June Perry on sat 14 nov 98
Dear Marcia:
I think the reason they made you remove the wax was because paraffin can burst
into flames if it gets as hot as some of those electric fryers do; and in a
school situation, some uninformed student could turn that thing up and cause
quite a mess.
I've just finished dealing with the town where we are hopefully moving in
January, to get a permit for my kiln on an in town R1 lot, and thank God the
one kiln that I am taking out of the four is the 17 cu.ft. Geil , because I
don't think they would have given me a permit for a home built kiln -- at
least not without a lot more time and trouble. They seemed very relieved when
I told them it was a commercially manufactured kiln and made some disparaging
remark about "Those home made jobs". They also wanted the installations specs
from the manufacturer and bless you Paul Geil, for faxing me that letter! :-)
I got my permit yesterday, but I had to have professionally drawn, to scale,
sketches of the kiln pad and shed, as well as a to scale plot plan showing the
placement of everything in relation to the house and property lines. Found out
we even have a solar rule which means I can't built anything to block my
neighbors sun! Fortunately the three story house was built before the solar
laws and the kiln is going to be tucked in just north of the house, so I was
off the hook with that rule!
It cost me a few hundred dollars for the drawing and permit and I will still
have to pay to rent fork lift and truck to move it in January, the custom
metal shed, the concrete pad, etc. I'm not complaining, though, because I'm
thrilled that they're allowing me to have that kiln, in town, in a Residential
1 zoning.
My husband turned 65 Monday and this is our retirement move. He never was a
country boy and we've always lived in places to accomodate the pottery. It's
definitely his turn and I'm thrilled that he can have his dream now and that
I'll still be able to fire my work at home.
The point of this long message, is that it might be worthwhile to check your
local rules and regulations before you think you can save money building your
own kiln. You may be able to do it but on the other hand, it might be very
difficult to get past the many officials. Geil kilns have major certification
and that was a big plus for me in getting this permit as easily as I did, and
it probably is also of great help dealing with insurance companies. This
doesn't mean you can't design build a kiln and have it be acceptable to your
local building inspectors, but I think it is best to know what they're
expectations will be before you start on a long and expensive project. Also,
it might be as cheap to buy a used "don't rock the boat commercial kiln" than
it would be to build a new one from scratch.
I have seen some great bargains on used gas kilns over the years, eg. $1,000
for a 20 cu. ft gas kiln in very good condition. I could list many more. I
turned a friend on to a Halverson kiln that was about a 50 cu ft car kiln that
was only a couple of years old. She only paid $2500 for that kiln. The couple
was getting out of the ceramic business. If you live in or near a large city,
look in the papers and check out auctions as well as the bulletin board at
your pottery supply house. You can also check with Paul Geil and other
manufacturers who may have clients who are trading up in size and looking for
a buyer for their smaller kiln.
Warm regards
June
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