Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

[geisen]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

James, (or any other master masons)

What do you think?
Clean off the mortar, put on fresh mortar and try again?
use some kinda of high temp epoxy?
put it back and wedge it in with a little sheet metal?

cying in my beer.
Greg

[geisen]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

Dino
The Moz was bufalo. the flour was KA bread. The herb pizza was what they called foccacia style in Gaeta IT. I don't know who those kids are, they keep walking around my house and eatting my food.

I agree on the just remortar the fallen brick; i just have nighmares of it all falling down. Not sure how a single brick of the arch fell out and the rest of the arch didn't come down. I'm really concerned about when I add the rest of the chimminey weight.

first time i have worked with metal studs. getting the hang of it.

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

Greg, 1st of all: Super-nice Pizzas!!! Was the fresh Mozzarella or Bufalo in those Margaritas? I bet they tasted great. I really like the herbed-olive oil flat bread pizza too. Your kids (mini-chefs?) are adorable.

OK...that fallen arch brick. It did only slip. I think it's easily repairable. I think the mortar you used would work fine. If you can pull it out, it's bound to have some mortar stuck really well on it so when you RE-mortar it, it should wedge in really tight and never fall out, but maybe get a hairline crack.
Also, Drake (drakeremoray) posted this for me when I had an interior crack:

I filled my cracks with some furnace cement:
Ace - Ace Tree: Heating & Cooling: Fireplaces & Stoves: Fireplace & Stove Repair: Gasket Cement: Rutland Hi-Temp Stove & Gasket Cement
as it has a little flex to it. I heated up the oven and applied while the cracks were open...Drake

Your steel stud work is great too. Your falling arch is fixable. Just have to find the right method. Good luck, Dino

[geisen]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

Help!!!!!!
Calling all Master Mason's to comment.
The third brick from the left of my outside arch dropped down an inch at high temp. I grabbed a small piece of metal and used it as a wedge to put it back in place (you can see the piece of metal in the photo at the top left side of the offending brick).

Once the oven cooled, the peice of metal wedged in really tight.

The crack goes from the outside arch up to the base of the chimminey.

Any suggestions on repairs in place without having to pull down the chimminey and the outside arch? Is there such a thing as a Hi-temp epoxy?

[geisen]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

2nd pizza I was pretty proud of. thought I had the hang of it and the third pizza stuck coming off the peel......ughhhh what a mess. One of our favorite things about our little pizza place in Gaeta Italy was their Foccachia. Just the crust, olive oil, rosemary, and sea salt...yum. Now I can't wait to get the right flour and yeast.

[geisen]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

Well the curing fires are done and the first pizzas went in. Made the dough the day before, using King Arthur Bread Flour and active dry yeast. Not the best choice but figured while i was learning i could hold off on tracking down the expensive stuff. first pizza wasn't pretty, a little thick and unevenly cooked....but it was an acomplishment none the less.

[geisen]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

Darius
Just got my IR in the mail Monday and am itching to fire it up this weekend. Haven't run it at a full burn yet. probably this weekend. I will post results.

RT
I am going to leave the arch crack alone unless the structure fails. Like the cracks appearing in my face, they add character.

[RTflorida]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

Too bad about the cracks, sad to say - they are gonna happen.
Good luck with that arch crack...I've dug mine out for the 4th time and will fill again as soon as the daily rains subside. I know it does not really affect anything.....it just drives me crazy, staring me in the face.

RT

[KINGRIUS]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

Awesome brickwork! I might have to invest in an economic wet saw from Harbor Freight. Greg, have you taken your infrared readings yet? I am leaning towards a napoleon style oven for better pizza and I'm curious about your measurements.
-Darius

[geisen]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

Dino and Frances
thanks for the reassurance and compliments. I figured the amount of pain and suffering it would take to fix the cracks would be tremendous; and why bother if it works and nothing falls down. When the arch collapses, my great-great-grandson can fix it.
Putting My Head Back In the Sand,
Greg

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

Wow Greg, looks fantastic.
Sorry about the cracks, they don't look bad, really. Your transition looks big. It's gonna draw air well. I just love your big entry. Looks way cool. Can't wait to see it finished.
Your brick work is pretty good, you've shaped the arch bricks property so the cracks shouldn't (IMO) move the brick. Like you said gravity and the good cuts you made will hold it together. I think our ovens can sustain a certain percentage of cracks (even semi-serious ones) and hold up just fine.
Cheers, Dino

[Frances]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

I love the way you got rid of your dome cracks. That'll work, those blighters won't bother you ever again...

I'll chime in on all the advice you got for your archway crack, too, shall I? Not that I'm an experienced builder or anything, but for what its worth it looks a bit like one of the cracks I've got. So I think you should be fine.

[geisen]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

Got my Inf Red Thermo today.......ready to go.

[geisen]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

Like magic, the two dome cracks are gone......Ok, i covered them with 3" of insulation blanket, but at least I can't see them

The dome cracks don't bother me too much based on what everyone else has said in the forum. I was hoping not to get any cracks but wasn't overly surprised to see them.

The crack on my arch has me concerned, I can actually move the brick a little. Hopefully, our good friend gravity will keep it all together.

Any suggestions out there??

[geisen]

Re: Greg's Pompeii 42" - San Diego

AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!
CRAAAAAKKKKKSSS!!!!
Two cracks showed up after the 5th curing fire. Must have been too hot. They run from top to bottom on the outside at the 10 and 2 position if the back of the dome is 12. They aren't too wide. but definately frustrating. No smoke or heat seems to be coming out of them. I was curing the oven when I noticed them so could see if they are visible on the inside. I'll check in the morning.

Of probably bigger concern is the cracks that showed up along the chimminey and in one of the bricks of my outer arch. the mortar seems to have pulled away completely from the brick. I think it was due to the FB mortar I was using towards the end. It doesn't seem to be wearing well.
The RefMix refractory mortar worked great and bonded well. But James asked me to try a new FB mix and I think it needs a little more refinement.