Wayne's SF Bay WFO - FB Pompeii 90 Kit

[Doodney]

Re: Wayne's SF Bay WFO - FB Pompeii 90 Kit

yes, this forum has been great!

[bchoung]

Re: Wayne's SF Bay WFO - FB Pompeii 90 Kit

I just joined the forum and noticed that you live near me. I was interested in seeing your final product. Did you finish your oven?

Byung

[wayner]

Re: Wayne's SF Bay WFO - FB Pompeii 90 Kit

i've taken a few months off from working on the oven due to weather, bathroom remodel, and other smaller more pressing projects around the house. i'll probably get back on it after my in-laws visit next month.

-wayne

[SCChris]

Re: Wayne's SF Bay WFO - FB Pompeii 90 Kit

Time for a few more pictures.

Chris

[wayner]

Re: Wayne's SF Bay WFO - FB Pompeii 90 Kit

Apparently, I took 2 years and 2 months off. Just cleaned up the space. Will snap a few pictures and back working on it this weekend. I didn't even know my thread still existed.

[wayner]

Re: Wayne's SF Bay WFO - FB Pompeii 90 Kit

It took a local oven builder buddy to kick me in the pants to get me back to my oven. I had to scrub and add a little bleach to my soaking tub to get the moss off of the bricks. We got most of the 4th row in place and the entry mortared in. I took out my plywood to try to cleanup some mortar from the entryway. It was warm out, so hopefully the misting of water throughout the day slowed down the mortar cure.

I'm trying to figure out what I had in mind with the arch transition and vent transition. The 2 test pieces, not mortared in yet were cut 2 yrs ago - see the greenish tinge? The beginning of my arch looks like it also has a reveal for the future door. The entryway looks like it'll ease/slant into accepting a Simpson Duravent 8" Collar that I bought - 2 yrs ago.

Next step, wood arch support. Cut bricks for arch and next row.

[wayner]

Re: Wayne's SF Bay WFO - FB Pompeii 90 Kit

I built the wood frame to support the inner arch. I did miscalculate the mortar spacing so I had to trim the right of center brick a bit to make it fit. In hindsight, I should've trimmed the 2 middle bricks to make it symmetrical. At least this is the inner arch.

My current row looks like its going to float and not transition into the inner arch.

I guess I'll worry about this after I see if my arch falls down after pulling the support.

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: Wayne's SF Bay WFO - FB Pompeii 90 Kit

Welcome back to the WFO builds. Keep the pics coming.

[wayner]

Re: Wayne's SF Bay WFO - FB Pompeii 90 Kit

Aaaggghhh!

So, my mortar didn't hold in 3 spots - at the shoulders and between two arch bricks.

HELP!

What's the common masonry knowledge to redo this? Should I chisel and grind it down to a clean surface or will it stick with new mortar?

What's the typical cause of it not adhering properly. Mortar too thin, too thick, drying too fast, brick too wet?

Or should I recut new arch pieces to try to bring the arch back toward the dome in hopes to make the transition smoother?

-Wayne

[Laku]

Re: Wayne's SF Bay WFO - FB Pompeii 90 Kit

What's the typical cause of it not adhering properly. Mortar too thin, too thick, drying too fast, brick too wet?

Mortar drying too fast, bricks getting knocked while the mortar is still green, too wet and the binding agent gets washed away. Those are few that I can think of.

You can clean the bricks and re use them. Or if the arch transition bothers you then it is also opportunity to try to fix that.

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: Wayne's SF Bay WFO - FB Pompeii 90 Kit

I've done more than my share of knocking a brick off a mortar joint and it happen with my arch as well. Laku makes a good point, not happy with arch brick size, you now have chance to change.

[wayner]

Re: Wayne's SF Bay WFO - FB Pompeii 90 Kit

I had another local WFO builder come by to help brainstorm a bit. I'm going to recut the arch and move it back toward the dome about 3/4 inch. Thoughts are to cut the middle section of the arch from longer bricks to help support the transition with the dome.

Good think I have more bricks and plenty of mortar!

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: Wayne's SF Bay WFO - FB Pompeii 90 Kit

Sounds like you are doing the right thing. You'll be glad you re-cut it re-mortared. You waited this long and you are close to finishing so do it right.

[wayner]

Re: Wayne's SF Bay WFO - FB Pompeii 90 Kit

Thanks Dino and others for the encouragement.

It was too easy to lose momentum on this project (1st kid, now 2 yrs) and hopefully going back and reviewing your build along with other guys at the same time, Mfiore and SCChris, I'll try to get myself back on track.

More work this weekend.

[wayner]

It took almost 6 years, but I started curing and using my oven this past spring. From the time that I started, my wife had a kid (now 5), remodeled a bath, added onto the house, built a new deck, and re-landscaped the backyard. Every time I got stuck on some part of the oven, I would distract myself with a bigger project. I had a fellow WFO owner nearby that would check up on me and ultimately push me along. Along the way, we've eaten at most of the best pizza places around SF.

Anyways, all done and enjoying it about once a month. Sometimes pizza, sometimes not, but I'm still amazed that I can cook day 2 at 400+ degrees F and day 3 at 250+ degrees. Last night I had a 10 neighbors over for pizza, roast mussels, charred octopus, roast carrots, hasselback potatoes, and my neighbor snuck in a crumble at the end. With the left over heat today, I tucked in a cast iron skillet pumpkin bread, and eggplant parmigiana. Tomorrow, maybe a braise or at the very least drying out too many tomatoes.

So.... My post is about finishing and wanting to pass along stuff... my Harbor Freight tile/bricksaw, a few leftover bricks, and a small bucket of high heat mortar and some odds and ends. Is there anybody in the San Francisco Bay area starting to build or considering to build? Anything WFO specific, I'm willing to pay it forward. For FREE and with best wishes. Why? I'm not doing this again and this forum of WFO builders was but one of the "indispensible tools" that I needed.

If interested, email me at wwchang@mac.com. In Burlingame, CA near SFO airport.

-Wayne