Okay, so I needed to get some fire bricks the other day. I’m working on this DIY pizza oven project in my backyard, you know, cause who doesn’t love a good homemade pizza? Anyway, I started looking into it, and man, it’s a whole thing.
First off, I googled “where to buy fire bricks.” The search results were kind of a mess. Some folks said you could find them at regular hardware stores, others said you needed to go to a specialty supplier. So, I decided to just start calling around.
- I hit up the local Home Depot first. The guy on the phone was nice, but he said they only carried regular bricks, not fire bricks. Strike one.
- Then I tried a smaller hardware store in town. The lady there was super helpful, but they were out of stock. She suggested I try a masonry supply place.
So, I looked up masonry suppliers in my area and found a couple of options. I called the first one, and they had fire bricks! But get this, they were like, super expensive. Like, way more than I was expecting to pay. I mean, they’re made from refractory clay. I guess that high-quality stuff doesn’t come cheap. The guy did say that the higher the quality, the higher the production cost and the higher the price. Makes sense.
I decided to call the second place, just to compare. They had fire bricks too, and they were a bit cheaper. The guy there explained that they had different grades of fire bricks, which is why the prices varied. He said a good-quality high or medium duty, low insulating (dense) vitrified alumina firebrick will hold up the best. He also mentioned that some stove manufacturers might recommend or use other types. And good-quality fire bricks like the ones he described were hard to find in a stove shop.
I ended up going with the second place. They had a good selection, and the prices were reasonable. I even picked up some soapstone while I was there, just for kicks. I learned that it is solid, so I’m hoping that means durable.
Anyways, I got the bricks home, and they look pretty good. They’re definitely heavier than regular bricks. Now I just gotta figure out how to actually build this pizza oven. It’s definitely a learning process, but hey, it’s all part of the fun, right?
