Hi all.
Had a bit of a disaster today, hoping someone might be able to help.
I built a cob oven for making pizza last summer and it performed beautifully. However after lighting it up yesterday I found this morning that it was on fire!! My thinking is that at the back near the base my outer layer must formed a crack while the moisture from a pretty wet winter was pushed out. This let oxygen in to the insulation layer (mixture of clay and wood shavings), which probably smoldered all night until it reached the wood that surrounds the fire brick base. Once this caught fire it spread to the wooden pallets supporting the oven. I put it out before the pallets burned through so its still standing.
My inner dome is intact and doesn't touch the wood (only the outer insulation and outer layer touch the wood) so if i pull off the outer layer and insulation i might be able to replace the burned wood at the back, and maybe replace the insulation layer and outer layer. I'm pretty new to this whole cob thing so I'm not sure if this is a viable plan? I'm guessing if i do this i would need a thicker outer layer to stop this happening again. the other issue is that there is a layer of plywood under the oven floor insulation (made from vermiculite concrete) which has been badly charred. This normally doesn't get that hot (maybe 35-40C) because of the insulation separating it from the fire brick base but my concern is that it might now catch easily and obviously it can't be removed without replacing the whole oven.
I would appreciate any guidance anyone has because as I said I'm fairly new to this and I'm not sure what to do/ if the oven can be saved.
Many thanks,
C.
P.S. I've attached a couple of photos of the back after i removed the outer layer so people can see what im talking about.
P.P.S i know having vermiculite concrete insulation under the oven floor means it's technically not permaculture but I promise the rest of the oven is pretty sustainable.
