Advice please, base reconstruction!

[mikesuttie]

Righty so here's my dilemma.

I built my over last summer and quite frankly it's amazing and I love it (thanks to all the amazing help and support from the people in this forum!)

BUT I ballsed up one thing in my design that lately has really been annoying me, and has stopped me from giving the whole thing a nice finish.

My problem is the wood storage in the base of the oven, I made the entrance too it waaaay to small and I have to climb in to it to reach my logs and look like an idiot as I can barely get out of it . SO i need to modify it but have no idea where to start. I was thinking hammering/chiseling out the breeze blocks/brickwork and my little archway to make a larger rectangular entrance but I'm scared of destroying it and having the whole thing collapse on me!

Attached are some photos of the almost finished article (doesn't help just thought I'd trow it in there) + the brickwork underneath the rendering.
Any advice before I take a hammer and chisel to it would be great

[david s]

Re: Advice please, base reconstruction!

Assuming you cast a 4" steel reinforced supporting slab over the stand, you should be able to widen it out by heaps without fear of collapse just by looking at the photos.You might like to also consider making an entry in the side, that way you wont disturb your nice decorative brickwork at the front and in addition you'll be creating some airflow which will help dry your wood more. Also wood piling out the front can be a fire hazard from fallen coals

[mikesuttie]

Re: Advice please, base reconstruction!

Thanks David! yea I was thinking about drilling some large holes in the back and sides to create a throughflow of air. I'm probably going to bang out a large chunk of the front only leaving the half bricks at the sides, not too worried about my brickwork as I'm going to render the whole thing and paint it anyway!

Indeed I have about 3 1/2 to 4" of steel reinforced concrete on top.

I'll give it a crack and let you know how it goes! Hopefully I'll avoid catastrophy

[dmun]

Re: Advice please, base reconstruction!

As an alternative, you could keep your nice arch in the front, and make your larger opening on the side. You don't really need more than a couple of armloads of wood at any given time, and that little arch would be a nice storage for that amount.

I don't think you need to worry structurally. We have builders who have supported the slab with just some concrete tube-formed columns.

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: Advice please, base reconstruction!

Nice oven. 4 1/2" angle grinder.

[mikesuttie]

Re: Advice please, base reconstruction!

Cheers!

GianniFocaccia what bricks are those, they are lovely!

Hopfully I'm going to start building another oven soon with my brother in law he'd love brickwork like that!

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: Advice please, base reconstruction!

Hi Mike,
If you're referring to the bricks in my oven build they are manufactured here in CA about 50 miles from home. The manufacturer doesn't call them firebricks but their MSDS claims they have have 50-70% aluminum silicates, whatever that means. I bought them because while the manufacturer refers to them as "Firebacks", they are heavy and widely used in fireplaces. Also, because they aren't perfectly square I found them in the 'seconds' yard. I got a full pallet (377 bricks) for $50.

[mikesuttie]

Re: Advice please, base reconstruction!

I was referring to those in your attached picture, I want them!

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: Advice please, base reconstruction!

Oh, the split-faced concrete blocks? They are manufactured about 10 minutes from home and are used by every known contractor in the state of California. They are installed on endless miles of CA freeway (and that's 1000's) as well as residential walls hence they are commonly referred to as 'freeway wall'.