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DIY Outdoor fireplace
Posted on 4/18/24 at 12:57 pm
Posted on 4/18/24 at 12:57 pm
Anyone ever built one?
Was thinking of purchasing these plans, tells you exactly the materials required and has step by step instructions. Building one doesn't seem complicated, but for $40 having the plan seems like a no brainer.
I've watched some Youtube videos of guys who purchased and built the plans, and it doesn't seem difficult other than time and effort.
Just curious if anyone has ever built one and have any recommendations.
Was thinking of purchasing these plans, tells you exactly the materials required and has step by step instructions. Building one doesn't seem complicated, but for $40 having the plan seems like a no brainer.
I've watched some Youtube videos of guys who purchased and built the plans, and it doesn't seem difficult other than time and effort.
Just curious if anyone has ever built one and have any recommendations.
This post was edited on 4/18/24 at 12:58 pm
4
Posted on 4/18/24 at 1:18 pm to DukeSilver
Never built a outdoor fireplace exactly, but I have worked with all those materials.
Not too hard, but there are some things that you'll need to get right and might take a bit of practice.
1. Make sure you have a nice level concrete pad that you are building it on. A good solid level foundation is going to go A LONG way in making your life easier and prevent future issues.
2. Learn to mix your mortar right for everything, especially the stone veneer. That is going to be the hardest part is getting the trick to hanging it and it's mostly about your mortar mix.
3. Makes sure you check everything is staying level and square constantly as you go up with the cinder blocks, etc.
I don't see the stone veneer mentioned in your plan building costs, so you might want to research if the plans include hanging it and the cost of it. But maybe I'm just overlooking it somehow.
Not too hard, but there are some things that you'll need to get right and might take a bit of practice.
1. Make sure you have a nice level concrete pad that you are building it on. A good solid level foundation is going to go A LONG way in making your life easier and prevent future issues.
2. Learn to mix your mortar right for everything, especially the stone veneer. That is going to be the hardest part is getting the trick to hanging it and it's mostly about your mortar mix.
3. Makes sure you check everything is staying level and square constantly as you go up with the cinder blocks, etc.
I don't see the stone veneer mentioned in your plan building costs, so you might want to research if the plans include hanging it and the cost of it. But maybe I'm just overlooking it somehow.
This post was edited on 4/18/24 at 1:24 pm
Posted on 4/18/24 at 1:49 pm to NATidefan
Yeah those costs do not include the veneer.
Not sure if I'd go stone or thinbrick, but that'd be an additional cost.
Based on cinder blocks being 25 lbs, I figured just the structure not including the veneer would be roughly 3500. Then add mortar and veneer and anything missed and call it 4000 lbs.
How many inches thick would the concrete pad need to be? 6 inches?
I found this instagram link of something I'm going for. He used an Isokern kit and then cinder blocked around it. Figure I could do the same but without the $4K isokern kit. Then he just used acme "thinbrick" applied to the cinder blocks so those aren't too heavy.
Not sure if I'd go stone or thinbrick, but that'd be an additional cost.
Based on cinder blocks being 25 lbs, I figured just the structure not including the veneer would be roughly 3500. Then add mortar and veneer and anything missed and call it 4000 lbs.
How many inches thick would the concrete pad need to be? 6 inches?
I found this instagram link of something I'm going for. He used an Isokern kit and then cinder blocked around it. Figure I could do the same but without the $4K isokern kit. Then he just used acme "thinbrick" applied to the cinder blocks so those aren't too heavy.
This post was edited on 4/18/24 at 1:54 pm
Posted on 4/18/24 at 2:04 pm to DukeSilver
quote:
How many inches thick would the concrete pad need to be? 6 inches?
Not real sure, but definitely something to reasearch.
Posted on 4/18/24 at 2:25 pm to DukeSilver
I built one 10ish years ago.
like the other poster said, make sure your foundation is rock solid.
I used a firerock fireplace kit. I bought it and all the materials at the local Acme brick store.
Here is a link to the kit: FireRock
Took me a while as I was basically building it by myself. Wife helped some but mostly she kept the kids out of the way.
Was not finished with landscaping in this pic. Looks a lot different now.
like the other poster said, make sure your foundation is rock solid.
I used a firerock fireplace kit. I bought it and all the materials at the local Acme brick store.
Here is a link to the kit: FireRock
Took me a while as I was basically building it by myself. Wife helped some but mostly she kept the kids out of the way.
Was not finished with landscaping in this pic. Looks a lot different now.
Posted on 4/18/24 at 2:31 pm to bbvdd
Did you add cinder blocks to the outside of the kit to make it bigger?
Posted on 4/18/24 at 2:54 pm to DukeSilver
quote:No, the wider portion is framed in 2x4s and plywood and bricks are tied to that.
Did you add cinder blocks to the outside of the kit to make it bigger?
ETA, the bricks are sitting on the foundation of the fireplace.
This post was edited on 4/18/24 at 2:56 pm
Posted on 4/18/24 at 3:00 pm to bbvdd
How thick did you make the concrete pad it's sitting on?
Posted on 4/18/24 at 3:49 pm to DukeSilver
Good share 
I’m looking at a similar build for grill/cooking…tired of playing the buy and replace game with regular grills.
I’m looking at a similar build for grill/cooking…tired of playing the buy and replace game with regular grills.
Posted on 4/18/24 at 7:03 pm to DukeSilver
I’ve had 2 large outdoor brick fireplaces built. Both contractors poured a 4’ pad. Crazy deep.
Posted on 4/18/24 at 7:16 pm to DukeSilver
I’ve not looked at the specs of your kit, but I would pour at minimum, a 12” thick pad.
Posted on 4/19/24 at 9:20 am to Pop
quote:
I’ve had 2 large outdoor brick fireplaces built. Both contractors poured a 4’ pad. Crazy deep.
Feet?
I'm no concrete expert clearly but that seems excessive.
Posted on 4/19/24 at 10:00 am to DukeSilver
quote:
Here are some general guidelines: 4-inch thick slab: A 4-inch thick concrete slab can typically support about 2,000 pounds per square foot [1]. 6-inch thick slab: A 6-inch thick concrete slab can support up to 4,000 pounds per square foot
I think you are going to be fine with a 4 inch pad. The plan is calling for 20 bags of concrete and some rebar, so it sounds like it has the pad in the plans.
Posted on 4/19/24 at 10:40 am to DukeSilver
I was going to do the DIY route. But I decided to go the custom route. By the end of it really wasn’t that much more expensive. Not to mention much more professionally done.
Posted on 4/19/24 at 10:50 am to Potchafa
quote:
By the end of it really wasn’t that much more expensive.
Do you recall how thick the section of the slab below the fireplace was?
Your looks great, but from my research and calling around for pricing on what I'll need I think I can get the whole thing done for $1,800, I plan on doing the add on grilling surface like in the instagram link i posted above and have priced everything out (not including the grill) at roughly $2,200.
If you got yours professionally done for that give me his number lol. Everything I've seen on forums people say they've spend well over $10K on what I'm planning.
This post was edited on 4/19/24 at 10:51 am
Posted on 4/19/24 at 11:44 am to DukeSilver
My footing is 4' x 6' x 4' deep.
6,800$ for chimney.
6,800$ for chimney.
Posted on 4/19/24 at 12:32 pm to Potchafa
Damn 4' deep seems wild to me.
Is it 100% cinder block or is the firebox area a kit?
Good price and looks great.
Is it 100% cinder block or is the firebox area a kit?
Good price and looks great.
Posted on 4/19/24 at 1:36 pm to DukeSilver
quote:
How thick did you make the concrete pad it's sitting on?
Just seeing this.
So, my yard slopes from the house down to the fence. I had to build up the foundation it's sitting on about 3-4 feet.
The initial foundation I made 6 piers that were 8-10" in diameter and went down 3-4 feet. The piers and the foundation were all rebarred and poured together and the foundation itself is ~ 10 inches thick.
On top of that to get to the height I needed I framed it in cinder blocks. I concreted the walls of the blocks and used crushed limestone inside the blocks. I watered that really well to get it settled and then poured a 4-6 inch pad on top of that. The fireplace and the bricks sit on top of all that.
This post was edited on 4/19/24 at 1:37 pm
Posted on 4/19/24 at 4:35 pm to DukeSilver
There are zero cinder blocks. All filler bricks and fire bricks for the fire box.
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