Pdx 42" update

[Macrinehart]

By the why - is there a trick for estimating how many fire bricks I'll need to complete the high-dome oven?

Interior diameter of 42 inches. And bricks are 9"x2.5"x4.5".

[Macrinehart]

The house may fall down but the pizza oven will stand. LOL

Sounds like priorities are in order!

Last weekend I hired the yard crew to come out and help pour the concrete slab. I pitched in with mixing the concrete...took a break to snap a photo of Constantino (shovel), Manchette (temporary foreman), and Jose with the trowel. 35 bags of concrete plus one week of cure time and the finished pad is looking good!

Today I removed the forms for the concrete pad, and then built the stand. Four blocks short, so had to go back for more. I got two sheets of foam-core craft board from Columbia Art & Drafting, and using yardstick compass and some help from my daughter we drew a full-size template for the oven floor, insulation and stucco to use as a guide for ensuring my hearth is adequately sized. Looks good - I'm planning on an overhang for the hearth and the stand size is adequate to have blocks directly under the dome walls on all sides.

I stuffed the cement bags in every other channel around the stand. Next up - angle iron to support blocks over the wood box opening, and then building the hearth form! I'm going to ask my blacksmith buddy to help with a wood stand, and that will go in before finishing the form.

[MarkJerling]

Depends if you're in earthquake country or not. With the frequent shakes here by us I took no chances. The house may fall down but the pizza oven will stand. LOL

[hillscp]

I dry stacked mine. No regrets.

[Macrinehart]

So - it's been a couple weeks since my last update. In that time I got the slab prep done and hired my landscape/yard service crew to pour and finish the slab. It's been curing for about a week, and I plan on starting the stand this weekend.

Question - dry stack block or mortar? I'm planning on using standard 2 cell blocks, just following the guide for the Pompeii oven.

I'll post pics after I get the chance to edit them.

[mongota]

Congrats! Good to see another build thread.

[MarkJerling]

Good luck with your build!

[Macrinehart]

So after doing some drawings and getting some advice on the forum, I decided to go with a 71" x 56" concrete pad and made a good amount of progress on prep work today with sunny sky and 50F temp! Perfect t-shirt weather for hard labor outdoors!

Here's today's picture. The stakes mark the slab dimensions. Using a laser level mounted on the back of my garage to help with grading. Really makes things a lot easier!