40” Pompeii in Rhode Island

[NewEnglandNewb]

Concrete landing is sealed and ready for final installation.

[NewEnglandNewb]

Thanks guys!

UtahBeehiver, I have about 95sq ft of matching concrete countertop in my outdoor kitchen, so I’m committed this point. That has survived 3 winters now. It dos require some maintenance. I have resealed it every year and this year I did fill a small crack. At some point I might splurge and replace it all with granite.

[SableSprings]

You did a fabulous job on the oven! Pizza looks great and it's only the beginning...well done!

[UtahBeehiver]

Congrats, now comes the fruits of your labor. Each time you fire up the oven you learn some of the nuances of WFO and your own personal cooking. Enjoy the next phase. I see you in NE where winters are tough like UT. My polished concrete did not fair to well to the freeze/thaw cycles even with good food safe sealers and is spalling. Hope you have better luck. I am going to have to tile over with something more weather resistance.

[NewEnglandNewb]

The first pie has been cooked! We had a pizza night this weekend. I ended up making 3 pizzas. The pepperoni in the pictures was the first one cooked. I’m very happy for the first go at it, I definitely can improve the dough. I started with a fairly low hydration (58%), 24 hour proof, which I read would make it easier to handle the dough while I get the hang of it. It was a little more dense than I like. I will try a higher hydration next time.

I finished grinding and polishing the concrete countertop landing as well. It still needs to be sealed before final installation. I’m happy with how that came out. It is pretty exciting to move from making a functional wood fired oven to making it look nice. Lots of brick and stonework to go, most of which will need to wait until spring when it gets warmer.

[NewEnglandNewb]

I started my drying fires last Saturday. 7 days of fires of increasing size and I got the dome to clear yesterday!

[david s]

Ah yes. I only noticed the kast pic showing it uninsulated, mu apologies.

[NewEnglandNewb]

Thank you SableSprings!

david s, it is insulated with 1” ceramic fiber blanket (see pic in post #68). I was waiting to start the drying fires until I had that done.

I started drying fires yesterday. This was after a week of running an electric heater. I did one stack of charcoal for about 10 hours yesterday. Today I’m running 2 stacks of charcoal. I will start with actual wood tomorrow.

[david s]

Be careful not to light fires with the flue tile in place. If it is not insulated it will crack, but insulated ok.

[SableSprings]

I've deleted your duplicates...no worries, the forum software has been responding a bit slowly for me as well. I do love the look of your build...it's a stunner!

[NewEnglandNewb]

Sorry for the multiple posts. I kept getting a warning saying post failed… apparently it didn’t. I can’t delete them, but if a moderator can that would be appreciated.

rwiegand, thanks for the tip. I think I found a local source for the slate shingles. A buddy put me in touch with a guy that does a lot of high end building work that said he had 5 or 6 different styles of used shingles he had pulled off of housing he was restoring. I’ll report back if that works out.

As for installing the shingles, my plan it is use thinset like they were tiles in a shower. I’m going to coat the durock with red guard, which is a waterproofing membrane. I don’t want to put holes in that like you would with a more traditional installation method. My method would probably be an awful idea with a roof big enough to cover a house, but I think it will work for my application. I guess time will tell.

[rwiegand]

I got the slates for my oven roof from New England Slate in Vermont. It was worth the trip just to see the operation. We went looking for used slates, but ended up buying new. They have about 10 acres covered with crates of used slates of every size and description.Some of the ones used on cathedral roofs were amazing, about 3x4 ft. It's long enough now that I don't remember why I ended up picking the new ones. They still look great! (you should find pictures in my build thread) Prices were extremely reasonable.

Be advised if you go traditional in your installation the copper nails and flashing will dwarf the price of the slates. I don't know about attaching them to Durock, that wasn't a method I found recommended anywhere; I used fireproof plywood as sheathing, which is not as good for the roof as traditional solid wood laid with gaps. I'd worry that the durock won't hold the nails.

[NewEnglandNewb]

As mentioned in the previous post, I did small concrete poor to extend the round roof shape in front of the oven opening. It needs a little cleanup still, but I’m happy with how that came out. There is a recess in it for an under cabinet LED light.

I wrapped the clay flue liner with ceramic fiber blanket, then added some metal lath and applied the first coat of stucco. I will even it out some with the second coat, but the plan is to cover that with stone veneer eventually. I have been waiting for this step to fire up the oven because I was a little concerned about cracking the flue liner with the inside to outside temperature differential. My goal is to be able to cook the thanksgiving turkey in this oven, so I need to get going with actually using it!

In also installed 1/2” durock for the roof sheathing. It is held down with construction adhesive. Next I will use some thinset and backer tape on all of the joints to really lock it in. Then cover the whole roof in red guard before installing slate shingles.

[NewEnglandNewb]

I haven’t had a lot of free time to work on the oven lately, but am still picking away at things little by little. I did a small concrete poor to raise the hearth up to be just below the level of the top of the underfloor insulation. My plan is to poor a small concrete countertop for the oven landing that matches the outdoor kitchen countertop. I will make sure it pitches slightly away from the oven entry so rain water drains away.

I have most of the roof framed out now. I used 20 gauge galvanized steel studs. My plan here is to use durock as the sheathing and put a couple of coats of redguard over that for waterproofing. I’m on the hunt for some used slate shingles, which I will cut into a somewhat pie shape and mortar in place so I don’t put any holes in the roof sheathing. It will be built more like a shower than a typical roof. I do plan on leaving a few air paths at the soffit to let moisture out in case the insulation does get wet.

I also packed a bunch on P/V Crete around the outer arch/flue area. This will isolate the heat in that area from the masonry wrapped around the clay flue liner while still being able to support its weight. Next I’m going to do a small concrete poor that extends the round edge shape of the roof around in front of the outer arch. I got the idea of doing that from the forno bravo vesuvio. Other than liking the look, that will hopefully keep rain out of the oven entry and will provide a place to put an LED under cabinet light to light the entryway at night.

[mongota]

Coming along nicely, it'll be a beauty when done.