Let The Whitewash Begin

I started off first thing this morning by adding a little mortar to the spaces around the bricks. I wanted to add the whitewash to the mortar between the bricks to add to the longevity so I figured now was the time to make sure any voids were filled. Once the voids were filled it was time to make the whitewash.

After all of the research I did I decided to go with the basic simple whitewash recipe of just the water and hydrated lime. I've had a 5 gallon bucket of lime slacking for a few months so the lime putty was ready and waiting. I didn't want the whitewash to be too thick so I cleaned a 5 gallon bucket to use to mix the whitewash in. Then I used a clean large plastic coffee can to scoop out the lime putty. I scooped out two almost full cans of lime putty and added them to the empty clean bucket. Then I filled the bucket the rest of the way with water. This is about a 10:1 mix of water to lime. I used my cordless drill with a mixer to mix up the whitewash. This worked great and gave me a consistency of about nonfat milk.

So now comes the painting. I started with the top and back of the chimney then moved on to the right side of the chimney. From there I started working around the dome to the left side of the chimney. I left the front of the chimney for last so the mortar that I added had time to dry before applying the whitewash. Once I finished the front of the chimney it was time to take a break.

So here's where I got to by break time. You'll notice all of the newspapers on the counter and bricks. I put these down just to try and keep things clean and make my clean up easy. I didn't want to drip the whitewash all over everything. So on to the base.

So here is the oven after I finished painting the base and took another break. You'll notice that there is a mottled look on the oven. All I can figure out is that the heat was drying some of the lime before it could all be absorbed in. I tried keeping areas damp and tried to keep the coating even but, nothing seemed to make a difference. So I decided to go ahead give the oven a second coat to even the base coat out.

What a drastic difference the second coat made. The mottling was gone and wow did it get bright. The oven is so white now that when that when the sun hits it you need sunglasses to look at it. It looks like something from the Mediterranean. I was watching a show where they were traveling through Greece and Italy and the oven looks like it would belong in any of those places. I have to admit that I do like the way the oven came out so far. I'm going to wait to add any color until after the rest of the kitchen is built. That way I can make sure that all the colors match and the kitchen is all done the same way.

Tomorrow I'll use a wire brush and clean the exposed bricks and give the oven another coat of whitewash. I think I might have time tomorrow after another coat of whitewash to put the boiled linseed oil on the grout on the counter to begin sealing the counter top.

Wiping Down The Dome

So I went outside this morning thinking that today was the day I would have the oven ready for whitewash. I mixed up more slip and grabbed my rag and I started rubbing the front of the chimney. I figured this was a good place to start. I started at the top of the chimney and worked my way down to the brick arch and that's where I got one hell of a surprise.

The left side of the grout on the left side of the center brick suddenly crumbled and I found that there was nothing behind it. I'm thinking that as the oven has been fired over and over it expanded and the void was slowly created. Since any small cracks that showed up I fill, I never saw the void and since I only added to the front to fill the crack nothing ever made it in to fill the void.

You can't quite see it in the picture but, there is a crack of light on the other end and I can see the opposite wall of the chimney through it. This is not good at all but, it does explain why that crack in the chimney kept coming back. So before I could do anything else I had to fix this. So I mixed up a small sticky batch of cob. I made sure there was enough sand in the mix so it won't crack more or compress. I found the perfect sized flat blade screwdriver to fit into the gap. I pressed the cob mix in and then worked and packed it in tight with the screwdriver. I made sure to work it all the way in then fill more and pack again. I did that until it was sealed. Then I laid on the hearth and reached up and worked some cob mix into the crack inside the chimney. I'm hoping that this should alleviate the chimney crack that has been stemming from this.

Now that the huge gaping hole has been fixed I can get on to wiping down the rest of the chimney and dome. I wiped down the sides of the the chimney and the dome. I also wiped down the counter to add to and smooth out the grout. Then I let it all dry, made lunch and took a nice break from the scorching heat. This has been the hottest month of August on record ever here in Arizona. So you can imagine just how it's been working out in the heat. I have learned to take plenty of breaks and drink lots of water and iced tea. I will say this for the heat though, it does help with the stiffness and soreness of my muscles. It does nothing for the pain of my injuries though.

So after lunch I went out and started rubbing and buffing out the chimney and dome.

I also rubbed and buffed any drips or marks that had fallen on the base. I also went back and buffed out the connection between the dome and base.

I also buffed out the counter. I have to say that I like the way this has come out. It has a nice light texture that should hold the whitewash very well and is nicely rounded with a flowing feel. Tomorrow I'll be able to start the whitewash.

I also pulled off the outer door and cleaned it off and wiped it down with some vegetable oil again to re-season it and keep it from rusting. While I was working on the door my son Charles scrubbed the bricks on the oven floor with a wire brush to remove all of the slip that had dripped on it. We took all of the dust from the oven floor and rubbed it into the cracks between the bricks and used a squirt bottle the wet the cracks down. I do this to refill the cracks because over the last year the sand and cob had worked it's way down inside the cracks. I also may have removed some of the loose material on top when I used the shop-vac to remove all of the ash and debris inside the oven to prepare the dome to repair the cracks. When Charles was done I worked on cleaning up the oven floor I worked on cleaning off the exposed bricks just to give the oven a cleaner, more finished look.

The one thing left that I want to do before I whitewash and seal the counter is to fill the open grout spaces around the bricks. I figure that I should do that so I can also paint the grout white and help to waterproof it. I'm really feeling just how close this oven is to completion and I'm looking forward to it. I figure if someone like me with all my injuries can do this, then just about anybody can and I think it's great that it's almost there.

Oh just one other thing to mention. Whatever rag you use don't expect it to last. My rag started out about 6 inches wide by 12 inches long and by the time I was done it was about 8 inches long and between 2 and 3 inches wide with many holes and strings. So expect the rag to be disposable.

Wiping Down The Base

I started this morning with the idea that I was going to use a rag and a bucket of slip to wipe down then entire oven in order to finish blending and smoothing everything out. Well that didn't quite work. You know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men. Well I only got the base done today and I'll have to finish the dome and chimney tomorrow but, the technique worked great.

I chose a terry cloth rag to use for this. I figured it would hold the slip well and with it being a little rough it would help to smooth things out. Overall this worked pretty well. I would dip the rag into the slip and then begin rubbing and working the surface to smooth it out. All of the fill that I had used before was worked down and smoothed out to the point where I had a nice small lines giving me a little texture. I also rubbed the smooth areas giving me the same texture everywhere.

You can see in the picture that there is a difference in color between the base and the dome. What I did was to let the base dry after I rubbed on the slip. Then I took the rag, which was dry by this point, and I rubbed out the base again. This smoothed out the base very well and gave a nice consistent texture all the way around the base. I also found that by using a slightly damp rag I could rub the edges to a very nice and smooth finish.

So on one hand I'm happy how the texture of the base came out but, on the other hand I hate how sore and exhausted I am. I honestly thought this part was going to be quick and easy. Well I'm here to tell you no such luck. Well the next time I do this I'll know what to expect. I takes some pressure and lots of rubbing, squatting and bending but, in the end it was worth it.

I took these pictures just to show the difference in the texture before and after rubbing. The picture on the left is the base just under the door where the finish has been rubbed and the picture on the right is above the door where I haven't rubbed it out yet.

So for those of you who don't know I got the idea to use the rag from reading and watching shows about how indigenous peoples, tribes and cultures all over the world have built and lived in earthen structures throughout history. I found many of these shows and articles to contain many other great ideas. They demonstrated or talked about different slapping techniques with hands, boards and sticks to add and work clay. They discussed different building shapes and designs from single room hut to nine story buildings. They also discussed different finishing techniques used throughout history like the rag finish as well as using leather, hands, trowels, bundles of grass and many others. I thought the finishing techniques information was really pretty amazing. Also they discussed many kinds of coatings and plastering to protect the walls. If you get a chance I would recommend you watch and read as much as you can. I got a lot of ideas from these resources.

So tomorrow I'll begin on the dome and hopefully have it all done and ready for whitewash.

The Thermal Layer, The Cracks Again

Today while I was working on plastering, blending and filling the outside of the oven my son Charles climbed into the oven to work on the cracks in the thermal layer.

Before we get to the work Charles did I want to make some comments about my last post about the cracks in the thermal layer.

"Once the thermal layer is fired and put into use you will inevitably see cracks. There are two types of cracks I found that happen. One type of crack is the expansion crack from the initial firing. When the oven cools these cracks don't close. The nice thing about cob is that to repair these cracks you just wet the cracks with some clay slip and work in more cob to fill the crack. Then smooth them out with a damp finger and let them dry for a day or two before you fire the oven again. This technique works on the inside and the outside of the thermal layer." 

Well this still hold true for he most part. The only thing that I didn't expect was that after using the oven this entire time that some of the cracks would open and stay open after cooking with live fire a number of times. It seems that just building a fie in the middle of the oven for a couple of hours to heat the oven for baking is fine but, when making many pizzas or cooking anything else with live fire has more effect. I think that because the fire is moved against the walls more heat is transferred creating more cracks. However the cracks are still fairly easy to repair. 

"The second type of cracks is the expansion that appears while firing. These cracks close back up when the oven cools. This I have learned is normal in clay ovens. If the cracks close on the outside of the thermal layer then you don't have to try and fill them and if you put the insulation layer over thermal layer it helps hold the thermal layer together. You will need to keep an eye on the inside of the oven. If a crack opens with heat and then closes as it cools then you're fine. However I found that early on some cracks on the inside will start that way and then suddenly they stay open and never close. Those you need to go and fill." 

These cracks start to go away after you've been using the oven for a while. We've been using it for almost a year now and when a crack shows up it stay until we fill it. I think this is because most of the moisture has been removed and the inside of the thermal layer is now more of a terra cotta.

"As long as regular maintenance is done your oven should last. That was another statement that I read over and over but, I had no idea what it meant at that time. Well now I can tell you that regular maintenance means checking and filling cracks."


This is the key to making your oven last. Like I said we've been using our oven for almost a year and the door opening has gotten hit and damaged, the walls have been hit it pans and damaged and the heat has caused some damage. If the cracks and damage is filled and fixed then the oven just goes right on working but, if the damage is left unchecked sooner or later the oven will fail.


OK so with all that said, on with the show. I took a few pictures of the cracks and damage as well as after the repair.

You can see some of the cracks here with one of these being pretty big and deep. The large crack was too long to get it all into frame.

Two more large cracks in this picture as well. Also if you notice the color of the thermal layer. This is caused by the firing. It's all a light red to light brown color. You should also note that these were not the only cracks. there were quite a few that had showed up after so much use.

This was the damage done to the door. Some of these pieces were beginning to get loose. You have to be careful not to hit the door opening walls or this could be your door opening. I have been very careful but sometimes my children have hit it and I have accidentally as well. Also the inner door hits it all the time if we're not careful.

So here's Charles inside the oven working on filling in the cracks. He is using fairly heavy slip to work into the cracks as deep as he can. Then when he's all done with that he'll use the paint brush to smooth out the filled cracks and paint a whole new layer on the inside of the dome.

Here is the thermal layer and door after the repairs are done. I'll give the oven a few days to dry while I finish the outside. Then I'll fire the oven slowly building up heat to fire the repairs to the thermal layer. Also to see if anything else cracks so that I can make the repairs.

The Oven Blended And Filled

So here  is a front and back picture of the oven as it stands at the end of today. You'll notice that everything is blended and filled. I won't lie this was a lot of work and I'm sore but, happy with the results. I'm letting this all dry before I smooth it all out. Tomorrow I'll use some light slip to smooth out everything. I was thinking about using a technique that I read about where a rag soaked in slip is used to smooth everything out. I'll decide tomorrow whether or not to try it.

I did all of the blending and filling by using a heavy slip mixed with sand. I added some of the left over cob plaster mix to the heavy slip. This allowed me to brush it on with a paint brush. This technique worked really well to build up areas slowly and controlled to blend an fill everything but, it does leave a rougher surface. So I'll let it dry and smooth it all out tomorrow.

Sorry for the glare in this picture. The time of day made it really hard to get a decent picture from this side but, you can still see the blended state of the backside of the oven.

Also while I was working on the outside of the oven my son Charles was working on the inside thermal layer. I'll detail that in the next post.

Plastering The Dome Round Two

So I started working on the second layer of plaster for the dome. I started on one side and worked my way around the back then up to the top and down the other side.

I couldn't smooth everything out and I had to wait until the next day to see if there were any cracks. I also had more to fill in on the back of the chimney. You can see in the pictures above that even after I filled more in there are already cracks developing. I'll have to fix those tomorrow when it's all dry.

So this is the oven with the first coat of slip over the second coat of plaster. I will still have to go back and do more filling and blending but, it's really getting close to being done.

As you can see here there is still the rough spots that need to be filled, smoothed and blended. OK I know that I keep saying filled, smoothed and blended but, I never said exactly what I meant by those terms. So here's my definitions for those terms. Filled is just that, to add material into a crack, hole or divot. Smoothed is to remove all of the roughness and leave a fairly slick surface. Blended is to both fill and smooth out areas that have ridges or uneven spaces. So I hope that helps to make sense of what I meant by those terms.

Yes my sarcastic son Jason just had to point out to me as I was taking pictures that there are still cracks appearing on the backside of the chimney.

Replacing Broken Tile ... Tile Repairman At Your Service

So I went out to work on plastering the dome and I noticed a broken tile. I'm not sure what hit the tile but, whatever it was it sure did the job. It could have been something from the big dust storm we had or maybe something was dropped on it. Whatever it was that happened I'm not sure but, I think I need to replace it.

If you look carefully in the picture above you can see where the break started and all the spider cracks fan out from. So I figured that since it was so close to the dome that I had better replace it to keep any water out. Plus since I'm going to work on the dome plastering next I had better replace it now.

I figured that the best way to remove the tile was to remove the grout around it first.

So I used a screwdriver and a small sledgehammer to gently tap out the grout. After that the tile pieces just came right out. I had to sweep and blow out all of the loose debris so the base was exposed and ready to have a new tile placed.

So I used some slip to soften and make the bed sticky again. I also made sure to cover the grout area so that the new grout will adhere well. Also before I placed the new tile I painted the back and edges of the replacement tile with the slip as well.

So I placed the tile and kept pressure on it until it was solid and didn't want to move. It only took a couple of minutes. Then it as time to grout the tile.

OK so I worked new grout in pressing it in very hard to make sure that there was no movement in the tile. The I used some slip to paint the top of the grout. I used the slip on top for a couple of reasons. One was seal the edges, two was to smooth out the grout mix and three was to blend the new grout in with the older grout.

I know this may seem like a lot of information for what some people may consider a trivial thing but, for me this was the first time removing and replacing a tile on this counter or this type of construction and since all of my tile reclaimed it's a limited resource. So I figured that since I had to figure this out that someone else may have to as well and if they have limited resources as well then replacing a single tile makes more sense than ripping up all the tile and starting over.

Plastering The Chimney

So today I worked on plastering the chimney. Before I started on the top end I thought it would be a good idea to add some reinforcement to the front of the chimney. I had a crack develop as I had shown you before. The idea here was to use a strip of wire fencing as the reinforcement.

My idea to use this was two fold. One, was to provide some support for the plaster since the front of the chimney had been washed smooth by the rain. Two, was to stop the crack from transferring through the plaster. A quick note about the rain washed cob/adobe. In order to get the plaster to adhere well to it I had to paint it with the slip. When the rain washed it down it removed most of the exposed clay so I had to use the slip to add the clay back. Any of the new plaster that hasn't been rain washed just needs some water to moisten it.

Before I could do anything on the front of the chimney I had to attach down the reinforcement strip. You can see in these pictures that I used some plaster on the sides to hold it in place. I had to let these cure so I moved on to the upper sections of the chimney.

I worked on the upper section of the back and right side while the reinforcement was curing. Then the rain hit. Ya I know, one of the hottest days of the year and it decides to start to rain. So my son Charles helped me throw a tarp over the oven. 

While waiting for the rain to pass I wrote up the post about the base to catch me up to the work I was doing today.

So the rain passed and I got back to work.

I finished up the first coat of plaster on the left and right sides. I tried to make the transfer to the dome fairly smooth so that the second coat of plaster will cover nicely.

I saved the front of the chimney for last. In the picture above you'll notice the two dark areas. I had a ledge in the front of the chimney that I had to even out. The dark spots were the thicker areas. When I add the second  layer of plaster that should smooth out the entire front of the chimney.

Since I had plenty of cob mix left I decided to add some to the base of the dome to help smooth out the curve of the dome to meet the base and make sure that there is good water run off on the back of the oven.

I figured that it was better to add this today so it could cure and I could fill any cracks before adding the final plaster layer. Hopefully no rain tomorrow so I can finish the plastering.

Back To Base Round Three

I had to begin by filling in and smoothing out the corners followed by all of the edges. I let them setup and began filling the area around the hinge. While I left everything to begin to cure I mixed up a 5 gallon bucket of slip. I made a medium slip so there was enough clay to be able fill some small holes but, thin enough to still be able use a paint brush to apply it.

If you look at the hinge in the above picture you can see where I filled it in and smoothed it out. I did have to open the door several times to make sure there was enough clearance. You'll also notice in the picture the finish on the base. This is from painting the base with the slip. It helped to fill, smooth and blend everything together.

You can see here the corners are filled and the slip has been applied to smooth an blend the surface of the base.

The slip worked very well as you can see. This should make a nice surface for the whitewash and should leave a nice clean surface when it's all done.

Here you can see the difference in the texture of the base compared to the dome. One other thing to note is that if you have any cracks the slip helps to fill and smooth them out. If the cracks are too big then the slip will widen the top of the crack and you definitely know where you need to fill in some more. After you fill in any cracks just paint over them with the slip again and it blends beautifully.

Back To Base Round Two

So my hip was sore so I thought that it would be better to work on the base rather than the chimney today. For the record, I'm still not sure if this was the best idea given how I felt that night and the next morning. So I began by mixing up some plaster mix. I used the same 2 buckets of sifted sand and 1 and 1/2 buckets of sifted clay earth. I did make the mix a little thin so it would be easier to spread and smooth out. About the consistency of soft icing I would say.

You'll notice that I added more grout to the counter. I noticed that when I had scraped the excess grout off last there were some holes and unevenness to it. So I added the grout and let it sit while I started working on the second layer plaster on the base. You'll also notice that I didn't start right at the corner. I did this because I needed to build up the corners and it gave me a ledge to tie into for the corners. My plan was to go all the way around the base then work on the corners. 

I took a break after I finished this section to clean up the grout. I then used some slip again to smooth out the grout. I also wanted let you know that if you're using glazed tiles you can just let the slip dry an buff it off with a dry rag and a damp sponge. 

Also if you look at the above picture you'll notice that I worked the plaster much smoother than we did on the first layer. I didn't get out all the bumps and dips but, that's part of the traditional stucco / plastered look.

You can see that I worked the plaster all the way around but, there are gaps on the corners. I had to build up the corners to much to be able to fill them in. I let the plaster set overnight and I'll finish the corners tomorrow.

I had to apply the plaster from the bottom up then from the top down. After that I did try and work the plaster in different directions so I didn't have all these vertical lines. I think it helped the texture look more authentic to the adobe style.

Plastering The Dome

Well my next step was to begin plastering the dome. I figure on two coats of plaster to help make a protective shell. I started where the tile meets the dome and worked up so that I would get a nice sharp transition from the tile to the dome.

As you can see I worked towards the back of the oven. On the backside of the oven I started adding to the angle to make it a smoother transition and make sure that any water will drain off. You'll notice in these pictures that there are a lot of rough edges. I left those on purpose to allow the second layer to grab well.

You can see better in this picture the smoothing of the slope to allow for good water runoff.

I'll add more to the angle with the second layer. Because this gap was pretty big I learned the hard way to build it up in layers. If you make the layer too thick it will crack! Then you have to go back and fill the cracks before you add the next layer or the crack will continue.

You can see that I worked up to the chimney. I'll do the chimney and front of the oven another day.

S you can see here that I finished the first plaster layer on the dome. While I let the dome dry I moved on to the second plaster layer on the base. 

Just a word of note here, press hard and remember to wet the surface of the layer that you are plastering. The mud plaster does not like to stick well if the surface is dry when it's applied.