11 Levels and Rising

Up to the 11th chain of bricks now, moving into the homestretch. From this picture you can see that the brick are going in almost vertical, which makes construction slower. There is a lot more waiting time now while the mortar sets to hold the brick in place before I can move on.

Its also tougher to hold the bricks in place as the angle gets steeper. I now also use sticks cut to length to hold up the bricks aside from the styrofoam guides. This is a top view of the progress to date.



I figure I should be able to close the dome in another two weeks. After that there is:
1. more insulation around the dome for heat efficiency
2. finish the vent and chimney
3. final finish on the exterior of the dome to make it look neat (haven't really decided on what finish to use yet)

This is one way: Gabled House

This is another way: Igloo

Decisions! Decisions!

All in all still looking good for an end November RFP (ready for pizza) date!

Construction Back in Full Swing!

I was away for a few weeks, which is why the blog hasn't been updated. And, of course, no work on the oven either.

I got back from San Francisco last Oct 2 and since the jet lag got me up early, I started working on the Saturday morning after we arrived. It was quite productive since I finally fixed the opening of the oven. This portion of the work has been the most challenging so far since it is not the straightforward brick laying I have been doing the past weeks. It required a lot more planning and cutting the bricks into special shapes to make the opening merge with the rest of the dome.










The picture on the right shows the temporary bricks and wood I put in place to hold up the bricks spanning the opening. The temporary structure was needed to keep the bricks in place while the mortar dried. The picture on the left shows the front view of the oven. This is where the pizza will go in! This work was completed last weekend.

This weekend involved more work on the opening and the merging with the dome structure. Much harder than I had thought and more brick cutting. Each brick on the opening needed to be cut to shape to fit. More detailed pictures on that later this week.

But this is my new get up when I cut bricks. There is a lot of dust flying when I cut and grind, so an old t-shirt wrapped around my head is a very effective filter. Now I understand why construction workers look this way!



Now that construction is on again, I need to re do my timeline. The going is slower now that the angle of the bricks is steeper. There is a longer wait for the mortar to set firmly before I can move on to other bricks.

At the moment it is looking like early December for the first pizza, if all goes well!