Tag Archives: built-in fireplaces

Fireplace Accessories – Creating Your Personal Fireplace

Posted by Mark on April 13, 2012 Comments Off

Maybe you have just finished installing your own open fireplace in your home. Maybe you have just bought a new home complete with an already installed fireplace. Or you have decided that it is time for a new look in your living room – and this includes your fireplace. Whatever the reason, you are looking for the right accessories to realize your plans. You are likely looking first for basic information: what kind of fireplace accessories are available? Which are the ones I want to have? What do I need to know about them? Here at the Outdoor Fireplace Review we want to help you with these questions. This article is a good place to start, as we will explain what kind of accessories are available for your fireplace.

Fireplace accessories can be loosely grouped into four categories: tools, items for the surroundings of your fireplace, decorations and miscellaneous small things. Let us look at these groups in detail.

Fireplace tools are any devices you will need to either start a fire, maintain a fire or clean the fireplace afterwards. Examples for fire-starting tools are lighters and bellows as well as special fire starters. To maintain a fire, every fireplace should be equipped at least with tongs, a poker and a shovel. Usually, these tools are available as a set. For cleaning, special cleaner fluid, ash buckets and fireplace brooms are available.

The immediate surroundings of your fireplace are mostly influenced by the design of your fireplace. Depending on its style -whether old-fashioned or modern- a wide variety of accessories for storing firewood are available. Different types of log holders made of iron or steel and log carrier baskets and bags are examples of this. Other items are hearth rugs and hearth pads. Pads are made mostly out of fire-resistant tiles and are usually used with stoves. Hearth rugs come in many different forms and materials and are designed for use with an open fireplace as well.

Fireplace decorations are mostly a question of taste. Candles, lamps and clocks are classic accessories, however, pictures or plants often add an important personal touch. Other typical items would be seasonal ornaments like spring, fall or Christmas decorations.

Other fireplace accessories are for example firebacks, large iron plates installed at the back of your fireplace which store heat from the fire and radiate it back into the room, thereby improving the efficiency of your fireplace. Also, the logs must be arranged properly inside the firebox before starting a fire to ensure optimal air circulation. Fireplace grates and andirons are used for this purpose. Finally, you may want to use your fireplace for heating water or even cooking, especially if it is an outdoor fireplace.

Whatever accessories you are looking for, we provide detailed information in specific articles at our site. Enjoy, and hopefully you will find the items you are looking for.

How to Assemble Outdoor Fireplace Kits

Posted by Mark on July 4, 2011 Comments Off

Outdoor fireplace kits have become ever more popular in recent years among people who want to install an outdoor fireplace in their home. While many people like to have a large permanently installed fireplace in their garden or on their patio, both the costs and effort required to build a custom outdoor fireplace will likely be prohibitively high for most.

FireplaceThe alternative to such an individual building project is to buy one of the many outdoor fireplace kits for sale available on the market. The variety of models offered by most manufacturers has increased significantly in recent years. Most of these fireplaces can be customized in their outside appearance either by painting the outside of the construction or by adding a stone or brick layer on top after assembly. Most outdoor fireplace kits are designed to be built as freestanding constructions, but can still be integrated into, for example, an existing wall with slight modifications.

Available Outdoor Fireplace Kit Options

Most fireplace kits can be delivered for use with either wood and charcoal or with a gas burner. Both natural gas and propane can be used as fuels with outdoor gas fireplace kits, supplied either from the fixed installed line or from a gas bottle which regularly needs to be exchanged. The typical size of an outdoor fireplace kit will be somewhere between 30 and 48 inches, usually spaced in 4 inch intervals.

The main attraction of a prefab outdoor fireplace kit compared to a custom built hearth is the ease of assembly. While building an outdoor fireplace from the ground up will require both expensive tools and considerable expertise, raising up an outdoor fireplace kit is an easy do-it-yourself project that could be completed by one or two persons in a single day. Most kits do not require mortar, glue or other kinds of fasteners for assembly.

The Fireplace Kit Assembly Process

The actual assembly of an outdoor fireplace kit proceeds as follows: at first, a level surface needs to be created upon which the construction will be built. Most assembly kits contain anything between 10 to 30 prefabricated stone or concrete parts which are already shaped in such a way as to fit tightly together. Construction starts with the lowest part of the fireplace, where the four bottom walls are connected in such a way as to form a basis for the firebox itself. The next levels of the fireplace including either the walls of the firebox or, in the case of see-through fireplaces, the front, back and side screens of the firebox are then stacked upon each other in the same way. On top, the chimney construction is again built from stone or concrete plates which will then be secured to the rest of the construction in such a way that the whole fireplace now forms a tight fitting construction.

Afterwards, the fireplace is already finished from a technical point of view and could be used without further building efforts. However, most installations will be finished with an additional decorated layer on top of the stone construction which will give the fireplace its final outside appearance. The materials needed for this are usually not included in the outdoor fireplace kit but need to be purchased separately. Most manufacturers offer a large variety of materials for this purpose specifically.

Due to the standardized manufacturing and the do-it-yourself installation, outdoor fireplace kits are significantly cheaper than individually designed fireplaces, saving the owner large sums of money which can then be spent for other purposes on and around the fireplace, enhancing the overall appeal of the ensemble. This possibility is certainly one of the major reasons why people choose to buy an outdoor fireplace kit instead of building a hearth from the ground up.

Introduction to the Outdoor Fireplace

Posted by Mark on May 10, 2009 Comments Off

Chances are, you have come to our site because you are considering to buy or build an outdoor fireplace in your garden. Here, we want to give you all the information on available models, places to go for more information and general knowledge you need in order to make an informed decision.

Outdoor FireplaceHaving a fireplace in one’s home has always been the wish of a majority of homeowners. The fascination with fire has attracted people since ancient times, and does so no less in current times. Recently, this trend has taken a new direction: building or setting up an outdoor fireplace in the garden or on the patio has become a way to extend the living room to the outdoors, increase the space of one’s house and provide an opportunity to enjoy more and also colder nights outside.

Outdoor fireplaces can serve multiple purposes: apart from being a source of heat which makes it possible to use your patio on chilly summer nights as well as during colder seasons, it can serve as a barbecue or grill as well. Most fireplace variants can be outfitted with the necessary equipment easily at low cost.
Generally speaking, there are two types of outdoor fireplaces: portable ones that you can carry around in your garden, and built-in ones.

The portable ones can be grouped into three designs: chimineas, fire pits and fire rings. Chimineas are traditional Mexican fireplaces consisting of a bowl-shaped lower part and a narrower chimney on top. Fire pits are large open bowls supported by usually three to four legs, while fire rings are composed of metal sheets forming a closed ring.

The built-in ones can be either fixed fire pits build into the ground or an individual construction like an outdoor stone fireplace which typically resembles a classical indoor fireplace. A large variety of options exists for these kinds of fireplaces, with space and available money being the main limitations.

Both chimineas and individual constructions basically consist of three components: the firebox, where the fuel is burned, the smoke chamber above the firebox, and a flue. The main types of fuel used are wood, charcoal and pressed wooden logs in all types of fireplaces as well as gas for built-in ones. An outdoor gas fireplace is naturally a more elaborate construction than any of the other types. On the other hand, they have the advantage of being much cleaner in operation than an outdoor wood fireplace or charcoal-fueled types, with propane and natural gas being the main types of fuel used.

With this background information at hand, you can now take a look at detailed information on your favorite type of outdoor fireplace: either portable or built-in. You can also find out more about their operation and required maintenance or about places to go for further information.