How to build a small fireplace with your own hands. Do-it-yourself fireplace: basic principles of manufacturing and design

A fireplace in the house creates a comfortable and cozy atmosphere, so all family members love to gather around it. Modern models fireplaces can be installed anywhere in the room. Before making a fireplace in a private home, you should study in detail the characteristics of popular types and choose specific model for a specific room in accordance with the overall interior.

Types of fireplaces

Fireplaces for the home are divided into types according to location:

• Models adjacent to the wall at the back.
• Fireplaces adjacent to the wall at one of the ends.
• Corner models.
• A fireplace that can be placed in the middle of the room.

Each model is individual and special, so before building a fireplace in the house, you should try on its widest part, the base.

Rear-adjacent to the wall

Such options are called wall-mounted fireplaces, most often made of brick. They are characterized by large dimensions, therefore, they occupy a large area in the room.

In small rooms, even an elegant fireplace looks bulky, so don’t waste money on models of this type and consider another option.

The ideal option for using such fireplaces is a medium-sized room with proper decoration. In this case, the fireplace should become the main element of the interior, according to which furniture and other decor are selected.

Adjacent to the wall at one of the ends

Such models are recommended for fairly large or medium-sized rooms. By making a similar fireplace in your home with your own hands, you can zone the room or reduce the size of the passage between separate rooms.

A special feature of this option is the possibility of installing a through metal firebox with two-sided or three-sided finishing with heat-resistant glass. In addition, you can make a firebox on one side and decorate the back with natural stone.

In the rooms small area You can also build a fireplace with your own hands, adjacent to the wall at the end. In this case, it allows you to divide one room into two functional areas, making your stay more comfortable.

Installed in the center of the room

This option is most often used in large and medium-sized rooms. Naturally, in small room he will be a hindrance.

Models for large rooms are made of brick, using step-by-step instructions for laying a fireplace with your own hands. They are distinguished by a fairly massive design.

In medium-sized rooms, you can install a metal fireplace, which is equipped with a through firebox and walls made of heat-resistant glass. This option allows you to look at burning wood or smoldering coals from different angles. A fireplace located in the center of the room involuntarily becomes the central element of the interior and distracts attention from the rest of the room.

Corner fireplaces

Corner fireplaces can be called an ideal option for small rooms, although the possibility of installing them in large rooms is not excluded. Depending on the allocated space, you can make a compact and neat fireplace, or you can build a massive and monumental structure.

Corner-type fireplaces are most often built from heat-resistant bricks. However, you can use more simple option and purchase a ready-made metal firebox.

Do corner fireplace Anyone can do it step by step with their own hands, since its design is not complicated. It is only important to save inner part fireboxes and chimney duct, otherwise you can rely on your imagination. The side shelves can be increased or decreased, the surface can be lined with any material, depending on the preferences of the owner and his material capabilities.

Installing a fireplace of any type will change the interior of the room, making it more comfortable and cozy.

Construction of fireplaces

Before you assemble a fireplace with your own hands, you should study its structure. The main structural elements of any fireplace are the following:

• The firebox is a place for storing and burning fuel.
• A collection of fuel combustion products is located directly above the firebox and directs the smoke into a special channel.
• Smoke duct.
• Models with a closed firebox have an ash hole.
• A recess in which firewood is stored.

It is very important to properly design the front of the fireplace, including the portal around the firebox. This will not change the functional properties of the building, but a sloppy appearance can ruin the entire interior. Therefore, the external decoration of the fireplace also deserves attention, as well as step by step masonry DIY fireplaces.

The design of some models involves the presence of built-in heat exchangers that are connected to a water or air heating system. In this case, it becomes possible to heat one or two rooms. For such fireplaces, it is recommended to install closed fireboxes. This reduces wasted heat and makes heating more efficient.

Choosing a location

When choosing a place to install a fireplace, it is important to take into account not only the aesthetic and functional aspects of the issue, but also the design features.

When installing a chimney, which must be led outside through the ceiling and roof, you should avoid contact with floor beams or rafters.

In order for a fireplace to effectively heat a room, it is necessary to choose a location that creates a kind of curtain in the path of the flow of cold air.

You should not place the structure opposite a window, as this increases the likelihood of creating drafts.

In any case, you must remember that it is impossible to heat the entire house with a fireplace. It is used as additional heating to create a microclimate in the room for comfortable living.

After choosing the optimal location for the fireplace, the dimensions of the future building are calculated. Based on them, a design drawing is drawn up, and the dimensions of the base are transferred to the installation site. This stage when solving the problem of how to make a fireplace at home is considered very important, as it allows you to clearly determine the dimensions of the building and the degree of its protrusion towards the room.

Rules for choosing a firebox

The metal firebox is equipped with a special pipe, so when choosing this option, the chimney pipe is selected in accordance with the diameter of the pipe.

Specialized stores offer a huge selection of fireplaces with fireboxes of any configuration. This can be open, closed, end-to-end or one-way. In addition, the firebox may have a built-in heat exchanger, allowing you to connect the fireplace to a water heating circuit.

The traditional option is a brick firebox. When deciding how to make a simple fireplace, it is recommended to use white fireclay bricks, which are resistant to high heat. The brickwork must be level, so the work should be carried out with extreme care and precision. Setting up a brick firebox requires a lot of time and effort, requiring special skills, patience and endurance from the master.

Schemes for laying a fireplace in a house

For self-construction fireplace, you will need step-by-step instructions on how to lay out a fireplace with your own hands, as well as a correctly drawn up drawing and exact dimensions. It is also necessary to select a pattern of row masonry in accordance with the selected fireplace model.

How to make a foundation with your own hands

In most cases, step-by-step instructions on how to build a fireplace with your own hands involve building a foundation. Of course, when building small structures, masonry can begin directly on concrete floor, having previously made markings of the base. In this case, the surface is thoroughly wiped, trying to remove as much dirt and dust as possible. The first row is laid without mortar, subsequent rows are laid using mortar in accordance with the chosen scheme.

When building a new house, it is recommended to pour the foundation for the fireplace in parallel with laying the foundation for the house. However, a separate structure is made for the fireplace, not connected to the base of the house. In step-by-step instructions on how to make a fireplace with your own hands, the process is as follows:

• Dig a hole in accordance with the size of the foundation for the fireplace. It should be remembered that the foundation should be 15-20 cm larger than the size of the fireplace.
• At the bottom of the resulting pit, a cushion of sand and crushed stone is installed.
• Place formwork panels, raising it 10-15 cm above ground level.
• A reinforcing frame is placed inside the formwork.
• The entire structure is poured cement mortar made from sand and cement.

Installing a chimney - a step-by-step guide

The dimensions of the chimney depend on the type of fireplace insert: in metal fireboxes it is selected in accordance with the size of the pipe; for a brick firebox, the cross-section of the chimney opening is calculated.

The correct chimney parameters provide good draft and do not allow heat to fly out. The chimney channel corresponds to the size of the hearth; in particular, for a firebox of 60*75 cm, a chimney with a cross section of 20*25 cm or 25*25 cm is required.

The continuation of the firebox is a metal pipe, which is put on the firebox pipe. In order to fire safety between the pipe and flammable wooden walls it is necessary to install a gasket that is resistant to strong heat.

At one stage of solving the problem of how brick fireplaces are made, the chimney pipe can be disguised using decorative screen. For its manufacture, fire-resistant plasterboard sheets are used, which are fixed to a frame made of metal profiles.

There are special requirements for the place where the chimney pipe will pass through the ceiling. Therefore, it is necessary to make a box that will protect wooden elements from strong heat and will prevent fire. The distance from the pipe to the walls of the box must be at least 20 cm; this space is filled with any non-flammable material, for example, mineral wool or expanded clay. From the outside, the box is closed with a special device, a metal passage. Specialty stores offer a wide range of ready-made aisles. Also, using a passage, you can protect the chimney head, located above the roof surface, from the negative effects of atmospheric moisture.

For the production of passages, a flexible material is used, which, during installation, is capable of repeating the shape of the roof with shallow relief. The most popular are passages made of materials that are resistant to rust.

As protective element A special umbrella is installed on the chimney pipe. This device prevents dirt and sediment from getting inside the pipe.

The brick chimney is laid according to a specific pattern; metal passages are also used for design. Their installation is carried out by analogy with the process of how to make a fireplace in a house with metal pipe.

A brick fireplace can be equipped with a metal pipe, which in most cases is also covered with brickwork.

Description of other popular types of fireplaces

Wood-burning fireplaces can be called a classic option, but there are other heating devices. They run on different fuels, their installation is simpler and takes a little time.

In the store you can purchase ready-made fireplaces of the following types:

• Gas devices. Installing them is very simple, but to connect you need to invite a gas service specialist with special permission. In addition, written permission to install such a fireplace will be required.
• An electric fireplace can be installed not only in a private house, but also in a city apartment. You can choose a stationary model or a mobile device. Most landline electric fireplaces made in the form of a firebox with a beautifully designed portal. Fireplaces of this type are powered by mains power and do not require a chimney. Modern fireplaces are equipped with electronic panels, so to heat, switch or turn them off, just press the corresponding button on the remote control.
• Eco-fireplaces that use ethyl alcohol are gaining popularity. However, such fireplaces are not suitable for heating a room; they are purchased as decorative element interior They are designed to create comfort and a special atmosphere that can “warm the soul.”
• You can make a decorative home fireplace with your own hands from plasterboard sheets And metal profile. There will be no fire or heat in such a fireplace, but in this case you can get decoration or a shelf for various accessories.

You can install or build a fireplace in your home with your own hands; the main thing is to choose the right model, learn how fireplaces are made, and also take care of fire and environmental safety.

Thinking about building or purchasing country house, almost every owner dreams of a beautiful fireplace. They add graceful and romantic sophistication to the interior and allow you to truly enjoy the atmosphere home comfort. In this article we will tell you in detail how to make a fireplace with your own hands, and our step-by-step instructions will allow even a beginner to cope with this difficult job.

Any fireplace, no matter what size or shape it is, consists of the following main parts:

• firebox;
• ash pan;
• grate;
• portal (body);
• chimney.

The combustion chamber, in turn, can be open or closed type. If you have chosen a fireplace with a closed firebox, then the design will include additional elements: gate, transparent doors made of heat-resistant glass.

The efficiency, service life and reliability of the fireplace are also affected by the materials from which it is made. You can build a fireplace entirely from brick, making the firebox part from heat-resistant (fireclay) material, and the rest of the structure from red ceramic.

Or you can purchase a ready-made cast-iron firebox, around which you can build a casing, a portal and a brick chimney.

Of particular importance is good thermal insulation combustion chamber, because if a fireplace is erected in a house made of wood, there is a high risk of fire. Therefore, great attention should be paid to the thermal insulation of the fireplace and the protection of the flooring, walls, and roof.

There are several classifications of fireplaces: by the appearance of the portal, by the shape and size of the firebox.

If the width of the portal does not exceed 51 cm, then such a fireplace is classified as small.

Width up to 63 cm – medium.

Over 63 cm - for large fireplaces.

The combustion chamber is made of steel or cast iron. Purchasing a ready-made firebox will greatly facilitate the process of building a fireplace. In addition, a closed cast iron firebox looks very stylish in a modern interior.

Some experts recommend lining the inside of a cast-iron or steel combustion chamber with fireclay bricks in order to minimize the contact of metal with fire, especially when it comes to steel. Under the fuel chamber, as a rule, there is a fuel basket.

Work processes in the fireplace occur as follows:

• Logs and firewood are placed in the combustion chamber on the grate and set on fire.
• The intensity of combustion is controlled by a slide valve, which opens or blocks access to oxygen. At open type fireboxes, the intensity of combustion can be adjusted only by the amount of firewood.
• As wood is burned, the ash is collected under the grate, in a special ash pan, which must be cleaned regularly. The ash pan can be built-in, or it can be made retractable design, which will greatly facilitate the operation process.
• Gases from burning logs are removed through special pipe outside. You can equip the chimney with a forced draft, which is a fan. In this case, you can regulate the draft by turning the fan on or off, which will increase the heat transfer of the fireplace.

The fireplace chimney can be made of steel or brick. You can also find ready-made ceramic structures on sale today, but their construction requires special skill.

When developing a fireplace design for your home, great attention should be paid to fire safety measures.

The construction of a fuel chamber is one of the most difficult and critical stages of work. The firebox is located under the chimney. A special role is played by the fireplace tooth, which is integral with the back wall of the firebox.

1. Base

As for the reason, in itself it can have a completely different size and shape. This is a structural part that is located under the fuel chamber. It depends only on the owners where exactly the firebox will be located: below the floor or at the level of the kitchen table.

The lower the firebox is located, the more heat it will produce, taking in the cold part of the air from below.

It is preferable to make a firebox under which it is located at floor level, but this is not always possible. In a multi-storey modern cottage, it is impossible to build a fireplace of this configuration, because the ash pan must be located under the stove. Ideally this is working basement where the foundation is being built.

But you can implement another version of the ash pan by placing it below the hearth of the fireplace with a pull-out system. Then operating the fireplace will not cause any difficulties at all.

Special attention should be paid to the inclination level back wall fireplace.

Here the opinions of experts are divided into 2 camps. Some argue that it should be built strictly vertically. Others insist on building the back wall of the fireplace at an angle of 300 inward. Why is this tilt necessary?

The masonry of the fireplace also depends on the size of the combustion chamber. So for structures with increased heat transfer, it is necessary to place the walls “on edge”. The slope of the rear wall of the firebox provides improved heat reflection into the room area.

1. Portal

There are two options for covering the portal: straight and arched. In this case, the radius of the arch should be equal to half the width of the portal.

The arch is the most reliable portal covering. It transfers the entire vertical load of the top row of masonry. According to their shape, they, in turn, are divided into 3 types: arched, straight and semicircular.

A semicircular arch is ½ part of a circle. This option is the simplest and most reliable. The radius of curvature is equal to ½ part of the width of the firebox.

The beam arch is flatter than the semi-circular arch and is best used for wide fireboxes. Or, if you are forced to limit the height of the firebox.

Onion arch

The arched arch is not ½ of a circle, but only 1 sector of it.

And finally, a straight arch is suitable if you need a direct overlap of the fireplace portal. Despite its simple appearance, it is considered the most difficult to manufacture. Here it is necessary to very accurately calculate the angle of the brick cut.

The firebox located under the firebox usually has a rectangular or trapezoidal shape, and above the firebox there is an outlet where smoke rushes when wood burns.

A small bridge or overlap is built in front of this mouth, and a “tooth” is built behind it. Above the firebox there is a smoke bag (smoke collector), where smoke is collected and directed up the pipe. To regulate this flow, a damper is installed in the front part.

Types of fireplace: configuration and location

When starting a project to install a fireplace in your home, you first need to think about its location.

There are several options for placing this heating unit:

The following factors must also be taken into account:

Basic rules for building a fireplace

In order for the fireplace to serve for a long time and delight you with its warmth, you must strictly follow the basic rules when constructing it:

• A brick fireplace is built on a separate foundation.
• To lay the firebox, you must use exclusively fireclay (heat-resistant) brick, which should not be tied to the main one.
• In the places where the door and ash pan are installed, it is necessary to lay an asbestos cord and leave a gap for the expansion of the metal.
• The inside of the combustion chamber should not be plastered.
• The rear wall of the fuel chamber should be positioned at a slight angle.

Don't forget about fire safety, because any structure that runs on solid fuel poses an additional risk.

The main point of fire safety in arranging a fireplace in a country house or in a country house is the installation of cuttings in the path of smoke.

If the wall is adjacent to the fireplace, then a heat-resistant material (basalt fiber, asbestos, felt, etc.) must be laid between it and the heating unit. The thickness of such an overlap should be at least 20-25 mm.

If the fireplace is installed on wooden floor, then it is necessary to lay a metal sheet around the perimeter or cover it with ceramic tiles with an indentation of 30-35 mm on each side.

Within a radius of 150 mm from the chimney, where it passes through the ceiling, it is necessary to organize reliable thermal insulation from a double layer of clay-impregnated felt or asbestos fiber.

The chimney must operate autonomously with only one fireplace.

There are also certain fire safety rules when operating a fireplace:

• Do not raise the fireplace to maximum temperature.
• Carry out systematic cleaning of the fireplace from ash and soot.
• The safe distance between the fireplace and the nearest flammable objects must be at least 70 cm.
• Use only suitable fuel for your country fireplace.

Calculate the dimensions of the fireplace correctly

When designing and creating a drawing of a future fireplace, it is very important to correctly calculate its width and height.

Dimensions of elements, mm	Room area
	12 m2	15 m2	20m2	25 m2	30 m2	40m2
Portal width	400	500	600	700	800	900
Portal height	420	490	560	630	700	770
Firebox depth	300	320	350	380	400	420
Rear wall height	at least 360
Rear width	300	400	450	500	600	700
Smoke collector height	570	600	630	660	700	800
Section of a chimney with a rough inner surface	140*270	140*270	270*270	270*270	270*400	270*400
Section of a chimney with a smooth inner surface	140*140	140*270	140*270	270*270	270*270	270*270

The size of the firebox depends on the area of ​​the room. There is a simple formula that will allow you to correctly perform all the calculations:

We measure the area of ​​the room and divide it by 50.

The resulting value is the size of the combustion window.

To heat small room 20 square meters, a fireplace with a firebox opening of 0.50 m2 is quite enough.

We also suggest using the table to correctly calculate all the necessary parameters for your future fireplace.

After calculating the width of the firebox, you need to decide on its depth. The heating efficiency of the fireplace directly depends on this parameter. According to the standard calculation formula, it is equal to 2/3 of the height of the firebox.

If you ignore this factor and, for the sake of appearance, decide to increase the depth of the firebox, this will directly affect the heat transfer of the fireplace.

Almost all the heat received from the combustion of wood will go through the pipe to the street. In this case, the fireplace will serve more of a decorative function, delighting you with the beautiful glow of the fire. You will only have time to add firewood to the firebox.

When the depth of the combustion chamber is reduced in relation to its height, there may be a risk of smoke in the room.

Except correct calculation fireboxes, you need to pay great attention to the arrangement of the chimney, on which fire safety and good draft depend.

According to SNiP standards, the diameter of the chimney must be at least 150:170 mm. If you have chosen a chimney with a rectangular cross-section, then its width should be equal to 1/10 of the size of the combustion chamber.

The height of the chimney should not be less than 5 meters. But sometimes, with high floor heights, you will need to raise the chimney even higher. In this case, we focus on the roof ridge and the pipe outlet location.

The figure shows how to correctly determine the height of the chimney.

Therefore, carefully calculate all these parameters before you start building a fireplace with your own hands.

How to make a fireplace with your own hands: step-by-step instructions and procedure

We provide a diagram of the laying of a fireplace with a fuel chamber of the following size:

The width of the portal is 62 cm.

Height – 49 cm.

The depth of the fuel chamber is 32 cm.

The chimney cross-section is 26*26 cm.

We will lay out the back part of the structure from ½ of a brick, and the sides from a solid one.

Step 1. Sketch and drawing

Whatever size and configuration you choose for your fireplace, you need to complete drawings and sketches before you start building it.

1. Drawing a sketch and completing the drawing.

Having decided on the place where you want to place the future fireplace, draw a drawing on paper. Now decide on the size of the unit and calculate each side. Do detailed drawing. Make sure that the smoke exhaust system will not reach the ceilings or beams. Decide which side the vent will be on and what type of firebox it will be.

1. We prepare tools and materials.

You immediately need to decide what kind of cladding you will cover the fireplace with. If the structure is being prepared for jointing, then you need to purchase a red ceramic brick. If you plan to decorate with clinker tiles, then you can buy a more budget option.

We offer detailed diagram construction of a red brick fireplace with a stone firebox.

For this we need:

1. Fireclay refractory brick for the combustion chamber (not lower than M200).
2. Red ceramic brick for the entire fireplace. – 250 pcs (not including pipes). You can additionally take 10% of the total quantity, taking into account defects and errors.
3. Mortar for laying the foundation (cement, fine sand, gravel and water).
4. Mortar for laying bricks.
5. Roofing felt for foundation waterproofing.
6. Boards for the construction of formwork.
7. Grate.
8. Blower.
9. Metal door.
10. Damper.
11. Metal rods and wire for reinforcement.
12. Metal wire 0.8 mm for dressing.
13. Asbestos cord.

Prepare the following tools:

1. Trowel for laying bricks.
2. Tape measure and marker.
3. Rule.
4. Grinder for turning bricks.
5. Building level, protractor and plumb line.
6. Stapler.
7. Shovel and bayonet shovel.
8. Bucket for solution.
9. Construction mixer or drill with attachment.
10. Rubber hammer for laying bricks.
11. Construction hammer for erecting formwork.

Step 2. Preparatory work

1. Construction of the foundation.

Particular attention should be paid to the construction of the foundation, since all further operation of the fireplace depends on its reliability.

When arranging the foundation in an operating cottage, you must immediately take into account the location of beams, roof lintels, rafter legs etc.

Do not save time and effort and make a separate foundation for the heating unit, so that when shrinking, the general foundation for the house does not deform the structure of the fireplace.

When arranging a foundation for a fireplace at the zero cycle of building a house, this process will not cause any particular difficulties. You simply carry out the work of constructing the base of the fireplace according to a single scheme:

— excavation of soil to the freezing depth.

— creation of formwork;

— making an underlying layer of sand and crushed stone;

— waterproofing using roofing felt or polyethylene;

— reinforcement with metal rods;

- pouring the foundation on 2 bricks to the finished floor;

— technological break 20 days.

We have previously discussed in detail. The layout of the foundation for the fireplace is no different.

It’s another matter if you decide to build a fireplace in an already used house. This process will be accompanied by the stage of dismantling the floor covering at the location where the fireplace is installed.

To do this, use a marker to measure the required size of the fireplace according to the drawing, make a 15-20 cm indentation on each side and use a grinder to cut a hole in the floor.

Place the used boards aside and begin digging into the soil. Next, proceed according to the standard foundation pouring scheme.

After raising the base of the fireplace to the level of the finished floor, you will need to beautifully design the gap between the floor covering and the stone structure.

Advice! No matter how carefully you work, during the process of laying a fireplace, dust and dirt will inevitably form in the house. Before you start construction work, cover all furniture and floors with plastic.

1. Work to ensure fire safety.

When installing a fireplace in a wooden house, it is very important to protect the walls adjacent to it from overheating.

You can lay an asbestos sheet between the fireplace and the ceiling, or you can line the wall with ceramic tiles.

1. Preparing bricks for laying.

After the foundation has completely dried and set, you can begin construction.

Select all the bricks, sort them by size and soak the part you will be working with at this stage. This must be done so that it does not absorb moisture from the masonry mortar.

Before building a fireplace, according to the procedure, even experienced stove makers first lay out the bricks “dry”. This way you will be able to see all the difficult places that you will encounter and avoid serious mistakes that will be difficult to correct later.

Advice. When laying out the rows “dry”, number each row on the bricks and put a serial number. This way you will complete the task faster.

Step 3. Laying the fireplace

The fireplace must be built on a foundation that is well waterproofed. To do this, measure the size of the structure on a sheet of roofing felt, cut it out and lay it in layers on the base.

Now you can start laying the fireplace itself. To lay a fireplace, use a mortar that is also suitable for laying stoves.

Soak the red clay in a trough of water for several days.

To prepare the solution, combine 8 parts sand and 8 parts clay, add 1 part water and mix thoroughly with a construction mixer.

Now let's check its readiness. The consistency should resemble thick sour cream. If it turns out too liquid, you can add a little sand.

Dip the trowel into the solution and see whether the mixture flows off it or not. If it glass, leaving a thin layer of 2-3 mm, then the solution is ready. If it turns out thick, dilute with water.

In order to clearly erect the fireplace vertically, you can pull plumb lines. They will serve as a kind of beacon by which you will navigate.

The 1st row is the base of the fireplace.

The correct layout of the entire structure depends on it. For this row it is better to use masonry mortar with a small addition of cement. The recommended seam thickness is 5 mm. Check the level horizontally and diagonally, determine the angles with a protractor. They must be strictly 90 0.

If you want to shape the base of the fireplace unusual look, then you can lay bricks on the edge on the basement row. The base must be raised 25-28 cm to the level of the finished floor.

Maintaining the same thickness of the seam when laying a fireplace is not so easy, especially for a beginner. There is a little trick. Use for reference wooden slats 0.5 cm thick.

Make sure that the masonry mortar does not come into contact with front side, after all, we are building a fireplace “for paneling.” After finishing the work, it will be troublesome to wipe off the frozen solution.

When placing a brick on the batten, press it gently with your hand and tap it over the entire plane with a rubber hammer. This way it will sit and grip well. Make sure that the solution is not squeezed out of the cracks.

The wooden slats are removed after 3-4 rows of bricks have been laid.

2nd row. It is laid out similarly to the first one with red brick, according to the diagram. We completely fill this row with bricks.

3rd row. Here we begin to build the bottom of the fuel chamber, laying fireclay bricks on the edge. There is no need to bind fire brick with red.

We install the grate, taking into account the gap for metal expansion of 3-5 mm.

Row 4 – we begin to form the firebox. When laying several rows, wipe the bricks with a damp cloth to help the mortar adhere better. Here in this row we install the fuel chamber door. Consider the gap for metal expansion.

The door, for reliability, is mounted on a metal mustache, which is placed in the seam between the rows of bricks.

In the 5th row we install a blower.

8 row. We tilt the rear wall of the firebox at 30 0. This element is also called the “mirror” of the fireplace.

9-14 row. Let's start forming the arch.

The ceiling of the portal is largely determined by the design of the fireplace. This part of the work will not cause any particular difficulties.

The simplest option would be to use steel corners on which bricks are placed. But with such masonry it is better to tile the fireplace in the future decorative material, which will close the steel corner.

Considering that we chose the option “with a fireplace panel,” we will not use this method.

In order to accurately make a semi-cylindrical arch, it is necessary to make a circle from a sheet of plywood.

We draw a circle on the sheet with a compass, divide it into 2 parts of the required radius (1/2 part of the width of the firebox) and cut out 2 semicircles using a grinder.

Place these 2 parts of the circle on the floor and insert 11 cm long blocks of wood between them. Fasten the structure with self-tapping screws. The circle is ready.

All bricks must be ground onto a wedge. How to accurately determine the wedge size. You can, of course, calculate it using a formula, or you can use a proven method manually.

Place the circle on the floor and attach 1 brick to it.

Take the thread and stretch it from the center of the circle to the upper left corner. Draw a pencil along the stretched thread.

Do the same procedure with the right side - this way you get a batch of bricks with measured markings for the wedge. All that remains now is to carefully cut off the markings with a grinder. Be sure to number the bricks first so you can easily place them in the correct order.

Lay out the arch symmetrically, bringing the bricks from the corners to the center.

15-18 row. Making a fireplace tooth. This is the name of the protrusion in the fuel chamber, which prevents precipitation and ash from entering the fireplace and improves draft.

Step 4. Construction of the chimney

Chimney laying

Row 19-20. We are building a chimney.

21-22 row. We continue to build the chimney. In row 22 we install a fireplace damper.

23 row we make fluff, giving the structure a shape swallowtail. The fluff or “otter” is done in the place where the chimney pipe makes maximum contact with the roof.

The height of the fluff can vary from 29 to 36 cm. A drain is placed above the fluff, which is laid out until it comes into contact with the roof. The size of the riser and chimney pipe must match.

There is a metal umbrella on top of the chimney to protect from precipitation and debris.

Step 5. Cladding work

In order to grout the fireplace joints, add clean sifted river sand to the clay solution and mix thoroughly. This mass should be thick and plastic.

Step 6. Putting the fireplace into operation

Considering that the fireplace is laid with wet bricks, before the first kindling, the structure must be thoroughly dried.

Natural drying occurs in the first week. To do this, simply open the door of the ash chamber and the firebox. And in the second week, you need to light the fireplace every day and not bring it to maximum heat. Check traction.

Instructions for laying a fireplace with a cast iron firebox and a metal chimney

The advantage of installing a chimney pipe made of steel (in our case, sandwich pipes) is that it can be removed through the wall. This greatly expands your options for placing a fireplace in your home.

To build such a fireplace, you will need the same tools as in the previous instructions, and from the materials you need to prepare:

• Cast iron firebox with glass.
• Sandwich pipe set.
• Silicone sealant.
• Clamps, tee.
• Elbow 45 0 or 90 0 (depending on the location of the chimney structure).
• Bracket for supporting the chimney pipe.
• Mineral wool (to insulate the passage of pipes through ceilings).
• Protective umbrella for the pipe (from precipitation and debris).

1. The arrangement of a separate foundation is carried out in a standard manner with the deepening of the soil, the construction of formwork and cementing.
2. Insulation of walls from the fireplace. The fireplace cannot be mounted close to the wall. Therefore, between wooden wall The fireplace next to which the fireplace will be placed must be lined with super insulation. If space allows, you can build an additional thin wall from sand-lime brick. Please note that in this case the wall must be built on the same foundation as the fireplace. Take this into account when designing. The size of the wall should exceed the size of the fireplace by 50-70 cm on each side.
3. Laying the base (2 rows are laid with solid bricks).

   

4. Construction of a pedestal - we lay out 4 rows of red brick in the shape of the letter P. If you have chosen a wide firebox, then the width of the pedestal should also be increased. Use cement-clay mortar when laying bricks. The pedestal will increase the heat transfer of the fireplace, because cold air will be taken from below and, passing through the firebox, rise up.
5. Ash pit installation.
6. On the 4th row of bricks, we make grooves using a file, and insert metal corners into them with the edges up.
7. We lay the 5th row of bricks, which will be the base under the firebox. We apply a layer of fireproof mastic on it.
8. We install.

   

   You will need an assistant for this job due to the heavy weight of the structure. It is necessary to carefully lower the fuel chamber from bottom to top, with a distance of 5 cm from the back of the wall. While the mastic or fire-resistant glue has not hardened, check building level degree of horizontal inclination. At this stage, you can still correct errors.

   

9. from sandwich pipes.

   

10. Brick lining of the firebox. After the firebox is connected to the chimney, it is necessary to cover it with bricks using heat-resistant glue or cement mortar.

    

    When lining the firebox, it is very important to take into account the thermal gap of 5 mm between the cast iron wall and the outer casing. The order in this case is not important, since, in essence, you are building a brick box according to the dimensions of the finished firebox. At the stage of finishing the chimney, it is very important to ensure that the lining does not rest on the pipe.

11. Lining the chimney with plasterboard. Immediately according to the scheme, a frame is erected from a metal profile, onto which drywall is screwed with self-tapping screws.

    

    It needs to be insulated from the inside thermal insulation mats from non-flammable material. In this case, they should be attached with the foil side to the firebox and chimney.

12. We cover the outer part with plasterboard.
13. Facing works. Any fireplace can be beautifully decorated facing material: clinker bricks, decorative stone, plaster, etc. After the facing work has been completed, you can carry out flooring. Keep in mind that parquet or laminate cannot be laid close to the fireplace. The distance must be at least 80 cm.
14. Drying the fireplace and heating it.

When all the work is completed, you can decorate the fireplace with a stylish, hand-made fireplace.

It’s unlikely that anyone would argue that you can look at the flickering fire in the fireplace for an infinitely long time.

And if everything is strictly followed according to our instructions, then such a fireplace will delight you not only by creating a special aura of home comfort, but will also provide warmth, heating the house.

To make it easier for you to understand how to build a fireplace with your own hands, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with detailed video instructions.

Video. Fireplace masonry

You can lay out a brick fireplace with your own hands in a country house, in a cottage, in a private townhouse - that is, in your own house on the ground; for apartments such a task is too complicated in engineering terms. This work cannot be called simple and quick, but with due persistence and responsibility, it is quite possible to acquire a personal fireplace.

Fireplaces - brief description

Any fireplace with a real flame is a simple open stove with a chimney hood. The spectacle of dancing flames fascinates and attracts the eye for many hours; crackling firewood with shimmering sparks creates a unique sound background, but the downside of such design effects is low heat transfer. The efficiency of fireplaces does not exceed 25%, everything else thermal energy literally “flies down the drain.” It will not be possible to heat a large room in winter using only an open fire; it is necessary to provide additional heating options - warm floors, convection heating, etc.

A typical brick fireplace design consists of a combustion chamber (firebox), which expands towards the portal. This increases heat transfer into the room. The deep design of the firebox reduces the already low fireplace efficiency, so fireplaces in private homes are built wide and relatively flat. The location of the man-made hearth can be the end wall or the corner between it and the internal walls of the house. It is not allowed to place fireplaces opposite window openings, this leads to a decrease in the thermal effect and strong drafts. The foundation at the installation site must be very strong, because a brick fireplace weighs less than 600-700 kg. If the strength of the ground floor floor is not designed for such a load, it will have to be additionally equipped (see below).

Calculation and diagram of a brick fireplace

In this section, you cannot do without boring numbers and calculations, but if you skip it, the result of your construction efforts will be too funny, especially for your envious people and ill-wishers. Main dimensions of the future fireplace:

• The area of ​​the combustion chamber directly depends on the volume of the heated room in a ratio of 1:100. That is, for a hall of 100 m2 it is necessary to provide at least 1 square meter under the firebox - and the area of ​​the fireplace itself will be larger by the thickness of its walls;
• The ratio of firebox depth to width is maintained within 1:2.5-2:3, i.e. height is always greater than width. For example, for a small combustion chamber of 0.5 m2, the optimal depth will be 30-50 cm - accordingly, we allocate a width of 1 to 1.4 meters.
• The “front” opening of the firebox, its portal bursting with heat, is usually elongated in height in a ratio of 2:3. For the already mentioned firebox area of ​​0.5 m2, the brick portal will be 60-70 by 80-90 centimeters - there is room for man-made fire to unfold;
• The area of ​​the smoke hole is also tied to the area of ​​the combustion chamber with a scaling of 10-15 to one. The height of chimneys should not exceed 4-5 meters, otherwise the draft will be insufficient.

Laying a fireplace with your own hands will require preliminary drawing efforts, because each brick row must be drawn to scale, preferably on lined paper. Each tier of bricks is designated conventional sign, the need for pre-processing of the blocks is taken into account - after all, halves, quarters, and bricks sawn off at an angle will be used. In addition, such a drawing will help to accurately calculate the amount of material - fireplace bricks are not cheap, no one needs an extra overpayment

How to build a fireplace with your own hands - choose the material

The choice of building materials when laying a fireplace with your own hands must be taken not just responsibly, but meticulously. One defective block, walled up in the fireplace wall, will become a real enemy agent in your own home, a malicious saboteur. It will be extremely difficult to “expose” him; who would want to go through the entire fireplace again?

Therefore, each brick for fireplace work is carefully selected and inspected. The surface of the brick should be smooth, the color should be a thick and uniform orange-red. Brick corners should be clear, without chips, the sound of hitting a brick with a hammer should be clean and uniform. Pay attention to the brick fractures; if the quality is poor, they are not uniform in color and texture. Melts or whitish spots on the brick surface are unacceptable; they indicate irregularities during firing. An average-sized fireplace will require from 250 to 350 bricks.

Other materials you need to stock up on:

• Fireproof clay. It will require about 0.1 m 3 for every 100 bricks, and at least 0.2 m 3 kg for the foundation;
• Cement grades from 200, can be packaged, in the amount of 30 kg per 100 bricks;
• Crushed stone for pouring the foundation, fractions from 3 to 6 centimeters;
• Clean construction sand with a grain size of up to 1.3 mm - 0.5 m 3 for the entire masonry and about 0.3 m 3 for the concrete base;
• Reinforcing bars d = 8-10 mm (length up to 80 cm, number up to 20 pcs.).

Do-it-yourself fireplace made of brick - arranging the foundation

A strong supporting foundation must be laid in any brick fireplace project, otherwise the entire heavy structure may unpredictably fall apart. Unfortunately, such a foundation is rarely laid at the stage of capital construction of a building. For a solid brick fireplace you will need:

• A mini-pit is at least half a meter deep and its width and length are 30-35 cm larger than the dimensions of the fireplace itself;
• Place sand or sand and gravel mixture, depending on soil moisture. If the soil in your region is of the heaving type, lay the sand and gravel base in a dug mini-pit, in several layers, tamping each layer;
• Place wooden formwork on flat gravel that is 15-20 cm larger than the fireplace dimensions, accurately aligning its edges with level. Place reinforcing bars in the formwork crosswise, welding their joints welding machine . The height of the formwork depends on the weight of the fireplace, but must be at least 15 cm;
• Pouring formwork with cement-gravel-sand mortar. After it hardens, the gap between the fireplace foundation and the old floor is filled with clean sand. Direct contact between them is prohibited - different levels of load will lead to cracking of the joint line, and sand will serve well as a deformation compensator. The foundation level can be 5-7 cm lower than the floor level in the room.

You should start building a brick fireplace with your own hands after the concrete foundation has hardened, which should take at least 2 days. Hundreds of kilograms of heavy structure must have a completely “grasped”, level and solid foundation. Clay for joints is soaked 5-7 days before laying in a large barrel; it must be stirred periodically. The sand for the solution is sifted and washed several times. Immediately before laying on the mortar, each brick block is soaked in a bucket of water for 15-20 seconds to remove air pockets, even if the brick is fireproof.

Preparatory activities do not end with carefully pouring the foundation. It is necessary to correctly mix the installation mortar, mark it and accurately carry out the laying

How to build a fireplace with your own hands - masonry and finishing

Step 1: Step 1. Mixing the solution

Fill the sand, dried after washing, with clay until it looks like thick jelly. The mixture should not be runny or stick to the skin of your hands; at the same time, the dryness of the solution is unacceptable. It should not disintegrate when molded into individual fragments. The easiest way to check the quality of the mortar for laying fireplaces is with the “sausage test”. A small piece with a diameter of a couple of centimeters is rolled out from the sand-clay mixture - if its sausage shape does not crumble on its own and does not stick to your hands, the solution is optimal for the job.

Step 2: Step 2. Drawings and layouts

We lay a layer of rolled insulation on the foundation under the fireplace dimensions. On the back wall of the room we draw a drawing of the part of the fireplace structure that will be adjacent to it. Next, we lay out the first continuous row dry, taking into account the location of each refractory element.

This is the main difference between fireplace masonry and the construction of walls from any blocks - each layer of the structure is first measured dry, the elements are laid evenly and each in its place. The sawn-off areas must be immured in mortar; they must not be exposed to the front and sides. Refractory bricks are cut with a hacksaw or grinder with diamond blade. Each silicate element can be numbered and its location on the base can be marked with the same number.

Step 3: Step 3. Laying the fireplace itself

The foundation and floor mortar is applied under each brick. Work begins from the corners, checking each plumb and level; you can use auxiliary equipment made from steel bars or angles. The entire layer is removed between the brick beacon corners, only then they move on to the next one. The height seams are made thin in order to minimize cracking of the mortar in the future. The seams in the depths, in the core of the masonry, can be made somewhat thicker.

Excess mortar is removed after installing each brick element, it is once again exposed to dryness - as they say, “situated in place.” In this case, it is immediately assessed required amount solution required to completely fill the joints, without gaps and voids. The laid brick rows are measured for compliance with horizontal standards, and pre-established angles are also checked by plumb line. If a deviation was discovered, the brick was removed and re-laid; correcting horizontal and vertical flaws when laying subsequent levels is prohibited.

The inside of the hearth must be smooth, otherwise the fireplace will hum and deteriorate over time. When there are differences internal dimensions For example, when the structure narrows towards the chimney, you will have to cut out every brick; sealing uneven areas with mortar is prohibited. Such a " interior plaster"will quickly fly around and clog the chimney. Small irregularities in the bricks and seams inside the fireplace are smoothed out with a sponge soaked in a clay solution.

Step 4: Step 4. Installation of metal elements and trim

If the design of a brick fireplace includes a metal portal edging, then heat-resistant steel with a thickness of 3 mm or more is used. The metal frames are leveled and filled with mounting solution. Asbestos expansion joints are installed at the points of contact between steel elements and bricks, because metal expands more when heated and can deform the front (most visible!) surface of the fireplace.

Under no circumstances should the metal elements of the portal be considered load-bearing structures! If on top bar The edging will have at least a small weight of the overlying bricks; after the first kindling it will bend and all the work will go down the drain. In general, during your first experiments with fireplace work, it is better to do without metalizing the portal; this procedure is quite complicated, and its violation can lead to the failure of the entire project.

The cladding of fireplace walls is done with special heat-resistant tiles - and their installation is as painstaking as the installation of the fireplace itself. As an alternative to tiles, fire-resistant paints are used, and they can be used to paint the brick surface or only thin interbrick joints. However, high-quality refractory bricks do not need additional finishing works.

The fireplace was the first specially designed heating device known to mankind. In the industrial era, it acquired a more decorative and prestigious meaning, but these days there is a revival of interest in fireplaces that are not only beautiful, but also warm. As a main heating device, a fireplace does not have any special prospects, but as an additional or alternative it allows you to significantly save on utility costs, and a careful person can make it with their own hands House master average.

On modern types a slow-burning, environmentally friendly (pellets, biofuel) properly manufactured fireplace can show an efficiency no worse than or. However, the cost of a brick fireplace in terms of material consumption is two to three times less, and the money is three to four times less than for the same thermal power.

This article will provide descriptions, diagrams and drawings of several homemade fireplaces and structures industrial production. But a significant amount of material is devoted to what is most often mentioned in other sources, if at all, then in passing. Conventionally, this information can be called the basics of fireplace science.

It would seem, why bother? But, even if we carry out even a very good product step by step according to the instructions, we will get it again, and it will hardly be better than what was made by the author. But no one has canceled or will cancel the decorative function of the fireplace, and technically it is not as simple as it looks. To build a beautiful, cozy and useful fireplace for yourself, you must first understand what it is, how it works, what it is good for and what it is not.

Types of fireplaces: aesthetics

The fireplace, as before, not only warms the room, but also gives it a special coziness. They build it in the shower of the house - in the living room. A technically efficient, but unsightly and/or incompatible fireplace takes away the personality of the house. Therefore, before we start making it, let’s see what the face of the fireplace itself might be like. The choice is not so wide, because... A fireplace should not only look, but also provide warmth. Moreover, do not smoke, do not smoke and do not create a risk of fumes. Having chosen the style that suits you, you can begin construction.

Classic

The most common type of fireplace is English classic. Its appearance is shown in Fig. About its structure and technical features We’ll talk further, but one thing can be said about aesthetics: will go wherever anything, even in an art deco or fusion interior. A classic is a classic because it fits everywhere. Everything that might somehow not stick together with something was eliminated in the process of centuries-old evolution.

Dutch

A Dutch fireplace is essentially a fireplace stove. And not because it is covered with tiles, they may not be there, as in the right pose. rice. below. But the presence of smoke circulation is mandatory: the Dutch were forced to save on fuel back in the Middle Ages. Therefore, a Dutch fireplace, strictly speaking, is not a fireplace at all.

A Dutch fireplace is laid out like a stove, only with an enlarged firebox mouth and a solid bottom without a vent. There are either no firebox doors at all, or they are openwork, cast or forged, allowing air to pass through freely. This follows from the operating features of the fireplace, as discussed in the next technical section.

To build from scratch, a Dutch fireplace is difficult: the masonry is not easy, and high-quality finishing is needed. But, if you need to make a fireplace from a stove, then your great-grandmother’s Dutch oven in the wall or in the corner is a godsend. It’s enough just to open the firebox wide, close the vent – ​​and there you have a fireplace.

The second, slightly more expensive, but excellent option in all respects, is to expand the furnace so that a modern factory-made fireplace insert fits into it. We will return to them later, but for now let’s note: a branded firebox can give a second life to an old Dutch oven. Instead of breaking it and subsequent major repairs - cosmetic repairs and a fireplace in the house. There's probably no need to compare.

Rustic

Rustic in Latin means rustic, rural. Its meaning is best conveyed by the Russian “dyarevnya!” However, rustic fireplaces look very good in country, colonial, rococo and even bourgeois interiors, see fig. “Rustic” buildings are built from wild stone.

A special type of rustic fireplace is a fireplace in Provence style, right pos. in Fig. Provence style is, in essence, French country, only lighter and more sensual. Therefore, for Provence fireplaces, the stone used is light, warmer and softer: yellowish limestone, sandstone, slate (not combustible!) Once upon a time, Provencal fireplaces did not last long because of this, but with a modern factory firebox, the stone actually turns into a cladding, the thermal loads are almost does not receive and the fireplace lasts for many years.

Rustic fireplaces are expensive, for starters. Natural stone cut to size – construction material elite class, regardless of its type. Secondly, only a very experienced stove maker can build a “rustic” stove. The structure is heavy, requires a good foundation, and natural stone masonry is difficult to work with. You can’t get by with knowledge alone; you also need a lot of experience.

Note: wild stone and natural stone- not the same thing. Wild - the way it was taken out - boulders, pebbles, crushed cobblestones. And the same stone, processed using stone-cutting equipment and meeting certain size standards, will already be natural.

In the wall or nearby?

Classic and rustic fireplaces can be built in the following designs:

• Built-in (closed) – the firebox mouth is flush with the wall; the portal (see below) is made directly along the wall.
• Semi-open (see figure on the right) - adjacent to the wall or partially recessed into it.
• Open – there is free space between them and the walls on all sides.
• In the openings, two rooms are heated at once.

Built-in fireplaces require a special building design and are included in its plan at the design stage. Open ones take up a lot of living space. Therefore, urban fireplaces, with some exceptions (which are discussed below), are most often made half-open.

Alpine

Alpine or Swiss fireplaces have come into fashion relatively recently. These, again, are not fireplaces in essence, but simple open hearths from Swiss chalets, on the left in Fig. Modern interest in them is most likely due to their democratic nature: the fire is visible from all sides, and you can sit in a circle around it.

English and Dutch fireplaces, on the contrary, are authoritarian: only the patriarch was supposed to bask in the evening by the fire with a pipe. An inattentive son/granddaughter who reached towards the fire risked receiving a hefty kick or a slap on the wrist without any explanation.

You can install a Swiss fireplace yourself without much difficulty, but only in a non-residential area. In permanently inhabited premises they self-construction prohibited by fire legislation - open fire, after all. In city apartments up to and including business class, “Swiss” cannot be made at all, but in luxury apartments it is possible only with special permission from the fire inspectorate and the presence of a fire certificate for the product.

For individual country houses the rules do not provide for exceptions. A fire in a house with people in the countryside or in a cottage community is even more dangerous than in a high-rise building: the Ministry of Emergency Situations will not arrive quickly. But it is quite possible to build an Alpine fireplace in your country house without asking anyone and without risking any fines. Country houses, by law, are non-residential premises.

Modern

Modern design styles have not bypassed such seemingly archaic fireplaces. The reason is that almost all modern design styles, while outwardly cold and laconic, are filled with hidden energy. And a fireplace is a container for the visible energy of fire, so its framing does not have to be sophisticated and pretentious.

Modern

Art Nouveau is known as an inclusive style. Designers, decorators, and applied artists say among themselves (in public they are sophisticated aesthetes) they say: “Put what you want into modernity.” But modernity is by no means a disorderly dump. It requires a very developed taste and has many meanings.

One of them is important in the fireplace business: a modern fireplace that fully meets the style criteria and does not in any way violate its aesthetics can be made from lightweight modern materials WITHOUT FOUNDATION, middle and right pos. in Fig. A fireplace without a foundation – what’s it like? At least in terms of savings on construction work.

Mini

The minimalist style no longer likes something hanging. He is purely down to earth and spread out over surfaces. In mini interiors, even built-in lamps are recommended.

For fireplaces, minimalism has both pros and cons. Minus - an open or semi-open fireplace does not fit into the mini interior. If the walls are thin and it is impossible to embed a fireplace in them, you have to enclose it with some kind of box, simulating “built-in”, as in the left pose. rice.

But the advantage of mini fireplaces is more significant: minimal framing in combination with a modern firebox allows you to create a mobile mini-fireplace, on the right in Fig. Indeed, a branded 12 kW firebox weighs about 100 kg (see below), and a purely decorative biofuel firebox weighs up to 20 kg. With frame – about 30 kg. It is not a hero who can carry it within the premises.

High tech

The basis of the high-tech style, as is known, is smooth colored or metallic, often shiny surfaces, smooth or smoothly curved. From the point of view of the fireplace, this means that it can be made either with a ready-made factory firebox (the first and third positions from the left in the figure), or with any of the classic designs, but from modern materials, the second and last positions. However, it is not advisable to make the high-tech mini-fireplace (third position from the left) mobile. In theory, elements of a high-tech interior can move out of their places no more than transistor valves in a computer chip.

Bionic style

Bionic style is, roughly speaking, back to nature methods high technology. Bionic interiors are not very widespread. The reason is their extreme high cost. We need natural materials, an experienced designer specializing specifically in bionics (and paid accordingly), and super-elite craftsmen who can bring the fruit of his quest to life. Following the example in Fig. You can imagine how much a fireplace alone would cost in a bionic interior.

Street

Outdoor fireplaces are also a trend of modernity. Frankly speaking, they don’t make much sense: what’s the point of sitting by a fire in the open air in bad weather? And it’s not good for a fireplace to get wet and cold all the time, so materials for it need to be especially resistant and, accordingly, expensive.

However, for a barbecue picnic at the dacha or, especially, in a country entertainment establishment, an outdoor fireplace still makes some sense. Therefore, we will briefly understand what and how to build it from, so as not to redo it in a year or two.

The most obvious solution is a collapsible outdoor barbecue oven, first from the left in the top row in Fig. You can’t do this yourself without production space with the necessary equipment, but the prices for branded ones are acceptable. They weigh little and can be carried by two people. For the winter they disassemble and hide.

In the middle in the top row is the same fireplace-barbecue-barbecue, but made of dense wild stone: granite, gabbro, diabase, etc. It will withstand any bad weather for an indefinitely long time, does not require accelerating fireboxes after autumn-winter slush, because... moisture absorption of the material is negligible.

However, the cost is prohibitive. The material is, as they say, flowers. But the work is already juicy berries. How many stove makers are there who will undertake to remove a strong vault from a “savage”? But whoever takes it and really knows how to do it will have to sort through tons of stone to select pieces for keys and wing beds. And the wings themselves also need to be made from nothing. And you can’t do without adjusting the pieces, but adjusting the granite so that the outside appearance does not deteriorate is not like trimming the bricks with a butt; more than one diamond wheel in the grinder will have to be replaced.

But the metal option on the far right at the top is just right for DIYers. The design is clear from the drawing, one person can carry it back and forth without difficulty. Already with firewood placed in the opening of the shell for drying, the look is quite natural. And if you lay out the upper cheek with flat stones on a cement-sand mortar with polymer additives, you will get a real “Swiss” look. True, two people will have to wear this.

Finally (bottom left in the figure), behind the Swiss fireplace on outdoors A regular Dutch oven will do. By the way, it is more capable of cooking kebabs than with the previous version.

If you definitely want a fireplace, both in the wild, and homemade, and brick, then it must be built in a gazebo, on the lower right in Fig. Heavenly moisture and a device with a flame inside made of a porous hygroscopic material in a clay solution are incompatible things. After winter, it may simply fall apart from the accelerating firebox. An example of a stove-fireplace-barbecue suitable for a gazebo will be given below.

Types of fireplaces: appliances

The Swiss fireplace does not have any scientific or technical features. This is a simple hearth, a fire in the recess of a pedestal made of fireproof material. But this is also a very ancient, English classic - the device is already quite interesting.

Note: There are known images and models of classical fireplaces, which archaeologists attribute back to the pre-Roman Celts and Picts. Which was already hoary antiquity in the time of William the Conqueror.

Rustic and Provençal fireplaces are the same classic ones, only decorated differently. The Dutch oven is no different in principle of operation and design from the Dutch oven. Modern fireplaces with improvements will be considered, but let’s start, as usual, with the classics.

Classic and Rumford

Device diagrams classic fireplace English type is shown in Fig. on right. A classic fireplace is different from simple hearth under the smoke collector there are only two parts: an infrared (thermal) reflector; a reflective surface, and a smoke tooth. But these two details give a lot.

The highlight of the fireplace is the smoke tooth. It limits the capacity of the chimney due to the formation of a slow vortex of flue gases underneath it. If you light an English fireplace raw firewood, then until they flare up, a ball of smoke in the firebox is clearly visible, not going into the chimney and not spreading out.

Thus, the air in the firebox made several revolutions, coming into contact with the burning fuel, until it gradually went into the chimney. This achieved the following:

1. The gradual release of oxygen by air made it possible to organize energetically efficient slow combustion of even very energetic fuels - pine firewood, anthracite - without the danger of carbon monoxide formation.
2. Air oxygen was used more fully, which, with high-quality fuel, eliminated the formation of waste in any position of the view.
3. The air became very hot and immediately gave off heat to the body of the fireplace, which, in turn, radiated it into the room.
4. The time constant of the vortex in the furnace was 2-7 minutes, which made the combustion process self-regulating.
5. As a result, with the same addition of fuel, you can safely adjust the heating intensity in a way that is extremely dangerous in stoves: by partially retracting the view.

Let's give an explanation. The formation of carbon monoxide CO is an endothermic process, i.e. energetically unfavorable. Figuratively speaking, burning fuel with a lack of oxygen tends to attract more energy carrier - oxygen - before being partially oxidized, as a result of which CO is formed.

In the fireplace, access to outside air is basically free; there are no doors on the throat of the firebox. But the vortex created by it in the furnace prevents the fuel from getting enough oxygen. If there is very little oxidizer, the combustion dies out, the vortex weakens, the influx of outside air increases, the fuel flares up, the vortex intensifies again, and spins until all the oxygen from it is consumed, and then the process repeats again and again.

However, it is impossible to organize such combustion in a chamber that is blind from above. The fact is that the volume of flue gases in the vortex continuously increases as it develops, both due to thermal expansion and due to the formation of products of thermochemical reactions. If you close the view tightly, the whirlwind will come out (the fireplace will start smoking, just like the stove), the whole process will go out of whack, and the fireplace will burn just like a fire.

Note: As a result, the view of an English fireplace is made with an idle hole, like in the throttle valve of a car carburetor. Its area is approximately 10% of the cross-sectional area of ​​the chimney. This hole does not reduce the efficiency of the fireplace, see below.

Further, the hot whirlwind warms up the body of the fireplace well, and it also warms the room well. Only excess already cooled flue gases fly out into the chimney, which additionally give off their heat to the fireplace in the smoke hood. Efficiency of an English fireplace for such simple device unusually high: up to 46% on Cornish coal and more than 50% on pellets.

Note: From the above it is clear that it is impossible to make a smoke tooth in the form of a simple brick protrusion. Aerodynamics is at work here; the tooth must be profiled. Varieties of English fireplaces differ from each other mainly in the tooth profile.

True, such indicators cannot be achieved in a modern city apartment: measurements were carried out in old English castles, for fireplaces with a smoke hood 4.5-5.5 m high and a total chimney height of 12-17 m. But all the same, even with ceilings of normal height the fireplace will heat no worse than a Dutch fireplace, and it is technically easier to build. Alas, only technically, see below.

The described principle of operation gives an important practical consequence: the heat of the flue gases after the smoke tooth, in the smoke hood, is waste, it can be used in any way: to make vents and additionally heat the air, to build a water heating register into the hood, etc. This is not the case in stoves with smoke circulation - the internal energy balance must be strictly observed and the energy circulation paths must not be disturbed, otherwise the stove will go out of mode, start smoking, and its efficiency will drop sharply.

In a fireplace, the heat generation zone (HZ) is concentrated in the space from the hearth of the firebox to the smoke tooth. Below there is nothing to take, but above - take at least everything, no one will notice. This is precisely why an English fireplace differs from stoves, and not because it heats with radiation, as is often written. The stove also emits heat. In the fireplace, the HCT is also combined with the technological process zone (TPZ), combustion, but in the same way.

Under the fireplace insert

Initially, in English fireplaces, the fireboxes were really solid, made of stone with a slight outward slope. Without tilting, the fireplace will never enter the internal gas circulation mode when lighting. The direction of rotation of the vortex in such fireplaces was opposite to that shown in Fig. higher.

They worked properly, but could be dangerous: large burning pieces often rolled out. Which is absolutely useless in a castle with a stone floor in the feast hall: there are also carpets, furniture, and lush robes of a very “succumbing” company.

Therefore, already in the Middle Ages, they began to make fireplace inserts with grates and a very low ash pan, designed only for kindling. When the fuel flared up and the flame began to stretch into the chimney, the vent was closed. A sudden push of excess energy excited the vortex, and - order!

Nowadays, in order to save on metal fittings and to simplify the work, the underneath is again often made solid stone, horizontal or even with a slight slope inward. The reason is kindling with high-energy flammable liquids and, especially, kindling gels. They themselves provide the excess energy necessary for the formation of a vortex, and then everything is as usual.

Curious

Filmmakers/TV makers, when filming something about old England, up to Sherlock Holmes, are sure to look for a castle or at least an old cottage with a “real” fireplace with a stone firebox. And the owners of such households make good money by renting them out for filming. Meanwhile, already in the time of the dissolute Hugo, who with his frantic sinfulness gave birth to the Hound of the Baskervilles, fireplaces with a grate and a low “starting” vent were in common use.

Rumford fireplace

The diagram of the Rumford fireplace (in the previous transcription - Rumford, Rumford) is shown in Fig. on right. The working process in a Rumford fireplace is exactly the same as in a classic one, but the retention of flue gases instead of a smoke tooth is provided by a neck with a hyperbolic profile, the so-called. Rumford neck. By the way, it is widely used in technology in general, not only in fireplaces.

The efficiency of a Rumford fireplace using the same fuel is exactly the same as a classic one. But, as can be seen from the figure, its design is much simpler, cheaper and lighter. A Rumford fireplace can also be built in a block high-rise building: the required depth of the firebox is one and a half times less than that of a classic one, and a foam concrete or vermiculite slab will be used for the foundation.

There is only one “but” - the profile of the throat must be maintained quite accurately; tolerance from a hyperbola - plus/minus 5% along the normal at a given point. It is ignorance of this circumstance that explains most of the failures of home-made people who tried to build it.

About reflectors

Many craftsmen, knowing that the fireplace heats mainly infrared from the firebox, build into it a metal reflector or even an expensive mirror made of heat-resistant glass with titanium-niobium amalgam. An example of a design of this kind and its dimensions (by the way, the typical dimensions of a classic fireplace for a modern living room) is shown in Fig. It is recommended to clean the reflector to a mirror shine before each fire.

All this complexity, generally speaking, will not hurt. But they won’t improve anything in the fireplace. The thing is that black-looking soot and soot (finely dispersed amorphous carbon) reflects IR rays very well. About the same as unglazed earthenware - visible light.

Therefore, physicists do not make blackbody models out of soot, which often causes bewilderment among high school and university students. What kind of complete absorption is there if in IR it almost glitters! So “bothering” with reflectors when building a fireplace is a waste of time. Once smoked, the heat will make it shine on its own.

Universal in the corner

An English-type fireplace can be not only front-facing. In fact, it is believed that a fireplace in the corner should be built in the Dutch style, but this is just a prejudice. A corner fireplace, which works quite like English, is easy to put together if you know how to work with fireclay bricks, see the masonry diagram in Fig. on right. The design is quite massive and is only suitable for private households. But it can also be used as a barbecue, and it’s easy to equip a smoke hood for hot smoking.

Video: the process of building a corner fireplace

With water heater

As is already clear, it is not difficult to integrate a hot water register into an English fireplace. You just need to remember that you can’t take too much heat. A fireplace with a thermal power of 20 kW per tooth produces barely 4-5 with an extremely intense firebox. It’s enough for hot water supply with a storage tank, but not for central heating.

The heat exchanger itself, because the temperature behind the tooth is low, it is better to make it from 2-4 rows of thin-walled metal tubes, 3 tubes per row, arranged in a checkerboard pattern. And it’s easier to work with - you don’t need to disassemble the cap, just drill holes in it - and the heat transfer will be good.

Modern with fireboxes

When they say “a fireplace with a firebox,” it often causes confusion: what about a fireplace without a firebox? Some kind of electronic 3D fire simulation?

There are some, although it is immediately obvious that they are fake. But in this case we will talk about a fireplace with a special factory-made firebox. An example is the domestically produced Optima firebox, see fig.

Fireplace insert “Optima”

In such fireboxes, the classic fireplace thermal cycle is simulated and optimized on computers. The products themselves are made from modern materials; Special alloys, organosilicon and composites are widely used.

Therefore, a modern fireplace insert is not heavy, compact, and produces almost no heat where it is not needed; it can even be built into furniture, see fig. on right. The chimney is made of ordinary thin-walled metal fiber, and the firebox door is made of freely transmitting IR heat-resistant glass. The finishing of the fireplace “with a firebox” can be any, according to the taste of the customer and the skill of the craftsman. In addition, the “combustion” fireplace provides considerable additional opportunities.

More about water heaters

Fireplace inserts are also available with a built-in water heating circuit. Thanks to precise computer calculations, a fireplace with a water circuit in a special firebox is already a full-fledged heating device, continuously supplying hot water not only to the kitchen and bathroom, but also to the central heating system. The diagram of its device and connection is shown in Fig. It is clear that they do not do this on their own.

Air heating

The frame of the firebox of a modern fireplace can be, as already mentioned, anything. This allows you to make a fireplace with air heating, the diagram of which is shown in Fig. The firebox pedestal does not have to be made of stone; it can at least be made of the same plasterboard. But, alas, this does not add joy to the homemade worker. Why will be clear from what follows.

About biofireplaces

Before moving from things that are interesting to any techie to matters that, frankly, are quite dreary, you should dwell a little on bio-fireplaces. In fact, they have already been mentioned: all mobile mini-fireplaces, without exception, run on biofuel. And the fireboxes around which they are “molded” are also special, designed specifically for biofuel.

Biofuels are produced by bacterial decomposition of human and animal waste. It sounds disgusting, but the fuel itself is extremely clean: it is based on ethanol, and any conceivable combustion mode produces only carbon dioxide and water in the exhaust.

Biofuel should not be confused with absolutely environmentally friendly, and long-known, gas hydrates, “dry alcohol”. Gas hydrate dry fuel is highly energetic and produces a lot of heat. And ethanol is also known to everyone (and to many - to the point of pain in the soul, in the head and in the whole body) ethyl alcohol. In biofuel it is in a bound state, so it is not suitable for oral administration. And for the price, it’s easier to bathe in cognac.

Alcohol, as you know, always burns completely, but produces very little heat. Anyone who has tried to boil even a 200 ml teapot (a glass) on an alcohol stove knows that ethanol is no good as a heat generator. But as a fuel component for decorative mini-fireplaces, it is ideal: it does not spill, because... part of a semi-solid or jelly-like mass. There is biofuel that looks like firewood. But outside the special firebox, they immediately go out, so you don’t have to be afraid to tip the fireplace onto the carpet.

This is not an advertisement for biofuels, but necessary information for understanding a very important circumstance for home-made workers, especially urban ones. Namely: for a biofuel fireplace, no permits, registrations or approvals are required. If only the firebox was brand certified, and a fireplace with it can be built even in a wooden house. And invite firefighters to the first launch without fear of anything.

Fireplaces: something terrible

Not a fire, not a fume, not a tangle poisonous snakes in the chimney, not collapsing down to the neighbor along with the ceiling. Worse: paperwork. And there is no way to get by without a permit for a fireplace, if it is not using biofuel - everyone understands what an open fire is in a residential area. Firefighters certainly understand this, and from a purely professional and sanctioned perspective.

The trouble is that there are no legislative acts regulating the installation of fireplaces in the Russian Federation. SNiP 2.04.05-91 regulates the installation of heating and cooking stoves, but it also clearly prohibits the installation of heating devices with an open firebox in residential premises. In Moscow, fireplaces seem to be allowed by the Moscow City Building Standards (MGSN) “Residential Buildings” 3.01-96, but only on the top floors (or on the penultimate floors, if the apartment is two-story), and the apartment must have only one owner. The technical logic here is difficult to discern, but the administrative and financial logic of the Luzhkov era is clear as day: those who can afford to “roll back” can afford a fireplace.

So what should we do? Let's turn the saying inside out: in every barrel of ointment, if you strain it properly, there is a spoonful of honey. In this case, apartments with a smoke channel built into the design, separate from the ventilation. These are pre-revolutionary houses, Stalin buildings, brick Khrushchev buildings with geysers and titans modern apartments open plan in monolithic houses. In them, even according to MGSN 3.01-96, flame heating devices can be installed on any floor.

This leads to the following twist:

• We are embarking on a supposedly complex redevelopment involving the relocation of heating appliances (do not write in the application - central heating registers!). The procedure is extremely dreary; describing it is a separate topic.
• Quietly, we get permission from the firefighters for a flame heating device. The “trick” is that by default, according to SNiP, it will be understood as a stove, if you don’t “screw up” yourself and clarify. On paper, in words, in your own way, it is possible and necessary.
• We are building a fireplace.
• Suddenly, here’s a permit for redevelopment with heating reconstruction; here is a flame heater. There it is, the flame, look! Bake? What kind of oven is this? There is nothing in this paper about the stove! Oh, is it implied? Well, if the court accepts your understanding as a fact or document, please!

However, such a sweet moment will most likely never come. Firefighters know their job, and where there is no light, they will not go there. But you will have to worry about paperwork:

1. We are ordering a redevelopment project; a “self-made” project will not work. Advice: if the thought flashed to attach a balcony to a room, erect a major partition, combine/separate a bathroom, combine a kitchen with a living room - it’s better to do everything in one package and work with the fireplace, the money and nerves will take half as much;
2. We take from the DEZ, HOA, or, in short, from the organization operating the house, a conclusion on its technical condition (technical report on the condition of the house’s structures, TZK). The fuel filling code must indicate that the chimney is in good working order and when it was inspected; better – no earlier than six months;
3. We go to a company licensed by the Ministry of Emergency Situations that develops fire safety recommendations. In Moscow, St. Petersburg, the capitals of federal districts and in many large cities, these are branches of the VNIIPO EMERCOM (VNII Fire Protection);
4. There we listen carefully, nod our heads, take notes, but the main thing is to get their visa for the project. Without it, further progress is pointless. They will demand that the project be modified or completely remade - not a word in defiance, we do as they said;
5. We go to the firefighters and get permission. They won’t just give it, but with a VNIIPO visa the issue is “solvable” (in VNIIPO, by the way, too), and without it it’s a “wood grouse”;
6. We go through all the ordeals of documenting a complex redevelopment, and - finally! - we are building!

I must say that if all this sadomasochistic paper pleasure will cost no more than $2,500 in the provinces and up to $4,000 in the Mother See, then you are incredibly lucky. And the paperwork will take no less than six months. So think about whether you should order a fireplace from a special company? They have a well-trodden track, and it may turn out to be cheaper and faster overall.

Note: It seems like a simple fireplace for air heating made from a factory firebox and drywall should definitely be ordered by a professional. After all, all the material for it, including the last self-tapping screw, will need fire certificates, otherwise it’s better not to approach VNIIPO. However, to order it best option: the materials and work are incomparable in price to masonry, and you have to buy a firebox anyway. The pros know exactly where to buy what so that the firefighters can get by.

Private country homeowners are luckier: a good part of the paperwork comes from approvals with the owners, building designers and urban architecture. If the house is your own, the architectural surroundings are the neighbor’s cow in the pasture, then these stages are eliminated. And VNIIPO and firefighters are not so picky: your house, you don’t have to burn.

Finally: construction!

So, now we can fold the fireplace. Let’s take, for example, two classic types of construction: home and country. All the rest are technically either the same or simpler. How exactly is stated above. Or more complicated and inaccessible to the DIYer. And the documentation (again, except for bio-fireplaces, which do not require it at all) is the same everywhere.

Foundation

All fireplaces, except Rumford and some modern ones, require a solid reinforced concrete foundation flush with the flooring. Of course, the project must also include a calculation of the overall strength: the ceiling must support the weight of the foundation and fireplace with the margin required by SNiP. By the way, in brick Khrushchev buildings this condition is most often not met.

When designing, it is in no way possible to transfer the weight load from the fireplace to the walls. Even if the fireplace is located in the wall opening and, for example, warms both the living room and the bedroom. Violate this condition and cracks will inevitably appear in the chimney, and with them even the most un-English fireplace will give off fumes.

The dimensions of the foundation are 100-110 mm in all directions. A sheet of iron with a thickness of 1.5 mm is laid on the foundation. The iron underlay is covered with waterproofing consisting of two layers of roofing material. Modern highly effective waterproofing compounds are not suitable for hot bedding. On the floor in front of the firebox mouth there is also a fireproof sheet according to software requirements (set out a meter in front and half a meter on the sides, galvanized on asbestos).

Note: fireplaces with a branded certified firebox do not need a fire-resistant blind area at all.

Opening season

Stoves and fireplaces are erected in the off-season (spring, autumn) at a temperature of 15-25 degrees and moderate air humidity. Build them in early spring, late autumn or in winter it’s not possible at all. In the summer, in the heat of the day, this is acceptable for an experienced stove maker. When dry, you need to humidify the air in the room with open, wide containers of water.

Brick

In the vast majority of cases, a regular red ceramic one will be used for the fireplace, because... combustion in the firebox is not intense and the thermal load on the structure is low. Front, beautiful and smooth brick, suitable only for external cladding: its high decorative qualities are achieved due to weak firing, and, accordingly, poor heat resistance. In addition, polymer additives are added to the mixture for facing bricks, contact of which with fire is unacceptable for many obvious reasons.

The brick must be of high quality mass and burned thoroughly, but not excessively. “Loaf” bricks, swollen, noticeably warped, with deep cracks on the surface, are mercilessly rejected. Also - iron ore brick, burnt, with dark core. Both of them will soon crack from alternating thermal loads.

Subtus, i.e. It is better to make bricks processed into a non-standard size/shape (unprocessed - solid) for a fireplace using a backing tool rather than a grinder with a circle. It's not the dust, it's the vibration. It can cause microcracks in properly annealed bricks, which will then turn into obvious cracks.

Solution

– clay-sand of medium fat content. The proportion of sand to clay is 3:1. Clay – purchased construction clay. Sand is also purchased, river sand, washed and calcined. Cheap quarry sand is not suitable.

The solution is kneaded with water until it becomes thick like sour cream or pancake dough and checked for fat content: it should drain from the trowel dipped in it, remaining on the spatula in an even layer of 1.5-3 mm. If it is too greasy, it sticks in clumps; sand and water (a little!) are added to it again until the desired consistency is reached. Too thin flows down, exposing, in places or completely, the metal of the instrument. It is adjusted to the desired fat content by adding clay and water.

The clay solution takes a long time to dry. Therefore, you need to prepare it slowly - not cement and especially not alabaster, it won’t set. You can prepare for future use for all the work at once, this will save time. At night, the tub or trough with the solution is covered with damp burlap, and the next morning before work it is shoveled several times.

Masonry

The first row is always laid out on dry waterproofing, applying mortar only to the seams between the bricks. The thickness of the joints is 3-4 mm, the minimum allowable for masonry on clay. The seams between ordinary bricks and fireclay, as well as between any bricks and metal liners are 6-13 mm. A 13 mm seam is the maximum allowable for clay mortar. It is sometimes used in the masonry of the body, if it is necessary to make a projection, a canopy or give fluff (widening).

The masonry is continuously verified using a plumb line and a cord, especially for amateurs. The entire structure is narrow, tall, heavy, and its center of gravity is located quite high. Forgivable for brick fence or the walls of the barn, skew or unevenness of the fireplace can lead to collapse.

Drying

Dry the finished structure for at least 20 days at room temperature. The windows must be opened wide, but direct sunlight on the product is unacceptable. It is best to arrange temporary awnings over the windows for the drying period, at least from old sheets on sticks. As a last resort, cover the windows with gauze.

Commissioning

After drying they do accelerating furnace half the fuel. It is better to take slow-burning coal - blacksmith's coal, "seed" coal. If drying was carried out in optimal conditions, then three days after dispersal you can start heating. Otherwise, the volume of fuel is increased in 2-3 steps from 3/4 of the norm to full.

DIY classics

Here in Fig. – arrangement of an English-type fireplace. The design has been simplified and modified so that it can be assembled by less experienced masons. The bottom line is that the firebox is flow-through. Do not close the vent when burning! But the grate is small and located at the very rear wall of the firebox, so the “English” vortex is created partly due to convection suction into the firebox from below. This made it possible to lay out the smoke tooth without any terrestrial-technological difficulties, using a simple ledge. True, the efficiency of pellets is slightly more than 40%

Video: fireplace laying process

BBQ a-la English

This gazebo (remember the promised one?) fireplace is a combined device. A single-burner stove is attached to the side of a completely English fireplace, see fig. A strict pedant might snort at fireplaces, but it’s convenient for countryside farming.

Which to choose?

So, which fireplace is better? Custom-made with full funds - depending on the interior. If they have insufficient income or a credit “excess” - a plasterboard one with a branded firebox and an air circuit, if the apartment has heat meters, it will save a lot of “utilities” in the winter.

If you take on the fireplace yourself, then the best option is a mini one with biofuel. All expenses - for the firebox; The finishing price is not felt in comparison with it. Well, if you want solid, prestigious classics, then English. Its powerful aesthetics and magnificent advantages will at least to some extent make up for the financial and paper nightmare.

Video: project of a small fireplace for a country house

Look at the photo gallery for this material:

Some people still think that building a home fireplace is an impossible task and requires turning exclusively to professionals. However, this is now far from the case. Fireplaces for the home are essentially a simplified version of stoves; the difference between them lies in the method of heat transfer. It will not only heat the room, but also bring uniqueness and sophistication to the interior. Let's figure out how to build a fireplace in your home with your own hands.

Many owners of private houses and summer cottages dream of a fireplace, but do not have sufficient financial resources to invite specialists. Some abandon their idea, while others look for other ways. They are the ones who wonder how to build a fireplace in the house with their own hands. Let's take a closer look at the intricacies of construction.

Video: fireplace in the house - pros and cons

The construction of a fireplace can be divided into several stages:

• Preparatory stage.
• Laying the foundation.
• Preparation for implementation brickwork.
• Brickwork of the platform and portal.
• Laying a smoke exhaust duct.
• Fireplace lining or trim.

Read also the article about in addition to this material.

Every stage is important. Let's look at the intricacies of working on them.

Preparatory stage

This stage includes:

• choosing the location of the fireplace;
• size calculation;
• calculation of the amount of material required and its purchase.

Choosing a location for the fireplace

In most cases, the fireplace is located in the living room or bedroom load-bearing wall, which is located in front of the entrance to the house. But there are several more options, such as: corner, built-in, free-standing fireplace. It is important to ensure that it does not interfere with the movement of people. The choice of the type and style of fireplace depends on the availability of free space, as well as on the taste preferences of the owner of the room and his family members. The fireplace is truly the center of the family gathering and its role in the interior is similar. In front of it you need to place a recreation area.

Advice! You should not place the fireplace opposite a window, near an external wall, as the heat will escape to the street. You also need to remember about safety. Sparks from the fireplace should not fly around the room, and smoke should also be avoided in the room.

To do this you will need:

• availability of free time;
• a piece of checkered paper;
• a simple pencil or pen.

Measurements are carried out in several steps:

• Initially, you should determine the size of the room where the fireplace will be installed to heat the house;
• you need to sketch it schematically on paper, using scaling;
• after this it is necessary to sketch the firebox schematically;

Advice! For high-quality heating, you should be guided by the fact that the size of the firebox should be at least one fiftieth of the total volume of the room.

• Next you need to decide on the depth of the portal for the fireplace to heat the house. For proper organization heat transfer and preventing smoke in the room, you should focus on the following parameters: 2 to 3 or 1 to 2;
• After this you need to decide on the parameters of the chimney. It should be 8 times smaller in size than the area occupied by the firebox;
• The size of the chimney pipe is of no small importance. Its minimum diameter should be 10 centimeters, and the average length is about five meters.

What is required to build a fireplace?

After making calculations and drawing drawings, you need to prepare all required material. To build a cozy, comfortable source of heating for the room you will need:

• solid brick. It is expensive and should be purchased individually;
• river sand, ranging in size from 0.2 millimeters to 1.5. It must be clean;
• cement;
• for the construction of the site you will need crushed stone;
• for laying the foundation - reinforcement, about 70 centimeters long, the diameter can vary from 8 to 10 millimeters. The quantity depends on the size, but on average you need twenty pieces;
• damper for the chimney duct.

In addition to this article, read about and bookmark the article.

Advice! Brick can be replaced with metal - this will be an original design solution.

Let's take a closer look at how to build a fireplace in a house and where to start laying it.

Laying the foundation

Before you begin arranging the foundation, you should keep in mind that it should not be flush with the base of the house. It should be taken into account that the width should be relative to the base row, but allowances of five centimeters must be made on all sides.

Steps to lay the foundation:

• you need to dig a pit with a depth of at least sixty centimeters, and the width should exceed the fireplace masonry by fifteen;
• the bottom of the dug pit should be covered with crushed stone and compacted thoroughly;

Advice! To obtain high-quality masonry, it is necessary to level the crushed stone using a level.

• Formwork should be prepared for the foundation. The formwork boards need to be tarred and covered with roofing felt, making them less susceptible to corrosion. The height of the formwork should be similar to the foundation;

• prepare the mixture in a ratio of 1 to 3, where one unit is cement, three units are sand. After which you need to fill the foundation with it;
• After pouring, it should be leveled and covered with polyethylene.

Advice! The foundation must dry completely. This will take six to seven days, then it is guaranteed to withstand heavy loads: both temperature and weight.

Preparing for bricklaying

Brick and concrete are the most best materials, widely used for the construction of a fireplace. Bricks should be prepared before laying, namely, all rough, uneven specimens, as well as those with cracks and chips, should be rejected. They must have a perfectly flat surface.

Advice! The strength of the masonry can be increased by placing the brick in water for a few minutes to allow the air to escape.

Fireplaces for a private home are an excellent option for heating; this requires clay. It needs to be prepared in advance. Two days before laying, soak the clay in water. During this period of time, add water little by little and mix the solution. You should get a homogeneous mass.

Construction of brickwork of the portal and platform

When the materials are prepared, you can begin laying bricks. Between the foundation and the brick, roofing material must be laid in several layers.

Brick laying should be done in even layers, located clearly one above the other. The level will be your main assistant here. The appearance and the result obtained will depend on the accuracy of the masonry. Clay should be placed on top of the layer of bricks. The bottom bricks are placed on the edge. Corners will also help with layout. Quality should be checked on each row.

Before laying out the fireplace itself, you should lay the platform. It is made exclusively from non-flammable materials and cement-sand mortar. Most often, it has a height of about 40 centimeters and a width of half a meter. Fireplace fuel and accessories are usually stored under it.

DIY fireplace area. There is a niche for fuel at the bottom - it is very convenient and looks interesting

Advice! For aesthetic appearance and fire safety, the platform should be wider than the fireplace portal.

There are many masonry options. This is English style, classic or other types. They are all good in their own way. It all depends on the stylistic direction of the interior of the room as a whole, the financial capabilities and preferences of the owner. They will look original heating fireplaces like a Russian stove. A fireplace can not only play the role of a heater, but can also serve as a place for cooking.

Advice! The simplest construction during construction is the order. When laying out each row, be sure to mark it on the drawing so as not to get confused.

Having completed three rows of brickwork, you should lay down pre-prepared reinforced rods that will support the fireplace grate.

The result should be a strong and reliable monolithic structure. The masonry is carried out by bandaging the seams: both transverse and longitudinal. For this, partial-size bricks are useful, the spoon and butt parts of which should alternate. Particular attention should be paid to the thickness of the seam, since the tightness and service life of the fireplace depend on this.

Advice! With high-quality masonry, the seams should not exceed five millimeters if ordinary brick is used, and three when using refractory brick.

Chimney laying

One of the most important elements in a fireplace is the chimney. The presence or absence of smoke in the room depends on the quality of its execution. An important parameter here is the geometry of the chimney section. The best draft is in a chimney duct that has a round shape, worse when it is square. This is explained by the accumulation of soot in the corners.

Advice! The best option would be to make a circular chimney from materials such as asbestos cement or ceramics.

The walls of the chimney must be perfectly smooth - this will prevent the formation of soot and help smoke pass through them with ease. It should be positioned vertically; inclined type chimneys are used in rare cases, and the angle cannot exceed thirty degrees. The cross-section of the pipe depends on the size of the furnace outlet channel. The smallest size when choosing a rectangular shape is 14 by 27 centimeters.

The pipe head is laid out in one brick. A cap should be installed on top to protect the chimney from precipitation.

Advice! Before laying the smoke exhaust duct, the solution should be checked by hand to exclude the presence of any inclusions. This will allow the masonry to be of high quality.

Fireplace finishing

Let's look at how to make a fireplace at home with your own hands more attractive and interesting. This stage allows you to show your imagination. A home fireplace created with your own hands should bring pleasure not only from bringing warmth into the room, but also amaze with its aesthetic appearance. Read also about in addition to this article.

Fireplace in ready-made version with brick lining. It is painted in light and dark colors. A game of contrast - stylish and modern

There are many cladding options. For example:

• Plastering. To do this, you should first prepare the fireplace: clear the cracks, tighten the mesh. After this, apply staples U-shaped. Then you should apply drying oil, which will prevent corrosion. One layer of plaster should be applied to warm walls. Its thickness should not exceed five millimeters, let it dry. The second is applied on top. In this case, the plaster should be much thicker than in the first layer. A third layer is placed on top of it. The total thickness should not exceed 15 millimeters.
• Coloring. After applying the plaster, the surface can be painted. The most commonly used solutions are adhesive and chalk solutions.

Please also read the information in addition to this article.

Advice! To make the color snow-white, you should add a little blue to the paint.

• Application of drywall. Sheets of this material You can give the fireplace a rectangular shape. Initially, the frame is fixed and only after that it is “sewn up” with plasterboard.
• Decorative design. To do this, it is possible to use a lot of materials, which can be the following: decorative bricks, fire-resistant ceramic tiles, natural stone, slate and others.

These simple tips will help you build a fireplace in a country house or country house.

The art of fireplace insertion

Different types of trees make good fuel for a wood-burning fireplace. Do not use logs for kindling coniferous species trees such as spruce or pine. This is due to the fact that it burns out quickly and a lot of soot forms on the walls of the chimney duct. The best option there will be birch or oak. They are distinguished by: long burning, hot flame, well preserved heat and high level Efficiency For kindling you should use splinters, paper, brushwood and wood chips. After they flare up, you need to add larger logs.

Tips and instructions explain how to make a fireplace in your home on your own and save money, since the services of professionals are quite expensive, and not everyone can afford to call them. A fireplace for heating a home is an excellent alternative to stoves. It fits perfectly into the interior of the room and decorates it. Having created it, you can feel the warmth and comfort, enjoying the burning of the flame in the evening.