How to Repair an Outdoor Pizza Oven | Ask This Old House

In this video, This Old House mason Mark McCullough shows a homeowner how to breathe new life into their outdoor brick and stone pizza oven.

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Mason Mark McCullough helps a homeowner fix his pizza oven. The pizza oven’s constructor, another mason, built the structure from fieldstone, brick, and concrete, and Mark loves the design. However, the weather hasn’t been kind to the oven, so Mark lends some expertise.

Difficulty: ⅖
Time: 8 hours
Cost: Under $200

How to Repair an Outdoor Pizza Oven
1. Survey the damage and attempt to find the cause. Many times, the issue is water penetrating around the chimney or flue, freezing, and cracking grout lines or pushing stones loose.
2. Wearing the dust mask, gloves, and eye protection, remove the old chimney (if necessary) by breaking it into small pieces, chipping away any that remain in the top of the oven.
3. Use a grinder with a diamond blade and dust collection attachment to grind the mortar from the damaged joints, going about ¾-inch deep with the blade. Start with the vertical joints and then move to the horizontal joints. If the joints are curved as is often the case with fieldstone ovens, use the sledgehammer and chisel to remove the mortar. Be sure to hook the grinder up to HEPA vac to control dust. Also, clean the joints with water and a masonry brush after grinding.
4. Pour the dry mortar mix into the mixing tub. Add water in small amounts at a time until the mix reaches an oatmeal-like consistency.
5. Use the small pointing trowels to pack mortar into the brick joints. Start with the vertical joints before moving to the horizontal joints. Be sure not to leave any air pockets or gaps. It may be necessary to use different size trowels at different points to ensure there aren’t any empty spaces.
6. For field stone, scoop mortar onto a hawk. Use Margin trowels of different sizes to pack the joints with mortar mix. Mimic the shape and size of the previous pointing to blend the repair in. Go over the wet mortar with a damp sponge to blend the repair in as much as possible and match the rugged look.
7. Finally, place a bed of mortar around the flue’s opening with a masonry trowel. Set the new flue in the bed of mortar and taper the mortar mix away from the flue to promote water shedding. Let the pizza oven cure for 28 days before cooking.

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Materials:
Type N mortar mix [https://amzn.to/3OSAXLS]
Water

Tools:
Mortar tub [https://amzn.to/3zubnak]
Grinder with a diamond blade [https://amzn.to/3oPRK7v]
HEPA vac with dust collection [https://amzn.to/3zQW7FD]
Dust mask [https://amzn.to/3oPSwSg]
Safety glasses [https://amzn.to/3JrAcIv]
Gloves [https://amzn.to/3QjAd3v]
Small sledgehammer [https://amzn.to/3boWPRj]
Masonry chisels [https://amzn.to/3JxdJda]
Masonry brush [https://amzn.to/3SlpR4V]
Variety of masonry trowels [https://amzn.to/3boXh1X]
Masonry hawk [https://amzn.to/3Sm6bxD]
Large sponge [https://amzn.to/3zs7vGT]

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From the makers of This Old House, America’s first and most trusted home improvement show, Ask This Old House answers the steady stream of home improvement questions asked by viewers across the United States. Covering topics from landscaping to electrical to HVAC and plumbing to painting and more. Ask This Old House features the experts from This Old House, including general contractor Tom Silva, plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey, landscape contractor Jenn Nawada, master carpenter Norm Abram, and host Kevin O’Connor. ASK This Old House helps you protect and preserve your greatest investment—your home.

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How to Repair an Outdoor Pizza Oven | Ask This Old House
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