My family and I love to spend chilly evenings together in front of a crackling fire. I’ve always dreamed of having a big outdoor fireplace to enjoy anytime I want! I researched the cost of having one built and here in Charlotte, many prices ranged from $5,000 to $7,500. Thankfully, we finally found a way to have the big beautiful fireplace without the big price tag!
We purchased a kit that included all concrete bricks, mortar and instructions to assemble the fireplace ourselves. It is like a very big, very heavy lego set. They make several models in different sizes.
We bought our kit from General Shale, a store that specializes in outdoor living products. Ours is 9 feet tall and weighs approximately 7,540 pounds. The salesman told us that it was very easy to put together and that a few guys could do it in a few hours. This was not a true statement. I think even a few days would have been a stretch. There are 2 breaks in the instructions where they recommend you stop and let the mortar harden up overnight before continuing. It took us a good 3 days.
Additional materials are concrete and gravel to set the base (if needed), a caulking gun, level, tape measure, small trowel, 5 gallon mixing bucket, ladder and a rubber mallet. We had a patio poured prior to building our fireplace and had a 6 inch footer included. If you do not have a level concrete area prepared you will need to carefully prepare the base with concrete and gravel as instructed.
The kit was delivered to us on 2 pallets. Before we started, the hubby sorted some of the bricks out. They are well marked. The direction booklet is also easy to use. You build 1 layer at a time. The instructions tell you what brick to put where.
For most layers, he laid the bricks out before applying the mortar to check for fit. This was a good move! We knew how everything fit and it took some pressure off of us since we weren’t up against the clock. Jeff mixed enough mortar for about 2 to 3 layers. As the afternoon heat set in, we had to be quick in getting the stones down as the mortar began drying faster.
Some decorative tiles were included to decorate the flat space above the mantel. We did not use them as we wanted more of a custom look to do at a later time.
We had to wait 24 hours before we could start our first fire. General Shale recommended building only small fires the first few times and gradually building them larger. We love the look and are so excited to have a fireplace to enjoy. And I should have bought stock in marshmallows…. The kids asked for a fire and s’mores almost every evening.
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