Outdoor Fireplace Designs Make A Great Addition To Your Yard
Adding an outdoor fireplace to your patio, garden, or yard can add a warm, comforting, and fun place to sit and visit. Outdoor fireplace designs range from very simple to extreme designs. If you watch outdoor design programs on TV, or read the outdoor decorating magazines, you will see that fireplaces are becoming very popular. They add more excitement to your yard than a simple fire pit.
If you are thinking about building an outdoor fireplace, you will need to decide if you want a standard wood burning fireplace, or if you prefer a gas fireplace. A gas outdoor fireplace allows you to quickly light a fire, less cleaning, and still provides a nice fire. Of course there is nothing quite like a wood fire, with the crackling sound, the light smell of smoke, the beautiful dancing flames.
The easiest way to build your own outdoor fireplace is to buy one of the prepackaged kits, that contains all of the essential parts. If you want to build your own from the ground up, then it is best to either buy plans, or to draw up detailed plans before starting.
Exploring possible outdoor fireplace designs can be a lot of fun. I enjoy browsing pictures online to get ideas for my outdoor projects. When I was looking for ideas for my fireplace, I considered different colors of brick, natural stone, and metal. I prefer the look of natural stone myself. I was amazed at the many varying designs and sizes of outdoor fireplaces. Some of the fireplaces were huge, over 10 feet tall, and over 20 feet across. My ambitions were much smaller, but it all depends on what design matches your area.
A Wood Burning Fireplace Choice As you might have guessed, I chose a wood burning fireplace, I love to use wood. If I was in a tighter area, or was placing it closer to my house, I probably would have decided on a gas fireplace to eliminate sparks. I like the idea of using one of the standard outdoor fireplace kits and plans. Having the pieces all together without spending a bunch of time gathering parts made my project very quick and easy. Another area where you might choose to use a gas fireplace, over a wood fireplace. is if you are putting your outdoor fireplace near a swimming pool or hot tub. Having ashes blow in your pool or hot tub is not a lot of fun. But if you are using good outdoor fireplace designs, you can eliminate most of the opportunity for the ash blowing. Many kits include options for glass doors, which would completely eliminate the ash issue. One more design consideration, do you want your fireplace to be freestanding, or do you plan for it to be attached to your home or another building. If you're considering an attached fireplace, you need to include more safety considerations in your plans. You'll need to make sure to protect your home or building with a higher chimney, and a heat barrier between the fireplace and building. You'll love having an outdoor fireplace for relaxing, visiting with friends, and for the center piece of your outdoor entertaining.
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