Why I Oughta...

Progress on the pizza oven MVP continues.  At least in terms of the hard surface part of the project.  Back ten days ago, I showed the first timber (6x6x8 treated ground-contact) being placed on site and talked about how much more excavation was required.  A few days ago, I posted a photo showing the three other timbers that I brought home from the lumber store that were ready to get placed for dry-fitting .  Now that I have the first four timbers on-site, I can start to see how much more excavation is required.  With the wall being about ten-inches-tall, that means that I would like to have about ten-inches of gravel behind the wall.  Thus, excavation is for the space required for the timbers to be square plus ten-inches in each direction.  Below is a look at the current state of the area:  All four timbers are on-site and I've been pulling away at the earth that needs to be retained: My plan is to use a flat shovel to create a clean edge in the...

I continue to find small bits of time to excavate and prep the ground in front of the pizza oven slab.  After work, on weekends.  A little bit at a time.  This is #2 on my list of 'priority projects', but that full project also includes weather-proofing the actual oven .  The other part is the hard-surface to stand-on, in-front of the oven.  My (current) thinking is that I'll create an 8x8(ish) area that is edged with landscape timbers.  I'll use a nonwoven geotextile underneath the whole thing and install a couple of timbers as a retaining wall - to help handle the grade change.   Here's my initial excavation post showing some of the dirt removal .   And, just last week, I measured the depth of grade-change at the seven-foot-deep-mark.  About 12" of earth that needs to be held back .  Over the weekend, I picked up one (1) 6x6x8 treated ground-contact landscape timber from the big box lumber store.  It is H E A V Y.  ...

I've excavated the landing in front of the pizza oven a little bit at a time over the past week-or-so.  I've managed to remove about seven(ish) feet x eight(ish) feet in area.  I'd like to get back to (at least) 8x8.  But, I've also begun to figure out what I'm facing in terms of earth that needs to be held back.  Below, is a photo showing the rear edge of the site - showing about eleven-inches of height at seven-feet-back.  The grade isn't too steep in this spot, so if I take out another foot, I'm guessing this might raise up to one-foot-tall.    Here's the initial excavation post from last week . My plan is to get all of the earth removed so I can start to use the eight-foot timber as guide to find level.  Underneath the wall area, I'll excavate a bit to fill with gravel + paver base.   At 12" tall, I'm dealing with a timber with a 5.5" true height.  Thinking two 6x6's (11 inches) might be enough.  But, that all depends on wh...

A year and two weeks ago, I was able to get out with a shovel and start to dig and excavate for the beginnings of the foundation slab of our backyard pizza oven.  This post is from late January showing how the ground wasn't frozen .  Right now...the ground is frozen solid.  What a difference a year makes. Time to get going on the 2025 task plan for the pizza oven.  The order of operations is already baked .  Now come the details.  

Last week, I included a mention of _Laceybakes_ - the focaccia baker on TikTok amongst other little pizza-related tidbits in a round-up post .   Her videos influenced me to make a batch of focaccia this past weekend.  I opted for a simple olive oil and garlic butter-topped bread. I was too impatient (and didn't plan well-enough), so I ended up doing a same-day dough - which lead to an underwhelming hole-structure.    Below are a few photos.   This is the second-ever batch of focaccia that I've made - with my original research back in 2022 .   Some notes:  I used the stand-mixer to do the initial incorporation.  That was a mistake.  Think I over-worked this dough.  I did about five-or-so rounds of stretch-and-folds.  That was probably fine.  I dimpled this focaccia *and then* let it keep rising.  Pretty sure...that I should have dimpled-it right ahead of the bake. Also, as I mentioned above, there was no cold...

I've done this sort of 'notebook' posts in the past and it has been helpful in organizing my thoughts when it comes to project planning.  Here's an 'order of operations' post on a big, 'new bed' backyard overhaul from 2021 that - just by writing - helped me get my head wrapped-around what I needed to do.   I've done similar 'notebook' or 'musing' posts on retaining walls and our boardwalk on the side of our house .  I've referenced Paul Graham's post about WRITING previously - but the gist his POV is: Writing doesn't just communicate ideas; it generates them.  The act of writing about something (in this case...the process around my pizza oven project) shows me that I'm in the MIDST of my learning journey on said process.    Hopefully...by the end of this, I'll have a v1 of what I need to do. I've recently updated a few posts with oven construction, but haven't shown the completed project - just yet.  The...

Even more pizza oven progress.  Dome closing in.  Door template removed.  And...the inner arch stayed up.  

I've been SUPER neglectful of my pizza oven build project here on my own blog.  By that...I mean...I've neglected to update the blog, but not the actual oven.  Good news, bad news, I guess.  Good news:  the oven is built and closed in.   The bad news:  I last posted about it in late September when I was like seven chains up on the dome . Let's catch up - a little bit.   I was able to keep putting up chains and finally got around to building out the door: And, from there, I kept going around and around.  Thanks to the indispensable tool. 

My last check-in on the oven showed the 4th chain of dome bricks rising up.  I call it the 4th, but some call it the 'soldier plus three'.  Whatever.  There are 12 or 13 total chains that are needed to close the dome, so four is about 1/3rd of the way.  Today, I'm showing off the sixth (or 'soldier plus five') chain installed.  Along with the 'anchor brick' for the next chain up. We're starting to get a real pitch on the bricks - see below: And, we're starting to see some curvature to the dome, too.  See below: Lots more to go - including the inner arch.  

Last week, I posted the first few photos of the dome 'going vertical' with the second and third (or first and second if you count the solider course as separate) being mortar'd in with high heat refractory mortar.  Today, I'm showing the next chain (the 4th - or 3rd if you similarly call the solider NOT part of the numbering sequence) going in - where we're starting to see the slightest bit of dome starting to appear with each chain of the dome hanging *over* the previous one oh-so-slightly. Below are a couple of photos showing chain four.  (or three plus the soldier....) I've been cutting the bricks with side angles to get a tight fit and that's been working well.  This chain is the first one where I needed to use wedges under the bricks to get the right top angle. Just eight or nine more to go.  With each chain getting a little bit more difficult. 

Last week, the pizza oven dome went vertical with the first chain rising above the solider course .  Today, I'm showing a few more photos of even more vertical construction.  First, I've learned from the FornoBravo community that part of mortar'ing in a chain of bricks on the dome *should* include the placing and mortar'ing of an 'anchor brick' for the next course/chain.  You can see that below - in the first photo.  I set the first brick of the second chain (soldier + 2) in the middle of the back of the dome.  I did this one evening, then let it set.  I came back the next night and was able to mortar in the bricks to the side while using this fixed brick as an anchor. Below you can see that anchor brick with the rest of the chain: From there, the dome keeps rising: Below you can see the pitch starting to be created by the IT / dome gauge.   Below is the solider + three chains.  Four in total - from the outside of the dome.   And he...

Back a couple weeks ago, I shared the latest pizza oven build project update:  I set the floor and the first chain of the dome .  I went with an isolated floor, so the first 'chain' of the dome is set at the same height as the floor.  But, instead of being set on a 50/50 blend of mason's sand and fireclay, I set the dome chain with refractory mortar - BETWEEN - the joints.   Today, I'm sharing how the dome is going vertical.  Thanks to my brother-in-law (not Equation Boy/Man, rather on Nat's side), I have an indispensable tool (IT) or dome gauge that allows me to easily set each brick of the dome at the right distance and angle.  You can see it in the first photo below.   The other thing that I did was to cut-down the Masonite template that I used to create the floor and placed it *inside* the dome to keep the floor clean from errant mortar and what-have-you.  I'll pull it out when the dome is complete.   The first photo shows ...

Moving on to building the ACTUAL oven - starting with setting the floor.  The last time I checked in, I showed how I used a 50/50 blend of Masons sand and Fireclay to create a bed for the floor to sit-on that allows for a smooth, even floor surface.  And, just a few days ago, I showed how I experimented with the medium-duty refractory mortar to learn how to set the joints and work with the stuff .   As I've talked about, I'm going with an isolated floor and dome.  That means that I've cut the floor bricks to sit *inside* the dome.  It required a few more cuts, but it is the right move, imho.  My first job was setting the oven floor and landing.  You can see that layout below.  I aimed to have the herringbone pattern hit dead center and I tried to keep larger cuts near the entry to avoid having my peel 'catch' on them: This is a BIG MOMENT for me.  20 years ago, I thought about an oven.  Six months ago, I started the project.  ...

While I still need to set the floor, I decided to see if I could figure out how to make Refractory Mortar work by sticking a couple of bricks together.  I've never done ANY masonry work before this project, so I've quickly upgraded my masonry skills over the past few months.  Starting with pouring the concrete slab and then moving on to using (for the first time) Type S mortar to stick the first blocks into place in the stand, I've used different tools and techniques in elementary ways.    For the dome, I'm going to use Akona Medium-Duty Refractory Mortar that comes in 50# bags - because it is available and affordable.  Some folks use a homebrew of fireclay, portland cement and mason sand, but the guy at the brick distributor talked me out of that - by saying that fireclay was out of code around here.  So, he suggested two products - Firestop 50 or this Akona Refractory Mortar .   I mixed up a tiny batch and grabbed a few cut-offs to see if I cou...

The oven project is continuing to move head.  Last time I posted about it was the cutting and installation of the CalSil insulation board that I mounted on top of a pattern of mosiac tile .  That 4" of CalSil insulation is the base for the firebrick floor.  So, laying that insulation was the last big piece towards building the actual oven.    To get the floor in place and level, I opted to lay down a base of mason's sand (which has no rocks) and fireclay (the dried-up dust from cutting the firebricks that comes off the saw) that I combined 50/50 and wet to make a paste.  You can see this process in a few photos below.  I used a notched trowel to smooth out the paste.  Then....I began to lay the brick floor down like tile.   Next up - laying the full floor and the first layer of the dome.  As a reminder, I opted to isolate the floor from the dome with the dome bricks cut separately from the floor . 

A couple days ago, I posted details of how I am using sheets of tile (flipped upside down) to create a little drainage pattern that sits on top of the poured concrete hearth of our wood-fired pizza oven .  On top of that tile goes - first - insulation.  Then, the floor and dome.  There are a number of ways to do insulation, but over the past few years, the FornoBravo community has seemed to coalesce around the use of Calcium Silicate Insulation Boards as the *best* insulation.  I found some online - sold locally in Southeast Wisconsin - at a decent price.  I bought 54 square feet of 2" thick boards.  I've opted to go with a double layer - 4" of CalSil boards.  That's the recommendation for the 'best insulation' you can use.  Why insulation? To keep the heat *in* the oven.  In this case, it is about creating a barrier between the cooking floor and the concrete hearth.  From what I understand...if NOT for the insulation, the concrete hear...

With the foundation and stand complete for our diy'd wood-fired pizza oven, I recently started turning to building the *actual* oven by cutting bricks last week.   The process of starting the actual oven begins with prepping the top of the hearth to accept the calcium silicate insulation boards.  Cal Sil boards are water-resistant, but you want to keep it as dry as possible so the mass of insulation works as ACTUAL insulation under the oven floor.   The latest innovation for dealing with water penetration that has been driven through the community over at Forno Bravo is the addition of mats of mosiac tiles - set upside down - on top of the reinforced hearth and under the insulation boards.  The idea is that by setting the mosiac tile upside (with the mesh/glue pieces facing up), you create little channels that any surface water that hits the hearth can find its way to the drain holes. I went up to a closeout flooring store on North Avenue in Northlake recently a...