Bob Freitas on fri 31 jan 97
Timothy,
I worked for Marathon briefly just before it was sold to Brent, and we
did some repairs to sagging roofs on a couple of older Marathon fiber
kilns. Alot depends on the state of the fiber BEHIND the cover layer. If
the kiln is in good condition as you say, then there is a chance the
back layers of fiber will support some mortar. We used an air set fire
brick mortar (can't recall which, sorry) which was applied using a
pastry bag (for making fancy icing-flowers on cakes). The mortar was
thinned a bit with water, then forced thru an X cut in the fiber near
the center of the sag. It never took much, 1/4cup or so. Carefully push
the fiber blanket back up. If the area is large, use a few more Xs
scattered around, try to space them so the spots of mortar will not
touch. If the sag isn't eliminated right away, then place a sheet of
stiff cardboard or plywood or a bat or two, held in place with a stick
for a few hours, until the mortar is set. WARNING, this is NOT a
guaranteed, sure-fire fix! Bear in mind that once you have placed mortar
behind the facing blanket, it's there for good!(Well, at least till you
rebuild, cursing me all the while!!) I can't speak for the kilns built
by Brent, but the ones we put together before that time were super!
Hope this helps,
Bob
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