This article is about wood fired pizza oven plans. Building an outdoor wood fired oven is a dream and a challenge for any one, as finding the right plans to fit your needs could be really difficult. Taking into account our experience in the field, we have designed a simple and cheap wood fired pizza oven that is easy to build and has a nice appearance. The first thing you should do before building the oven is to make a complete plan, starting with its dimensions, the cost of the materials up to its location and design.
Before building the wood fired pizza oven, you should choose the most appropriate plans for your tastes and needs. Therefore, you have to decide the dimensions and design of the oven from the very beginning. Don’t forget than you could incorporate the oven in a larger and more complex project, such as a outdoor kitchen. Consequently, you could add concrete cabinets, a small refrigerator and even a cozy patio.
You should use a mix of sand and clay to glue the fire brick together. Therefore, you should not use a regular cement-based mortar, but mix 2 parts clay with 1 part sand until you obtain a compound with the consistency of cream. Using a cement based mortar is a huge mistake, as the top arch will collapse when making a fire inside the oven. In addition, we recommend you to check out the rest of our pizza oven projects, as to see more alternatives.
Made from this plan
Materials
- Bricks and refractory bricks (for the pizza oven)
- Concrete blocks (for the base walls)
- Concrete (foundation and pizza oven flooring base)
- Rebars for the reinforcing structure
- Refractory cement
Tools
- Safety gloves, glasses
- Wet saw (to cut the bricks)
- Hammer, spirit level, carpentry pencil
- Concrete mixer
Tips
- Read carefully our other articles related to pizza oven construction
- Place the wood fired pizza oven far away from inflammable substances or constructions
Time
- One weekend, two workers
Wood fired pizza oven base plans
Step 1: Dig the foundation of the wood fired pizza oven. First, you have to lay the foundation on the construction site. It is important to determine the location and the dimensions of the oven from the very beginning. In most of the cases, a 4’x4′ foundation is enough, but you can adjust its dimensions according to your own needs.
The depth of the wood fired oven varies according to the soil structure and according to the total weight of your constructions.
Step 2: Pour the concrete foundation for the wood fired pizza oven. After you have dug the trenches, you should build a wooden formwork and install it into position.
Next, install a rigid structure of rebars, as you can see in the image. If you don’t have experience in building concrete foundations, we recommend to consult a qualified engineer (he will decide the amount of rebars and the shape of the structure).
Step 3: Build the base of the wood fired oven. Let the concrete to dry out for several days and begin laying the walls of the base. In order to build the walls, you could use either concrete blocks or regular bricks.
Next, you should mix a small quantity of mortar and lay the blocks one by one. Don’t forget to use a spirit level to check if the walls are perfectly plumb.
Step 4: Build the concrete countertop of the base. First, you should build a basic formwork to support the weight of the concrete. Therefore, we recommend you to use four 4×4 posts and two 2×4 wooden boards and build a structure as in the image.
Next, install 2×4 wooden boards over this structure to support the rebar structure and the concrete. Place a foil over the wooden formwork, otherwise the concrete might slip through the cracks between the boards.
Step 5: Build the concrete countertop of the wood fired pizza oven. In order to build a durable countertop, we recommend you to reinforce the concrete by installing a rigid net of rebars. Don’t forget to install 1” spacers under the rebar structure.
Last but not least, you should mix an appropriate quantity of concrete and pour it in the formwork. Level it with a straight edge along the sides of the form.
Wood fired pizza oven plans
Step 1: Build the cooking floor of the wood fired pizza oven, by following our plans. We recommend you to lay the fire brick on the cocrete countertop and fill the small gaps between them with refractory mortar.
The fire brick are better than regular bricks, as they are resistant against the fire developed inside the oven. Therefore, you should lay them on the concrete base, as you can see in the image.
Step 2: Lay the lower walls of the wood fired oven. In order to build the walls, you should use either brick walls (they are cheaper) or fire bricks (more resistant and store the heat and afterwards release it gradually) and lay them over the cooking floor, as in the image.
Step 3: Build the template for the top arch of the wood fired oven. If you use our plans to build your own wood fired oven, the height of the arch should be about 10”. Lay the plywood semicircles on several bricks and don’t secure them with nails (after you have built the arch, it would be impossible to remove the formwork)
Step 4: Place 1×2 wooden boards over the plywood semicircles, as you can see in the image. Remember that you shouldn’t drive in screws or nails to the wooden boards, otherwise it would be impossible to remove them after you build the template.
Work with patience and with great care, as to get the job done like a professional. Use a spirit level to make sure the top arch is perfectly horizontal.
Step 5: Build the arched top of the wood fired pizza oven. Therefore, use bricks and lay them on stretcher on the wooden template, as in the image. Mix a small quantity of mortar (refractory mortar or a mix of sand and clay) and glue the bricks into position.
We strongly recommend you to complete the arch once you have started building it, otherwise it won’t be durable and rigid enough. Let the arch to dry out for a week, before removing the template.
Wood fired pizza oven entrance plans
Step 6: Build the entrance arch, by using the same techniques described above. Therefore, we recommend you to build a basic template, by using plywood and lock it into position on top of several bricks.
Lay the bricks on top of the template and use mortar to lock them into position.
Step 7: Fill the gap between the entrance arch and the entrance arch by laying cut pieces of bricks. Work with great attention to obtain a neat look. As you can see in the wood fired pizza oven plans, building this construction is not difficult if you use the right tools and materials.
Step 8: Build the the entrance arch of the oven and leave a hole on top of it, to let the smoke exit the wood fired oven. The hole should have the same dimensions as the chimney, therefore it is important to decide what chimney you will use from the very beginning.
While the steel chimney is easier to install and cheaper, the brick chimney is more durable but more expensive.
Step 9: Install the chimney of the wood fired pizza oven. Next, you should install an insulation material over the pizza oven and finish it by applying cladding.
Thank you for reading our article about wood fired pizza oven plans and we recommend you to check out the rest of our projects. Don’t forget to share our articles with your friends, by using the social media widgets.
Hello Sir , I love all your designs, but I would appreciate if you send the plans in PDF format, Please.
Enrique.
You can print and download any plans on the site. Read FAQs to learn how: http://howtospecialist.com/faq/
where are the downloadable plans?