PizzaOvenRepair.center (844) 747-3662Mon–Sat, 8am–8pm Book a visit
A domed wood-fired pizza oven finished in warm plaster on a masonry base on a patio, a pizza oven with a round arched mouth and a short chimney above it, a small wood fire burning at the back of the brick floor, a pizza on the stone floor near the mouth, the pizza oven clearly the subject, daylight, seasonless.

Wood-Fired Pizza Oven Repair

A refractory dome over a firebrick or cast hearth, fired with wood and often a gas burner too, with a chimney, a door and thick insulation around it.

(844) 747-3662

Mon–Sat, 8am–8pm

  • 4 things that fail on it
  • 8 makes build it
  • 8 problems it shows

Book a visit

Three short steps, about a minute.

or call (844) 747-3662

Is yours
a wood-fired?

A wood-fired pizza oven is a mass of refractory material shaped into a low dome over a flat hearth, wrapped in insulation and finished in stucco, tile, stone or a steel shell. The fire burns on the floor at the back or one side, and its flame curls up across the dome and back down over the pizza, while the hearth stores the heat it needs to crisp the base. Smoke and hot gas leave through the mouth into a short throat and a chimney, and the height and condition of that chimney decide whether the draft pulls cleanly or pushes smoke back at the cook. Modular ovens from Mugnaini, Forno Piombo, Chicago Brick Oven, Fontana Forni and Alfa arrive as cast sections or as a finished unit, and many are hybrids with a gas burner and its own valve and flame sensor tucked under the floor or along a wall. Marra Forni and Wood Stone build larger domes for pizzerias. The dome is strong in compression but hates water and sudden heat: an oven soaked by rain and fired hard steams from the inside, and the curing fires that drive moisture out were meant to be small and slow for a reason. Most repairs are about that mass: hairline cracks that open wider, floor bricks that spall or rock, a chimney lined with creosote, a door that warps, and on hybrids the same pilot and sensor trouble a gas oven has.

A technician in a plain gray work shirt kneels at the arched mouth of a cold domed wood-fired pizza oven, setting a new firebrick into the pizza oven's brick floor with a trowel, a bucket of mortar and a few loose bricks on the counter beside the mouth, daylight, seasonless. What fails on a wood-fired pizza oven

How to tell

01

Inside the mouth you see a curved ceiling and a floor of firebrick or cast tiles, with ash or a blackened patch where the fire usually burns.
02

A chimney or a flue rises from just in front of the dome or above the arch, and the oven comes with a loose metal or wooden door.
03

The outside is plaster, stucco, tile, stone or a steel skin over a deep, heavy body that clearly cannot be lifted by hand.
04

A hybrid oven adds a gas knob, a pilot window or a burner tray below the hearth, while still keeping room at the back for a wood fire.

Not yours?Outdoor gas pizza ovenCommercial deck ovenConveyor and rapid-cook pizza oven

What fails
on this design.

On a wood-fired pizza oven: cracks in the dome and the arch, hearth bricks that spall or rock, chimney, throat and draft, gas burner and sensor on a hybrid.

The problems it shows

Cracks in the dome and the arch

Fine surface cracks in a refractory dome are normal as it heats and cools. A crack that opens wider every season, lets light or smoke through, or runs across the mouth arch is the one that needs a repair before a piece drops onto the hearth.

Hearth bricks that spall or rock

Water in the floor turns to steam when a big fire is lit, and flakes pop from the face of the bricks. A floor tile that rocks under the peel catches the pizza, and its gaps let ash settle into the insulation below.

Chimney, throat and draft

Creosote narrows the flue, a missing cap lets in rain and birds, and a chimney too short for its surroundings leaves smoke rolling out of the mouth. All three look the same from the patio: a smoky face and a fire that sulks.

Gas burner and sensor on a hybrid

The burner under or beside the hearth has its own valve, pilot and thermocouple or flame rod. Ash and heat from the wood fire foul the sensor, and the gas side then refuses to stay lit even though the wood side works.

Getting at it,
and whether to.

Let the oven go completely cold before the visit and leave the ash where it is, so the burn pattern on the hearth can be read.

What repairs cost

On the visit

  1. Clear a path to the mouth and to any cleanout or gas access door, and move firewood away from the base of the oven.
  2. If smoke is filling a room or a covered area, open windows and doors, let the fire burn down and keep people out rather than smothering it with water.
  3. Tell us how often the oven is fired, how it is covered, whether it was wet before the last fire, and whether a gas burner is part of it.

Repair or replace

A wood-fired oven is nearly always repaired rather than replaced, because the dome, the base and the finish around it are a large piece of work and most damage is local. Cracks can be packed and sealed, floor bricks lifted and reset, a chimney cleaned or capped, and a hybrid's gas parts replaced like any other oven. Rebuilding is on the table only when the dome has sagged, a large section has fallen, or water has ruined the insulation all the way round; the technician lays out what a rebuild means next to a repair.

Book a visit for a wood-fired pizza oven

The problems
it shows.

On a wood-fired pizza oven, most often pizza oven smoke filling the room instead of leaving by the flue.

All problems
An empty rustic pizzeria dining room with a domed brick pizza oven at the far wall, a thick gray haze of smoke rolling out of the top of the pizza oven mouth and hanging under the ceiling, a low fire glowing on the stone floor inside, the tables empty and a window standing open. Gas, fire or smoke at the oven

Pizza Oven Smoke Filling the Room Instead of Leaving by the Flue

6 causes, cheapest first

 A domed wood-fired pizza oven in a backyard, thick gray smoke billowing from its short chimney, a smoldering pile of large damp logs on the pizza oven stone floor visible through the arched mouth, the dome dark with soot.

Wood-Fired Pizza Oven Smoking Heavily Out of the Chimney Top

6 causes, cheapest first

 The outside of a stucco-covered domed wood-fired pizza oven in a garden after rain, a jagged crack running down the side of the dome with a dark damp stain around it, the arched mouth of the pizza oven open and its stone floor cold.

Pizza Oven Dome Cracked Inside or Out After Rain or a Big Fire

6 causes, cheapest first

 Close view of the cold stone floor inside a wood-fired pizza oven, a wide crack running across two cooking tiles with one edge lifted slightly above the other, a light dusting of flour and ash, the curve of the pizza oven dome at the top of the frame.

Pizza Oven Floor Cracked: Split Tiles, Lifted Bricks, Crumbling Stone

6 causes, cheapest first

 The front of a brick-faced wood-fired pizza oven in a restaurant, black soot streaks rising from the arched mouth up across the facade and onto the wall above, a low fire at the back of the pizza oven stone floor.

Black Soot Streaks on the Pizza Oven Arch and Front Face

6 causes, cheapest first

 A domed wood-fired pizza oven in a backyard on an overcast day, a small smoky fire of dark damp logs at the back of the pizza oven stone floor, the inside of the dome still black with soot, a pale raw pizza waiting on a peel resting on the ledge.

Pizza Oven Not Getting Hot Enough to Bake a Crisp Crust

7 causes, cheapest first

 Close view of the lowered door of a stainless commercial deck pizza oven, its edge warped and the gasket along it frayed and flattened, a gap of dark space between door and frame, the pizza oven stone floor visible inside.

Pizza Oven Door Warped, Hinge Broken or Seal Worn Out

6 causes, cheapest first

 A domed wood-fired pizza oven on an empty stone terrace at night, a tall orange flame curling out of its arched mouth and smoke rising toward a wooden pergola beam above, the fire on the pizza oven stone floor behind it. Gas, fire or smoke at the oven

Flames Rolling Out of the Pizza Oven Mouth or Chimney

6 causes, cheapest first

Who builds
a wood-fired.

8 of the makes on this site build a wood-fired pizza oven. Each mark opens that make's own page.

All 16 brands

Wood-fired pizza oven repair,
where we come out.

9 metros, each with its own page.

All service areas

Tampa BayFL · 31 areas

OrlandoFL · 30 areas

Miami / South FloridaFL · 47 areas

New York MetroNY · 75 areas

HoustonTX · 36 areas

ChicagoIL · 50 areas

Los AngelesCA · 95 areas

San DiegoCA · 31 areas

San Francisco Bay AreaCA · 74 areas

A family sliding a pizza into a wood-fired pizza oven on a sunny patio.
For the heart of your home.

Questions about
wood-fired pizza ovens.

Are small cracks in a wood-fired oven dome something to worry about?
Hairline cracks that close again as the dome warms are part of how refractory moves. Watch for a crack that grows each season, one you can slide a card into when cold, or one that shows smoke or light; those let heat and water in and should be looked at.
Why does my brick oven smoke out of the front instead of up the chimney?
Most often the fire is too big or too wet for the draft, the flue is partly blocked by creosote or a nest, or the chimney is too short for the wind around the house. A smoky start that clears once the dome is hot is normal; smoke that never clears is not.
How should a wood-fired oven be dried out after heavy rain?
With several small fires over a few days, each a little larger than the last, and the door left off so steam can escape. A full pizza fire in a wet oven is the classic way to spall the hearth and open the dome.

Back to your everyday

Is it a wood-fired pizza oven?

Say so when you book — it changes what the technician brings and how the visit is planned.

Schedule a repair Call (844) 747-3662
(844) 747-3662 Schedule a repair