Sorry just posted about this in another area but it’s more appropriate here. I have 3 inches of exposed firebrick beyond the oven entrance. Even with a door, there will still be a few inches of firebrick for water to get in and under. I guess I should have placed my oven more forward, I overestimated the thickness of blanket/stucco, it simply won’t be enough to bring the oven mouth all the way over the exposed firebrick. What do I do now? Spreading stucco over the front of the firebrick to seal it won’t look good but that’s the only idea I have.
Hi Mike! I’m thinking of this as a problem of proportion. Three inches doesn’t look like much out in the world, but I bet it looks like a boulevard crossing the mouth of your oven.
I presume the exposed firebrick also represent the triangle points of the herringbone pattern along the front border.
My suggestion (and I’m VERY open to others, because there is more than one solution to this, I’m sure): Use your angle grinder and diamond cutting blade. Draw a straight edge with pencil about a half inch outside the oven and parallel to the front. Cut across to make a neat border for your hearth. Fill the gap with ceramic brick or block. It can be decorative if you want. That area does not have to withstand fire heat, but you want it to be flush with the firebrick hearth surface for two reasons: You don’t want your door to rock, and you don’t want any impediment to sliding a pizza peel or cooking pans in and out. Use the existing sand to level the ceramics. I’d seal it at the outside brick border to resist water penetration, but NOT at the hearth border.
And again, this is just one possible solution, so stay tuned.
Hope this helps!
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Wanted to close the loop here, thanks for the idea Matt. I’m going to go with a triangular roof over the opening that extends a few inches past the exposed firebrick, probably over the whole hearth and just be done with it. I didn’t want to cut into the firebrick and risking making a mess of it. As someone who does a bit of plumbing, I’m acutely aware of how a few drops of water can suck enough heat out of a pipe and not allow it to accept solder, so the thought of a waterlogged hearth underneath the firebrick floor scares the crap outta me.
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A post was split to a new topic: Firebrick extends beyond sides of arch