--- title: "Maintenance and prevention — Pizza Oven Guides" description: "The routines that keep a pizza oven off our schedule, from curing it with small fires and burning dry wood to sweeping the floor, clearing the chimney and…" url: "https://pizzaovenrepair.center/guides/maintenance-and-prevention/" --- Habits that keep an oven baking evenly # Maintenance and prevention guides. The routines that keep a pizza oven off our schedule, from curing it with small fires and burning dry wood to sweeping the floor, clearing the chimney and rotating deck stones. ## Maintenance and prevention, guide by guide. These guides cover the habits that keep a pizza oven baking the same way year after year: curing a new dome with slow first fires, keeping water off a hot floor, carrying ash out only when it is cold, watching the chimney cap, and holding a pizzeria deck to an even bake through a busy week. [All 18 guides](https://pizzaovenrepair.center/guides/) 5-minute read ### [Curing a New Pizza Oven: Slow First Fires on the Maker's Schedule](https://pizzaovenrepair.center/guides/curing-a-new-pizza-oven/) Why brick and refractory need drying, the curing calendars from Chicago Brick Oven, Marra Forni and Wood Stone, the break-in for commercial decks, and when to cure all over again. 5-minute read ### [Cleaning the Pizza Oven Floor and Chimney Without Water on Hot Stone](https://pizzaovenrepair.center/guides/cleaning-the-floor-and-the-chimney/) Letting heat burn off spills, brushing the floor during service, carrying out cold ash in a lidded can, lifting floor bricks where the maker allows it, and how often the flue and cap need a look. 5-minute read ### [Keeping a Deck Oven Baking Even: Dampers, Stone Care and Where the Pies Land](https://pizzaovenrepair.center/guides/keeping-a-deck-oven-baking-even/) Why a deck bakes pale in one spot and dark in another, how dampers and top and bottom settings balance it, the scrape-and-burn-off routine for the stones, and the checks that stay with a technician. ## Habits that keep an oven baking evenly. Every schedule and step here comes from the maker's own manual, and the manual is cited next to the section it supports. Makers disagree, sometimes widely: one cures for two days near the boiling point of water, another climbs to 700°F over five. Where that happens we show both and point you to the manual for your model, because that is the schedule your oven was built around. Home owners will find the wood-fired dome, the hybrid and the outdoor gas oven covered side by side; pizzeria owners and managers will find deck stones, dampers, burn-offs and conveyor belts. The routines differ, but the rule underneath is the same: most damage comes from heat applied too fast or water where it does not belong. Each guide also marks where upkeep ends. Owners brush, sweep, cover, cure and watch; gas fittings, control panels over live wiring, sealed thermostats, a chimney on the roof and anything inside a hot oven belong to a technician, and each guide marks the handover where it happens. [Not sure where to start?](https://pizzaovenrepair.center/guides/#start-here) ### The short answer Curing a New Pizza Oven: Slow First Fires on the Maker's Schedule To cure a pizza oven is to drive the moisture out of its refractory with small, controlled fires before cooking hot. ### The short answer Cleaning the Pizza Oven Floor and Chimney Without Water on Hot Stone The safe way to clean a pizza oven floor is dry: let the heat turn spills to ash, sweep with a long-handled brush, and never put water, ice or cleaning products on hot stone. ### The short answer Keeping a Deck Oven Baking Even: Dampers, Stone Care and Where the Pies Land Keeping a deck oven baking evenly is mostly routine: preheat low and raise the setting, balance top and bottom heat with the dampers or separate controls, spread and turn the pies, scrape and burn off the stones, and keep water off them. ## When reading is not enough. If the checks in these guides did not settle it, the visit picks up from there, stop by stop. [What repairs cost](https://pizzaovenrepair.center/cost/) 1. 01 Gas, power and draft come first 2. 02 The cause, and its cost 3. 03 Parts that ride along 4. 04 Fired up before we go ## The problems these answer. Each has a page of its own, with the causes in the order worth checking. [All 17 problems](https://pizzaovenrepair.center/problems/) Problem ### Pizza Oven Dome Cracked Inside or Out After Rain or a Big Fire 6 causes, cheapest first Problem ### Pizza Oven Floor Cracked: Split Tiles, Lifted Bricks, Crumbling Stone 6 causes, cheapest first Problem ### Wood-Fired Pizza Oven Smoking Heavily Out of the Chimney Top 6 causes, cheapest first Gas, fire or smoke at the oven ### Pizza Oven Smoke Filling the Room Instead of Leaving by the Flue 6 causes, cheapest first For the heart of your home. ## Questions about maintenance and prevention. ### How often does a home pizza oven need a professional look? Once a year suits most home wood ovens, mainly for the flue and chimney, and sooner if smoke has started leaking or cracks have widened. A hybrid adds its gas burner and valve to the same visit. ### Is it safe to leave a pizza oven uncovered through the rainy months? It is the most common cause of trouble we see in wood domes. A fitted cover, the door in the mouth and a rain cap on the flue keep water out, and an oven that did get soaked should be cured again before it is fired hard. ### What does a pizzeria deck oven need each day? A scrape and brush of the stones during service, a burn-off at closing, the ash brushed out before the next morning's light-up and the gas turned down to pilot overnight, as the makers lay out in their manuals. ### Which maintenance jobs should an owner never attempt? Opening gas fittings, testing for a leak with a flame, working behind a control panel with power on, adjusting a sealed thermostat, climbing onto a roof at the chimney or reaching into a hot oven. Those belong to a technician. ## The other sections. Split by what you are trying to find out rather than by which part of the appliance it concerns. [All guides](https://pizzaovenrepair.center/guides/) What the fire and the floor are telling you ### [Common problems](https://pizzaovenrepair.center/guides/common-problems/) - [Why a pizza oven will not heat: short preheats, cold cylinders and wet masonry](https://pizzaovenrepair.center/guides/why-a-pizza-oven-will-not-heat/) - [Why the bottom burns and the top stays pale, and which heat to turn up](https://pizzaovenrepair.center/guides/why-the-bottom-burns-and-the-top-stays-pale/) - [Why a dome cracks: normal crazing, trapped steam and fires too big](https://pizzaovenrepair.center/guides/why-a-dome-cracks/) Safe checks with the oven cold ### [Troubleshooting](https://pizzaovenrepair.center/guides/troubleshooting/) - [Pizza oven troubleshooting in half an hour, with the fire out](https://pizzaovenrepair.center/guides/pizza-oven-checks-before-booking/) - [When the pilot will not stay lit after you let go of the button](https://pizzaovenrepair.center/guides/when-the-pilot-will-not-stay-lit/) - [Find the pizza oven rating plate: under the tray, round the back or behind the panel](https://pizzaovenrepair.center/guides/find-the-pizza-oven-rating-plate/) Gas, flame, smoke and safe bake temperatures ### [Gas, fire, smoke and food](https://pizzaovenrepair.center/guides/safety-and-food/) - [A gas smell at the pizza oven: burners off, supply closed, everyone back](https://pizzaovenrepair.center/guides/a-gas-smell-at-the-pizza-oven/) - [Chimney fire or smoke in the room: closing the door on a pizza oven flue](https://pizzaovenrepair.center/guides/a-chimney-fire-or-smoke-in-the-room/) - [Burning the right wood in a pizza oven: dry hardwood, under 20 percent](https://pizzaovenrepair.center/guides/burning-the-right-wood/) Wood or gas, deck or conveyor, fix or retire ### [Choosing and comparing](https://pizzaovenrepair.center/guides/choosing-and-comparing/) - [Wood, Gas or Electric Pizza Oven: How Each Heats the Stone and What It Asks of You](https://pizzaovenrepair.center/guides/wood-gas-or-electric-pizza-oven/) - [Deck or Conveyor for a Pizzeria: Stone, Moving Air and the Upkeep Behind Each](https://pizzaovenrepair.center/guides/deck-or-conveyor-for-a-pizzeria/) - [Fix It or Start Over: Weighing a Tired Pizza Oven Part by Part](https://pizzaovenrepair.center/guides/repair-or-replace-a-pizza-oven/) Clearances, the hearth under it, the flue and the fuel ### [Installation and setup](https://pizzaovenrepair.center/guides/installation-and-setup/) - [Clearances and the hearth under a pizza oven: walls, roofs and the insulated floor](https://pizzaovenrepair.center/guides/clearances-and-the-hearth-under-an-oven/) - [Venting a pizza oven: chimney height, offsets, hoods and makeup air](https://pizzaovenrepair.center/guides/venting-a-pizza-oven/) - [Gas and power for a pizzeria oven: what the rating plate asks of the building](https://pizzaovenrepair.center/guides/gas-and-power-for-a-pizzeria-oven/) Not sure which section? ### Start from your question The four questions most visits start with, each with the guide that answers it. 18 guides Where to start Where to start --- **[Read on the site: Maintenance and prevention — Pizza Oven Guides](https://pizzaovenrepair.center/guides/maintenance-and-prevention/)** **[Book a visit with PizzaOvenRepair.center](https://pizzaovenrepair.center/schedule/)**