How to Build an Outdoor Fireplace

Lee has over two decades of hands-on experience remodeling, fixing, and improving homes, and has been providing home improvement advice for years.

Kelly Bacon is a licensed general contractor with over 40 years of experience in construction, home building and remodeling, and commercial building. He is a member of The Spruce Home Improvement Review Board.

• Working Time: 10 hrs
• Total Time: 1 wk - 1 wk, 3 days

• Skill Level: Advanced
• Estimated Cost: $200 to $400

One of the best ways to turn your backyard from great to even greater is to build an outdoor fireplace. Creating an area where people love to gather transforms your backyard into a favored spot for family and visitors. Backyard features like barbeques, pools, hot tubs, pergolas, decks, and outdoor kitchens are important anchors for drawing people together—the same holds true for outdoor fireplaces. Outdoor fireplaces are worth it for a few reasons:

• A fireplace offers more of a living space ambiance outdoors.
• A fireplace can double as a privacy wall in your yard.
• If your outdoor space is at a premium, a fireplace can take up less space than a firepit setting.
• A fireplace is less smokey than a firepit and its flames are better protected from breezes, gusts, or changes in a wind's direction.

Basics of Your Outdoor Fireplace

This fireplace may look like it's made of stacked ledger stone, river rock, fieldstone, or any other decorative stone of your choice. But the real secret is that its superstructure is constructed of inexpensive 16-inch and 8-inch concrete cinder blocks. So the materials you need to build an outdoor brick fireplace include cinder blocks for the structure of the fireplace and veneer stone for the aesthetic envelope of it. Cinder blocks can withstand extreme heat and they are fire-resistant, but they are not completely fireproof. Since cinder blocks are porous, they can vent steam, which is important for relieving heat pressure in a fireplace. But, consider using refractory mortar for even more heat resistance.

A poured concrete slab provides a sturdy, level pad on which to build this simple outdoor fireplace. Atop this base is an open-front box made of cinder blocks for storing firewood. On top of this box are hearth blocks. This is where a second box—the firebox—is located. Besides providing room for the wood, this arrangement elevates the fire so that it is easier to maintain. Plus, it raises the fire to a more comfortable viewing height for those sitting around it.

Quarter-inch-thick cement board faces the concrete cinder blocks. Light-weight manufactured veneer store then faces the cement board.

Codes and Restrictions

It is important to check with your local permitting office for any codes and restrictions relating to outdoor fireplaces. Your community may require a building permit. Air quality measures may prohibit wood-burning fireplaces in your area when air quality conditions are poor.

Warning

It's required by law that you call 811 (or visit call811.com) before digging or excavating your property. Your local utilities will come out to your home to mark underground pipes and wires so you don't disturb them when locating and building a fireplace.