Now, metal fireplace units and a wide variety of parts are manufactured by various companies. Your lumber, building material, or masonry supply dealer will be happy to assist you in your needs for barbecue equipment.
With these metal units, anyone can create an attractive fireplace by using a complete unit as a building form and setting up masonry around it. In any desired design.
First essential for a good fireplace is a strong, solid foundation. In warm climates, where frost is not a factor, your fireplace can be set on a firm bed of tamped ground, cinders, or gravel. In cold climates, where deep frost occurs, your outdoor fireplace should be built on either a floating slab of reinforced concrete, or on a solid foundation of concrete or of brick or stones set in mortar and extending 4" or 5" or more below the frost line. For a below-frost-line foundation, see a local authority such as your building supply dealer.
Be sure to provide proper allowances for the metal parts of your fireplace to expand and contract as the result of heating and cooling. This can be done by placing sheets of corrugated paper between the sides of the unit and the masonry. When the first fire is built, this corrugated paper will burn away, leaving space for expansion.
A chimney is not always necessary when you build outdoor fireplace. If you plan to burn only charcoal in the fireplace, the three masonry walls around the metal unit are all that is required.
However, if either wood or coal is the fuel to be used, the fireplace should have a chimney.
It is also wise to provide the chimney with a cap to keep out water and possibly a screen to check flying sparks from wood fires.
It is wise to provide a means of adjusting the depth of the fire grate beneath the grill, since a charcoal fire should be placed much closer to the grill than a wood fire.
Bonus Books :
Neil Baulch grew up on a Farm where fireplaces were a normal part of life and writes on various topics. http://www.BuildOutdoorFireplace.com/
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