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Clay Cob Oven Mosaics Complete

October 17, 2011 @ 20:58 By Gavin Webber 10 Comments

Kim has been working diligently on the oven to make it all beautiful.  All of the tiles have been stuck on and the grout has been applied.  The grout colour is terracotta.

I think that the finish is wonderful and it really is an outdoor feature, as well as a practical oven.

A close up of the tile work.  I am very proud of Kim’s artistic work.

Here is the other side with the grout still wet.  We still have a little bit more grouting to do on the back, but we ran out of grout, and the hardware store ran out of this colour.  We have to wait a week until more stock arrives.  So be it.

Anyway, I still have to apply a coat of render to the besser brick base, which I did not get around to on the weekend due to other priorities (painting the gazebo), so only a few more hours work and it will be totally finished!

I have kept all the receipts for the oven so far, and here is the shock.  It has cost me $916.45 in materials and installation (including all the remaining materials required next weekend).  Even though the clay was free, the tools, stainless steel flue, flue installation costs, bricks, cement, render, mosaics, grout and other sundries were not free.  However, if I had managed to get a second hand flue kit (free), and installed it myself, I would have been able to cut $320 off of that price.  Before we made it, we did search on-line for a pizza oven kit to compare prices, and the cheapest one available was $1600 and was half the size.  I now consider my oven a bargain, and at least if it breaks in any way, shape or form, I can repair it myself and I have all the tools and materials to do it for free!  It will last as long as I will.

So a bit of advice if you are thinking of building one on the cheap.  See if you can source your building materials for free and can befriending a bricklayer, you will save yourself a small fortune.  However, if you don’t build it yourself, you could miss out on learning some very valuable skills for the future.  I can confidently put my hand to basic brick laying tasks around the home.

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Filed Under: Cob Oven

← TGoG Podcast 024 – Cuban Special Period with Linda Woodrow Suburban Retrofit →

About Gavin Webber

Gavin Webber's daily goal is to live a more sustainable lifestyle, in an effort to reduce his family's environmental footprint so we can all make a difference for our children & future generations to come.

Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.

Comments

  1. Megan.K. says

    October 17, 2011 at 22:40

    Well done guys! It looks absolutely beautiful, and I think you got off cheaply for such a functional, permanent feature in your home. Shows it pays to DIY.

    One day I hope to come back to these blog posts for inspiration to make my own oven…

    Reply
  2. brendie says

    October 18, 2011 at 04:23

    it looks very nice, now you have to get your moneys worth by using it.

    Reply
  3. Hazel says

    October 18, 2011 at 10:04

    It looks fabulous. Well done. I was surprised by the cost, but that happens. My outdoor kitchen…made mostly from scrounged material still cost a fair bit by the time I bought cyprus pine for the uprights that had to go in the ground, nails and stuff. I also lashed out on a new circular saw and electric drill…for the ODK but they will pay themselves off in the long run…I hope. When are you inviting us around for a pizza.

    Reply
  4. Christine says

    October 18, 2011 at 20:38

    The mosaics look great! Kim has done a fabulous job.

    Reply
  5. Annodear says

    October 19, 2011 at 14:15

    It is absolutely beautiful. Thanks for posting the pics.

    Reply
  6. Yvonne, Tasmania says

    January 10, 2012 at 14:20

    Looks great, I have made tiles to decorate our own oven, can you tell me what tile glue you used please, as its a mystery to me. They all seem to be waterproof or heat resistant, but not both!

    Reply
  7. Anonymous says

    May 5, 2013 at 05:20

    Very cool! I am helping to mosaic a clay oven, and we’re wondering what kind of grout/mortar to use. What did you use to affix the tiles?

    Reply
    • Gavin Webber says

      May 5, 2013 at 08:55

      Hi anon. We just pressed the tiles into the render, then when it dried too quickly we used normal tile cement. The outer layer does not get very hot.

      Gav

      Reply
  8. Kerryn Pilkington says

    November 16, 2014 at 13:54

    Several years later…. would you do anything differently?

    I’ve been planning (okay, dreaming) of putting in a pizza/outdoor oven in for a while – mostly for the kids. We have 2 boys. 7 and 9 years and the pizza oven features highly in my plans to keep them socialising at home for as long as possible in those teenage years, by providing endless amounts of dough and toppings and a place for them and their friends a safe place to hang out/crash at.

    Anywhooo

    would you change anything in construction with regard to insulation (wool or perlite layer), or even doen to cosmetically (using a clay to take the mosaic rather than concrete? maybe the addition of some table/ shelf like structure on either side for holding pizzas, drinks or supplies.

    regards
    Kerryn.

    Reply
  9. Gavin Webber says

    November 16, 2014 at 20:46

    Hi Kerryn, I noticed that you just purchased my eBook. Thank you.

    As for anything that I would change, I did write a bit about what I would do differently within the book. Also, you can find a video that I made about how the clay oven is holding up a few months ago. You can watch it here;

    http://youtu.be/2ULHg2C-47I

    Gav x

    Reply

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About Gavin Webber

About Gavin Webber

An Ordinary Australian Man Who Has A Green Epiphany Whilst Watching A Documentary, Gets a Hybrid Car, Plants A Large Organic Vegetable Garden, Goes Totally Solar, Lowers Consumption, Feeds Composts Bins and Worms, Harvests Rainwater, Raises Chickens, Makes Cheese and Soap, and Eats Locally. All In The Effort To Reduce Our Family's Carbon Footprint So We Can Start Making A Difference For Our Children & Future Generations To Come.

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