If your family likes to gather around the fire in the evening, relax, fry barbecue, chat with friends, then you just need to equip a special place on the site for this. It can be as simple as a place for a hearth, as a grill, barbecue or garden fireplace. It all depends on your tastes and, of course, on the size of the site.
Not every owner can afford a place for a hearth, since a lot of space is needed for its arrangement, open fire can be made away from buildings, and in such places that smoke does not interfere with neighbors. At the same time, fire regulations must be strictly observed. A garden fireplace or barbecue can be erected on a plot of almost any size.
They are best erected at a small distance from the house, so that it is not far to go for dishes and groceries, and to remove garbage. When planning a place for a barbecue or a fireplace, care must be taken to ensure that the smoke from the fire does not enter the house and does not interfere with the neighbors. This place can be fenced off by planting a hedge or shrub.
The place for the hearth can be multifunctional. You can not only equip a special place for a fire, laying it out with refractory bricks or stone, but also arrange a hard stone cover around it. Thanks to this solution, you will be able to use this place not only while relaxing by the fire, but also for ordinary recreation throughout the year. A place for a hearth will also help you avoid building another object on the site, as is the case with a classic barbecue or garden fireplace.
Arrange a place for the hearth is very simple. In the place where the hearth will be located, the soil should be removed to a depth of about 20 cm. At this place, a hearth circle is formed from refractory bricks, clinker or natural stone, and a hard surface is laid around (paving stones, paving slabs or the same clinker).
All hard coating must be laid on a cement-sand mixture having a ratio of 1:9 or 1:12. Above the hearth, you can build a portable tripod with a suspended grate for cooking. If your site is not large enough or is located in the forest, then it is best not to make an open fire, but to build a beautiful and safe garden fireplace or barbecue. If it is built of beautiful brick or natural stone, then it will not only be a place for cooking, but a magnificent element of landscape architecture of the entire site. When building a barbecue or garden fireplace, a reliable and powerful foundation should be provided, since this type of structure weighs a lot. As a foundation, you can use a slab filled with reinforced concrete with a thickness of at least 15 cm, laid on a 30 cm layer of compacted coarse gravel.
As a building material for the walls of the fireplace, an ordinary brick of a brand of at least M100 or a clinker brick is perfect. In the immediate vicinity of the firebox, you should place a convenient functional worktop for cooking, and under it – equip a place to store kitchen items.
The height of the grate on which food will be cooked must be chosen so that it will be convenient for the person who most often cooks on it. The height of the countertop is also adjusted to the height of this person, although there is a generally accepted standard – 85 cm from the floor. Even before the start of masonry work, it is necessary to purchase an ash box and a grate, since based on their overall dimensions, a fireplace or barbecue will be built. If you purchase these parts after the construction of the brazier, it may turn out that the firebox or the place under the grid will not have standard sizes and they will have to be made to order. It is desirable to purchase a grate made of stainless steel.
Depending on your imagination, a brazier or a garden fireplace in an extended version can even be turned into a covered garden kitchen by equipping a canopy, special seating, cabinets for storing dishes, etc.
Use your imagination, create original and unique objects in your garden or backyard. Many of these objects, such as a garden fireplace or barbecue, will allow you not only to decorate your garden or yard, but also become a great place for your whole family to relax, a place to communicate with friends.