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Guide

How to build your own barbecue fireplace

Philipp Rüegg
4.6.2020
Translation: machine translated

A barbecue fireplace is not only a visual eye-catcher, barbecuing over an open fire is simply more fun than with a gas barbecue. That's why I built myself a brick fireplace without further ado.

I have long harboured the desire to upgrade our garden with a stylish brick barbecue. I recently turned this dream into reality. Building a barbecue fireplace is not particularly complicated, but it does take time. Much more time than I expected. If you want to recreate the project, you should allow at least one day.

Preparation

The first thing you need to do is decide on a shape and size. I chose a simple version. I used a television programme from SWR as a template. Open design, U-format and an intermediate level that also serves as a shelf. That's all I need. The next step is to organise materials and tools.

Building materials
Approx. 100 bricks
Four floor slabs or cement
40 kg sand and/or gravel
60 kg of fireproof mortar
Four window lintels
Nine stainless steel bolts
Grill grate
Cover for the shelf

Tools
Angle grinder
Drill
Stirring rod
Bucket
Rubber hose or plastic gloves
Trowels
Rubber mallet
Spirit level
A handy brother (optional)

We have a few products in our range. Hier ist meine ungefähre Einkaufsliste

If, like me, you're more of a silty DIYer, the brother is the most important tool 😉. You can get the bricks from a DIY store, a brickworks or, like me, second-hand. They are all handmade and not exactly the same size, but they are cheap.

Step one: The foundation

I start with the foundation. I want the barbecue to be right next to the seating area. Fortunately, I still have exactly four stone slabs left that fit visually and together measure one square metre. That's enough space. There are some comments on my video template that demand a proper foundation made of steel and concrete. I tend to agree with the response from one user: "They're building a barbecue here, not the Hotel Europa."

Step two: brickwork

To make these look even, you can run a piece of rubber tubing or, like me, a pair of plastic gloves along the joint. As you can see in the pictures, this worked moderately well. If anyone asks: The look is called rustic.

My grout dries so quickly that my Brunder and I could theoretically work without interruption. Fortunately, there are two of us. This means that one of us can lay bricks and the other can grout, lay bricks or measure whether everything is straight. A rubber mallet is helpful for moving stones deeper or in certain directions.

Now comes the intermediate floor. I use window lintels for this. As these are relatively heavy, I let the wall dry for around an hour after eight layers and before installing them, just to be on the safe side. And finally, we also need a sandwich break from time to time.

Step three: The intermediate floor

My window lintels measure 140 x 12.5 x 6.5 centimetres. But they are available in almost every variation. For my barbecue, four of them are exactly the right depth. This also gives me a shelf measuring 50 x 50 centimetres next to the barbecue. I bricked up the window lintels with the flat side facing downwards to create more surface area. As I want to use a nice board for the shelf, the unsightly surface won't be visible afterwards.

If, like me, you don't place the lintels in the centre of the grill, you have to make sure that their weight doesn't push one side of the grill down. You should also leave a few millimetres of space between the lintels to allow air to pass through. Otherwise the charcoal will burn worse later on.

Step four: Prepare the fire pit and grill

The whole project took the two of us an impressive nine hours with a break. Much longer than I expected, but less than my brother anticipated. After all, we are beginners when it comes to bricklaying. The quick-drying mortar spurred us on. The smell of charcoal and meat always makes barbecuing a joy for me. And the feeling of turning the sausages on a homemade barbecue fire makes the experience that much more enjoyable. <p

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