Hello, my name is Sixto and I live in South Minneapolis. I'm about to start work on building a Pompeii-style oven and first wanted to thank FB and the Forum Moderators for creating such a useful source of information.
I have 3 design/construction questions, but first a bit about what I'm planning to build. I'm planning on a 36" inside diameter oven. Initial mockups show this should be plenty big for our needs. I'm a retired architect, and my wife is a potter/teacher so we know enough to be dangerous, but not enough to do it right without help and community support.
Living in Minnesota we know how cold it gets, and also what that can do to an unprotected masonry structure. Multiple freeze/thaw cycles can reduce a beautiful stone, brick or concrete building to an ugly pile of rubble in a few years. I would like to avoid that if possible, so I'm paying attention to drainage, flashing, weep holes etc. My wife is interested in cladding the dome with porcelain tile, which should help add a layer of protection.
My first question is whether the community thinks that adding a layer made of thin aluminum flashing sheets between the insulation and expanded mesh would be good idea to direct any water that leaks through the render, around to the outside base of the dome where it can be flashed and drained out of the way before soaking bricks or insulation. These flashing sheets would overlap like shingles or fish scales, and have some play to take up any expansion/contraction. is there any downside to this? I'm hoping this plus a custom-made removable waterproof cover will let me fire up the oven in the winter without causing any brick damage due to rapidly expanding steam within the bricks.
My second question is that I would like to minimize the depth of the vent area, but also have a good thermal break all around the dome arch - separating the vent floor, walls, and chimney from the dome. I'm thinking that I can help this by making the dome arch 3" shallower, so that the face of the arch at the vent centerline is 3" inside the outside face of the dome brick at the first course. I would still taper and chamfer the dome arch to make a smooth transition on the inside of the dome, I would just try to make it so the dome arch does not project beyond the base of the dome. Then I would add 2 or 3 ceramic rope seals between the dome arch flat face, and the vent/chimney bricks. Any downside to this approach? (see sketch attached)
My last question is about the transition between the brick vent/chimney base and the 6" S.S. double-wall flue. I plan to have a 10" square base plate bolted or screwed to the brick chimney above the arch, but I'm wondering if a 4' flue section plus a flue cap above the plate is tall enough, and if having the anchors plus a cast cement cap would be enough to keep the flue from blowing over in a strong wind (even though it's pretty-much protected by two garages along the alley.)
That's about it for starters... I have to keep digging (topsoil is out, hard clay and rocks below) bulld a 6" thick concrete floating slab with rebar top and bottom (I hope that a 7' square slab with all that weight on top won't get tippy from soil heaving) - Now that I think of it, I'll add some gravel/sand/plastic below the slab for drainage...
Thanks again for all the information shared already, looking forward to the build and your feedback. - Sixto.
I have 3 design/construction questions, but first a bit about what I'm planning to build. I'm planning on a 36" inside diameter oven. Initial mockups show this should be plenty big for our needs. I'm a retired architect, and my wife is a potter/teacher so we know enough to be dangerous, but not enough to do it right without help and community support.
Living in Minnesota we know how cold it gets, and also what that can do to an unprotected masonry structure. Multiple freeze/thaw cycles can reduce a beautiful stone, brick or concrete building to an ugly pile of rubble in a few years. I would like to avoid that if possible, so I'm paying attention to drainage, flashing, weep holes etc. My wife is interested in cladding the dome with porcelain tile, which should help add a layer of protection.
My first question is whether the community thinks that adding a layer made of thin aluminum flashing sheets between the insulation and expanded mesh would be good idea to direct any water that leaks through the render, around to the outside base of the dome where it can be flashed and drained out of the way before soaking bricks or insulation. These flashing sheets would overlap like shingles or fish scales, and have some play to take up any expansion/contraction. is there any downside to this? I'm hoping this plus a custom-made removable waterproof cover will let me fire up the oven in the winter without causing any brick damage due to rapidly expanding steam within the bricks.
My second question is that I would like to minimize the depth of the vent area, but also have a good thermal break all around the dome arch - separating the vent floor, walls, and chimney from the dome. I'm thinking that I can help this by making the dome arch 3" shallower, so that the face of the arch at the vent centerline is 3" inside the outside face of the dome brick at the first course. I would still taper and chamfer the dome arch to make a smooth transition on the inside of the dome, I would just try to make it so the dome arch does not project beyond the base of the dome. Then I would add 2 or 3 ceramic rope seals between the dome arch flat face, and the vent/chimney bricks. Any downside to this approach? (see sketch attached)
My last question is about the transition between the brick vent/chimney base and the 6" S.S. double-wall flue. I plan to have a 10" square base plate bolted or screwed to the brick chimney above the arch, but I'm wondering if a 4' flue section plus a flue cap above the plate is tall enough, and if having the anchors plus a cast cement cap would be enough to keep the flue from blowing over in a strong wind (even though it's pretty-much protected by two garages along the alley.)
That's about it for starters... I have to keep digging (topsoil is out, hard clay and rocks below) bulld a 6" thick concrete floating slab with rebar top and bottom (I hope that a 7' square slab with all that weight on top won't get tippy from soil heaving) - Now that I think of it, I'll add some gravel/sand/plastic below the slab for drainage...
Thanks again for all the information shared already, looking forward to the build and your feedback. - Sixto.
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