How I Built my first brick fireplace
Seemed like a quick job..
So one day my wife though it would be a good idea to rip out our pavers that I laid over 3 year ago with sweat and tears in hot Melbourne summer and put in normal 60cm x 60cm outdoor tiles and use the paver to build a fireplace, easier said than done. /sigh
Being a good husband that I am and her genius idea as well as spring just around the corner, I took the challenge on board and started planning out where and how.
Planning
Taking out the pavers and cleaning them was a lengthy process due to the fact that I used cement with sand to seal in the pavers to prevent weeds growing between them... which worked great, until I had to remove them.
Finding a good spot was no problem with our small backyard and we already had an vision how it would work out, so it was just a matter of laying down a good foundation with steel reinforcement (maybe a tad over kill, but I rather be safe then sorry). Good foundation is very important, in all aspects of life.
Building
The fun part begins, I never bricked before, so doing a fireplace was a pretty big test for me that could go pear shaped. But being brought up with Legos, it can't be that hard right :D and guess what, it isn't. As well as working around the construction sites previously I've seen how the brickies did their job.
The large orange bricks are specifically made for high temperature and you lay them inside the fireplace for insulation and protection, other wise the normal pavers/bricks could just explode ( or that's what the sales man told me ).
As you can see from the photo below on the right ( ok not really ), I already started pouring concrete for the new tiles.
You can barely see but the concrete slab is all done :]
Final outcome....
Ok, so it's not really final, because there is no chimney flue and it has to go a bit higher and because I ran out of pavers /facepalm.
We had to replant the two apple trees that were besides the fireplace so that we could put in our pizza oven and BBQ on each side and so that the roots wouldn't destroy my masterpiece... ok ok its not that great but it works.
Grandma in law was too focused on sudoku then to say cheese. :)
So there you have it, it took me around 3 months to do everything, ripping out pavers and cleaning them, making and pouring new concrete slab for the new tiles and making the actual fireplace in my spare time.
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask in the comments below.