Foundation for Oven

[stevietomato]

I'm in the very early stages of planning for a WFO in my back yard.  I have a paver patio already installed with about 10"'s of gravel base.  Can I install the WFO on top of this or does it depend on the weight and style?  I have an easement in my back yard that prevents me from installing anything "permanent" but I could "sneak" something in depending on the depth requirements and overall size requirements.  Can someone provide any tips on this process and what type of oven would work best.  Looking at cooking no more than 2 pizza's at a time.

Thanks

[Tscarborough]

What is your location and the soil type?

[stevietomato]

Columbus, Ohio.  Soil type is clay.

Thanks,

Steve

[Tscarborough]

Frost line there is 30" +/- so the pavers will probably not work.  I would look at portables for just cooking a couple of pizzas per session.

[Reep]

It sounds like you might be able to get a relatively heavy oven if it were on a stand ("Portable"?).  But, you would likely need to still put in a foundation square for it to sit on.  I don't think pavers would cut it.  But, there are a lot of good ovens that come on, or can be sold with a stand.

[breadstoneovens]

I would not recommend it. Because of the weight of the oven and the freezing temperature, most like the ground will end-up shifting and sinking under the weight and will be a problem later. Even a portable oven would have to be moved around so it stays leveled.

In the long run pouring a 5'x5' feet concrete slab will be worse it the expense. Any local landscaper should be able to do that for a small $ amount. Check with your county or city local building enforcement, but often for a small slab like that they don't require a permit.

Antoine

[stevietomato]

For the 5'x5' concrete slab, how deep would I need to go?

[Tscarborough]

30" at least.

[breadstoneovens]

30" at least.

[shuboyje]

I've never had to deal with this, as my backyard was half concrete when I bought the house, lots of room for an oven.  

30" at least.

I'm sure you are aware that floating slabs are commonly recommended on Forno Bravo.  What is your opinion on that method?  Logically it makes sense to me, if you built the slab strong enough it won't break from frost and the oven will simply "ride the wave" along with the intact slab.

[dineomite]

The floating slabs all appear to be built in warm/mild weater climates. A slab like that is one heck of a risk in Central Ohio. That's a gamble I woudln't be willing to take.

[shuboyje]

In the last few years they have been recommended by many people for this exact situation, to avoid digging a 3 or 4 foot footing.  I haven't paid a huge amount of attention to the details, but would assume the advice would be to reinforce the heck out of it.  Nobody puts in a footer for a driveway, and they hold up pretty well without a ton of rebar.  Like I said, logically it does make sense that with a bunch of rebar to give it some tensile strength the slab would float.  That's why I'm curious to hear Tom's opinion of this one.  I'm looking to move in the near future, and odds are I won't have a concrete jungle in the backyard of the new house, so I gotta start paying attention to this, lol.

[Tscarborough]

Because what I recommend is not always what I would do.  Code will say 30" at least, because this is not a sidewalk or driveway, it is a structure.  For this particular case, I recommended a portable unit to avoid both situations (permitting and slab).

[dineomite]

It would be foolish to not - at the very least - put pillasters in each corner. There are plenty of examples on Forno Bravo of people in the colder regions of the country putting in footings. With all the work it takes to build a dome, why would you cut corners on something stupid like a footer?  I suggested the very same thing to my dad who's a masonry contractor. He laughed and said, "What happens when the thing heaves and tilts backward with water running into the oven every time it rains? Or you're cooking on a crooked oven surface? Save yourself some money and aggrevation down the road and put the footer in."

If you're going to be moving, I would get something I could take with me. I wouldn't even waste the time building anything. Good luck in your endeavor.  

[stevietomato]

Thanks for the details from everyone.  It looks like a "portable" oven is probably my best bet.  I've been looking at the FB Andiamo70.  This weighs in at about 600lbs.  Would this be too much weight?  Does anyone have any experience good/bad with this oven?  I would be open to any other recommendations.

Thanks

[shuboyje]

Because what I recommend is not always what I would do.  Code will say 30" at least, because this is not a sidewalk or driveway, it is a structure.  For this particular case, I recommended a portable unit to avoid both situations (permitting and slab).

But the portable oven still has to sit on something.  What would you put it on?  

If you're going to be moving, I would get something I could take with me. I wouldn't even waste the time building anything. Good luck in your endeavor.  

Not sure if that part was for me or the OP since I we both mentioned moving.  My oven is already built and is mobile.  No issues there, I'm just thinking ahead.  At my current house I have a large concrete patio it sits on, the house I'm looking at doesn't.  It has a paver patio that I would have to pour a slab next to for the oven to sit on.  Therin lies my interest in this topic, lol.

[stevietomato]

The portable would sit on my paver patio.  I have about 10"s of rock/stone with another 3+"s of paver base that the pavers rest on.

[shuboyje]

Yeah, for an Andiamo 70 that sounds great.  My "portable" oven weighs about 3000 lbs, lol. 

[Tscarborough]

Moveable is not the same as portable, the pavers are fine for that one.

[stevietomato]

Thank you to everyone for the feedback.