The Box is On

Over the past two weeks Scott has been busy preparing the 'box' that will go over the oven. Originally we thought we would use metal 2x4's and Durock to build the box. But after researching the weight load of the 2x4's, we didn't feel they would hold up our rock facade and the decorative 'cap' we plan to put on top. Once again we contacted our experts, and researched the internet for solutions. The cheapest fire-proof solution we could find was building another concrete barrier.

Scott spent several evenings after work cutting all the block, and preparing the holes to feed through the gas line. We started the morning covering the oven with a ceramic blanket. It was really easy and went quick. 

We surrounded the oven with a ceramic blanket.
We used high heat tape to hold it down.

After the blanket was on we started building the box out of 16" x 8" x 4" concrete blocks. Bottom line: The job sucked. The 90+ degree temperatures didn't help, but the smaller blocks were much harder to form since you  had such a smaller area of concrete to apply the mortar. But after six hours, we finished. 

I have to admit Scott was the cheerleader through this day. If it wasn't for him, I would have gave up after 2 hours. The heat killed me and the block weren't lining up well. But we finished and that is all that matters. Scott put a temporary Durock top on the box to keep the blanket dry. 

We used three bags of masonry mix. We built the box four blocks high. 

It took extra time to make sure we had the gas line placed properly. After a lot of research, we found a flexible heavy-duty gas line that we used to connect the burner to the valve, that will then go to the tank. We could only find the gas line at Menards. 

Overall I love the look of the oven with the box. The shape is exactly was I was hoping for. As we were building the walls I realized, "This sucker is tall!" A BIG thanks to my husband for getting me through the day. Teamwork is a good thing.

We are planning to fire the oven up Tuesday night for another Pizza Party! I need to get reading about pizza dough ...