Friday, October 16, 2009

Building an Outdoor Fireplace or Fire Pit

By Hubert Miles

Your backyard serves many purposes. Using your backyard as an extension of your homes living space allows you to have a place to entertain friends and family. Building an outdoor fireplace or fire pit provides you a place where people can sit and relax after a long work day. Outdoor fireplaces work well when used in conjunction with a covered or screened porch. Fire pits make great additions to patios and around swimming pools. Fire pits also work well beside lakes, rivers, and streams in natural settings.

Design is important when planning to build an outdoor fireplace or fire pit. Are you seeking a place to spend time with friends and family or a quiet place to relax with your special someone?

One option you can do is creating a fire pit in a circle large enough to accommodate the number of guests you will be entertaining on a regular basis. Position chairs around the fire pit where you and your guests can sit back and share stories and good times.

You can design your space for a more intimate setting with over-sized outdoor couches and chairs that will allow for you and the one you love to lay back relax while enjoying a quiet evening and a bottle of wine.

There is not much of a difference in indoor and outdoor fireplaces. The main distance is the height of the chimney. As long as the chimney is high enough to provide a strong draw you will be fine. This is likely a job for a professional, but there are kits that can be purchased that coupled with some carpentry skills can be done by a do it yourselfer.

Fire pits can be above or below the ground depending on your needs and location. Fire pits have a fire rated brick veneer over concrete block with a poured concrete with reinforced steel footing and a fire rated brick floor. You can install a gas fuel line for igniting a fire and a plumbing drain line for easy cleanup as options if you choose.

You can always choose to purchase a portable fire pit made of metal. These should be placed on a non flammable area such as a brick paver or concrete patio and clear of any roof overhangs.

Final Remarks

No matter what you decide to do, installing an outdoor fire pit or fireplace will be a great addition to your backyard and will provide you and your family many enjoyable evenings.

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