Elevation Changes for Pizza Oven Patio - February 2025

A couple days ago, I posted a photo of how Disney used the "European Fan" pattern with cobblestones to make a hard surface/walkway at Disney Springs and mused about how that might be a really nice way to bring a unique floor surface to our pizza oven patio.   That surface material (in this case cobblestones) is a key decision that I have to begin to work towards as the calendar begins to soon turn to March.

I laid out what I thought (at the time) was my path towards progress with our pizza oven patio in this post back in early January.    The list that I put together included a number of 'to be figured out' items that would help me sort the rest of the decisions - including utilities, size of patio and the change in elevation between the current patio and the pizza oven foundation.  That delta in height is important because it tells me how high the retaining wall needs to be - which in turns tells us what materials/engineering is required to make the wall *work*.  

To figure the change in elevation, I used a couple of stakes, a length of string and a string level.

At the top, by the patio, I pounded in a stake as far as I could send it.  The ground is frozen, so I was only able to get the 'tip' in the ground.  That put the string at six-inches above ground-level.  See below:

I then ran the string out to the oven and used a shovel that I had on-hand to run the string-through.  This way, I could move the shovel up/down to get a perfect level.  See below for shovel-end of string:

And, here below, is the string level.  

That means, on one end, I have 6".  On the other end, I have 32" of height from the top of the oven foundation slab.  Taking the six from the thirty-two, we get 26" of grade change.

26" is two-feet-and-two-inches total.  From grade to grade.

That's a critical dimension.  It tells me how tall the wall will be and what kind of wall I can use (non-reinforced) and how much digging I have to do - pending the flooring material.  

I was thinking of a two-tired/two-level patio.  With the prep area being LOWER than the balance of the patio - something like the thickness of the flooring.  That way, I don't need to remove AS MUCH material.  

So, let's call it;  26" difference to prep area.  And, 3" taller for rest, so 23" to patio.  

The wall needs to sit a 'half course' below grade. And, there's prep BELOW the wall (and floor).  

Typically, under the wall that's 4" of gravel and 4" of block.  And under the floor, that's something like 4" of compacted gravel and 1" of sand.  And a 2.5" paver.

So, call it 8" deep for the wall (23 + 8) = 31".   And (23 + 7.5) = 30.5" for the floor.  Probably easiest to call it 31" deep for both the wall and flooring for excavation.

Going back to my original list.  Here's where we are:

1. Figure out utilities. Primarily electric. where they go, how they get there.
2. 26" delta from current patio to grade of pizza oven slab.
3. Wall details: placement, material, size, height, length, stairs, drainage and even stairs. This determines the floorplan.
4. Lay out floorplan. Size of roof. size of bar, etc. Landing size/depth. storage. utilties, stairs
5. Concrete foundation locations. For posts of roof structure and prep counter (and tie in utilities)
6. Determine oven doghouse and landing and veneer.

Next up is probably floor and wall materials - which include both look/feel as well as budget implications.    And, then getting an electrician out to talk through electrical.