Anyone here ever built an outdoor fireplace?

[Gemma]

This year outdoor project will be a fireplace!
We already have a general idea of the design and as far as material, we are planing on building it out of cement blocks and fire bricks then veneer the whole thing with cobble stones
.
Is there anything else other than "must use fire bricks on the inside" that we should know, for example proper ventilation?

If any of you have an outdoor fireplace I would really like to see it!

 

[CanadianLori]

I don't know the bits about making one but I hope you go forward.

I have a Cuisinart woodburning pizza/baking oven and fireplace. Soooo nice on a cool day to hang about near it in between digging and planting out

Do be very generous on the opening size. So many variances in length of wood logs that being flexible enables you to take advantage of off cuts

 

[Becky]

Sounds great @Gemma! Do you have any photos of what you've got in mind?

 

[Gemma]

We both like this one but finished with cobble stones instead of these bricks

We've seen several videos on youtube but we're still not sure we covered every thing there is to cover before building...anyone can have a video on youtube, it's hard to know who actually knows what they're doing

 

[DirtMechanic]

You will want to know your 2 prevailing winds as far as direction. You would not want a cold wind blowing from behind you in winter, or a storm wind blowing into the fireplace in summer if you can help it. Perhaps a wind screen or wall toward that end would serve to cozy things up a bit?

 

[Gemma]

You will want to know your 2 prevailing winds as far as direction. You would not want a cold wind blowing from behind you in winter, or a storm wind blowing into the fireplace in summer if you can help it. Perhaps a wind screen or wall toward that end would serve to cozy things up a bit?

That is a good advise we hadn't thought of, thanks!
The wind mostly blows from the front of my house towards the back, occasionally from the back towards the front. The construction will be angled in such way that no matter which direction the wind blows it will hit the sides, not directly the front or the back of the fireplace.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

No, but toyed with the idea of building an outdoor bread hearth. or pizza oven. something like that . Not that I make homemade bread or even pizza all the time. So have not a clue why I would want to. Guess my mind works in mysterious ways. LOL.

but if I want an outdoor fire going, I just pile up my logs, branches and throw some BBQ fluid on it and match it. and poof .

 

[Gemma]

if I want an outdoor fire going, I just pile up my logs, branches and throw some BBQ fluid on it and match it. and poof .

I have a fire pit located away from the house, we use it to burn tree clippings, old furniture, and junk like that, ...but a fireplace inside the courtyard would be, in my opinion, totally different, and a nice addition

 

[Esther Knapicius]

So what would a combination fireplace and bread hearth/pizza oven look like. humm. your burning wood for both. building the brink/stone structure,. hummmm. ???? double duty for the space. humm.

 

[DirtMechanic]

A chamber above the firebox is all.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

A chamber above the firebox is all.

to me that would be worth the effort. dual purpose.

 

[Gemma]

to me that would be worth the effort. dual purpose.

Sure sounds like a great idea, but then I would have to do the cooking!

 

[Esther Knapicius]

Sure sounds like a great idea, but then I would have to do the cooking! View attachment 48616

I do all the cooking anyway.

 

[Gemma]

@Esther Knapicius after contemplating further the idea of an outdoor pizza oven, both hubby and I really want one now!
We did a lot of research and decided on the dome style, but there is still much that we need to learn about this type of built before attempting construction, so for now we're going to build just the fireplace, and do the dome pizza oven as a standalone, on the other side of the courtyard.
Thank you for your inspiring idea!

 

[Meadowlark]

I've always wanted to build one. Just haven't gotten around to it. Hope to see more pictures for ideas.