Non brew related fireplace build

[KNOTSANE]

I love homebrew and I love drinking some while sitting on my patio with a nice warm fire when the weather gets cool. After I had gone through my third metal fireplace (rusting out) in as many years, I knew I wanted a permanent outdoor fireplace. I sketched out some designs and looked over some other designs I found online and came up with something that compliments the old style architecture and charm that we have down here in New Orleans. With a turn key project hired out to a mason, I would be looking at around $4,000. Well that wasn't going to happen. Having never done a masonry project of this size before, I still knew that my level of skill would make this a fun project to take on myself. So here we go.

Out with Old Rusty III

 

[KNOTSANE]

The first thing I did was the excavation for the slab.

 

[KNOTSANE]

Once the grade was set, the form boards were put in and braced and the steel rebar was tied in. Both horizontal and vertical steel were tied in for the slab and the cinder block sub frame.

 

[KNOTSANE]

Now it was time for some concrete. Also I must note that the two pieces of conduit roughed into the slab is for cable and electric. I'm planning on bringing out a flat screen for night time football games.

 

[AussieBrewerInColorado]

Nice, can't wait to see the progress and finished product.

 

[KNOTSANE]

Next came the construction of the cinder block sub frame and roughing in the gas line and valve to be used as a starter only. (this is a wood burning fireplace)

 

[KNOTSANE]

At this point I knew I kept Old Rusty III around for a reason. I threw him in the firebox area and played with some matches.

 

[KNOTSANE]

At this point the blocks were filled with concrete and it was time to head to the brick yard. I decided to go with old New Orleans reclaimed bricks. So now the fun begins. Because I was basically building this on the fly, I added the other cinder blocks as I went along so I could change something up if I felt I needed to.

 

[KNOTSANE]

Now it's just a matter of laying the bricks, one by one. This process honestly took me much longer than I expected.)

 

[KNOTSANE]

At this point in the brick laying process, I did a dry fit with the fire brick for the fire box itself. I decided to go with a standard basket weave pattern. When I was satisfied with the dry run, I mixed up some refractory mortar and set the fire brick, encasing the firebox.

 

[KNOTSANE]

Now It was time to build a wooden form and set it in place to create the arch for the firebox opening.

 

[KNOTSANE]

working late into the evening, I got the arch set. Next I laid out the metal lintals that will support the chimney flues that are tied into the top backside of the firebox. Seeing this kind of progress is exciting and definitely a motivating factor to keep on keeping on.

 

[KNOTSANE]

After getting all the bricks laid, I pulled out the welder and fabricated the frame for the chimney cap. I dropped the metal frame off at a friends sheet metal shop where they did a roll and crimped copper roof. Can't wait for it to get that nice patina on the copper.

 

[KNOTSANE]

And this is where the hard work pays off. And yes, that is a glass red solo cup wine glass with a crystal stem on it in SWMBO hands. We are from the south after all. And I know I have to go get a grate for the logs. Don't know how I forgot that part of this. Hope you guys enjoyed a walk through of this rewarding project.

 

[AussieBrewerInColorado]

Looks great, nice job! Thanks for sharing.

 

[KNOTSANE]

Thanks Aussie, it really was a fun project and it will get used often.

 

[Beer_is_good_for_you]

Very nice!

 

[SharonaZamboni]

Nice!