjeep]

Then I leveled the forms, bent the rebar and poured the slab. After that the flatwork for the back patio was poured and stamped. I crumbled and hired some workers to stack block then we built the forms and had finishers finish the countertop.

[ECjeep]

After that was done, I was finally able to start on the oven itself. I used a vermiculite insulation under the oven at 3 1/2 inches(2x4 on end) , which I know is a little thin but I was worried about height, which still came to bite me in the end (stay tuned) . Has anyone else poured their insulation this thin? Any issues ?

I started laying out the outline of the oven

[ECjeep]

Forno is limiting my uploads today, stay tuned

[ECjeep]

Then I poured the pearcrete and laid the oven base in some sand and fire clay