Adding an outdoor living space to your backyard can easily be one of the most satisfying things you accomplish in your home projects. An outdoor living space offers both an opportunity and a reason to spend more time enjoying the outdoors than looking at it. And with fewer boundaries than an indoor room, you have more freedom in your designing.
Incorporating a fireplace in your outdoor space will allow for using the area even during the cold months of winter. You may want to include many different items from tables, benches and chairs to a barbecue grill or a fireplace. Imagine a quiet candlelight dinner for two, surrounded by a white, crystalline landscape and a warm fireplace to cuddle by after the meal.
Though there are many types of outdoor fireplaces that you can purchase and have built, many times the style or design does not quite fit into your idea of the perfect fireplace or your budget. By designing and building your fireplace, you will keep the costs of materials down and not have to pay a contractor to do the job. You will also end up with a fireplace that fits you and your budget.
Designing your future fireplace is really not too difficult. The first step is to decide the size, shape and layout of the fireplace. The size and shape can be decided one of two ways: how it will fit into your plans or how your plans will affect the design. The size and shape of the hearth and firebox, as well as the ash pit, will largely affect the size, shape and feel of the fireplace. The hearth, or floor of the fireplace, can be the size of the firebox or can be elongated, extending out towards the sitting area. This creates an area to pull the embers out away from the fire for either warmth or cooking. A low wall around the extended hearth will allow for additional seating closer to the fire, a foot rest or place to set candles, and drinks or dishes.
The next step is to decide what material you will use to build it. Although there are many materials available to build your fireplace with, I would recommend brick. Bricks are easy to handle, easy to use, replaceable, versatile and give a beautiful look to the finished project. Brick layouts are also easily added on to at a later time if desired.
Any type of brick can be used for the exterior. However, the interior, or lining of the firebox, will need to be made of firebricks. Firebricks are bricks that can withstand high temperatures and have high ‘melting points’ (the temperature at which melting will occur). Various types of firebrick, as well as insulating material used with the firebricks, can be used. You will also have to line the flue and chimney with firebricks, heat-resistant tiles or use an insulated metal pipe.
The amount of material, as well as the cost, will vary depending on the type of bricks you use as well as the size of your fireplace. Once you have decided on the size, shape, final design and use of your fireplace, you can safely begin to figure your material needs. Don’t forget to allow extra bricks for mistakes or broken bricks, as accidents can always happen. Remember to get any grout and tools you will need to lay your bricks and a spark guard for the top of the chimney to keep large sparks and embers from escaping the chimney and causing a fire.
If you happen to buy too many bricks, you can use any extra bricks to create a walkway or keep them for future use in or around your home or new fireplace. It is always better to have too much than not enough.
The overall design of your fireplace ultimately is only restricted by any building codes and your imagination. Be sure to check with your local Building Codes office before building your fireplace and always follow your local burning regulations. Never burn during times it is unsafe to burn, and if you have questions, you can call your local fire department to check the burn regulations.
Responsible use of your new fireplace can lead to many memorable times. Enjoy your new fireplace, and let the home fires burn.
