I noticed when I was cleaning that there were little chucks of mortar and when I looked up I could see pieces falling off. I pulled a few down but there are still loose sections, should I bang/scrape these down?
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No! (but a qualified ānoā)
In general, do not scrape or bang inside the oven. One of those chunks could pull out a whole joint with it, and then you have a bigger repair job. Thatās problematic because of the risk that the repair job itself could fail. (There are special compounds that can be used for mortar repair; search these forums.)
If you are concerned that some of what looks like āflashā may fall into your food, try a wire brush or your masonās coarse-bristled brush that is one of the recommended tools. But you must resist the temptation to start picking at the joints, testing them, and so on. Just brush gently and remember that firebrick is fragile and a little brittle.
Do not approach this with a lot of energy, or you will cause some damage that you are sure to regret.
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on that topic - Iām a little worried that after I removed the foam thereās areas that have gaps/cracks between the brick whereās there isnāt mortar. Will this be a problem structurally?
Hi Mark, and welcome to the Brickwood forum!
Gaps wonāt be a huge problem structurally, unless of course they are holes that go right through the joint. The arch structure tends to keep order.
If they are very concerning to you, you can use a high temperature silicone mortar patch (search these forums for a couple of threads on the topic). Itās applied like caulk, and it cures with heat, so donāt use it outside your oven space.
But again, gaps that go an inch or so into the joint are not a major issue.
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Thats great info @bikerbudmatt - thanks for that. Would I want to āsmooth out the mortar/caulkā after applying to even it out in between the cracks - or naturally let it get in the spaces?
Here is my ānow itās morning and Iāve had my coffeeā reply.
The good news is that you can still use high-temp mortar to fix those cracks as long as you have not yet fired up your oven. This is preferable to using the silicone mortar patch.
Here is a FAQ on the subject:
Should I fill in the voids or leave them alone?
As youāll see, it all depends on whether your oven has had a fire in it yet.
Good luck, Mark, and keep us posted!
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very good - thanks for the reply (after coffee lol).
I havenāt fired up yet so Iāll fill the cracks and let it sit for a few days before firing up the oven.
Thx again for advice and help. canāt wait!