How you mix your cement determines how durable it will be against various things. You can make your own blocks or large wall forms if you mix it yourself. Guide for that here...
How you mix your cement determines how durable it will be against various things. You can make your own blocks or large wall forms if you mix it yourself. Guide for that here https://www.hunker.com/12000698/how-to-make-fireproof-concrete
If your cement crumbled last time it wasn't mixed properly, same with the different blocks you can buy, how well they were mixed will determine how well they hold up. Generally you want a denser block for handling both summer and winter without cracking.
Refactory mortar should be used to seal your blocks around the fireplace so that it can withstand the heat over time.
You can build up a bit of a back wall to the fire pit to keep the heat under the roof and direct wind from coming in and hitting the fire and blowing it straight to where people will mostly be. The roof will have to be metal protected and angle up to a peak vent style thing to let smoke escape fairly easily.
Rather than a real fire pit I much prefer having my fires in a proper steel cauldron. It's mobile, the fire burns far better drawing air from below, it's easy to clean and empty, and they come...
Rather than a real fire pit I much prefer having my fires in a proper steel cauldron. It's mobile, the fire burns far better drawing air from below, it's easy to clean and empty, and they come with grill and lid attachments that make cooking a breeze. There are as many varieties out there as you could possibly want.
These devices couldn't care less about the weather, either. ;)
It frees you up worrying about the 'fire' part of it at least. If you worry about wind, you can get the varieties that have a close screen lid, it'll keep anything big from escaping other than a...
It frees you up worrying about the 'fire' part of it at least. If you worry about wind, you can get the varieties that have a close screen lid, it'll keep anything big from escaping other than a few sparks. Some come with quenching capability too, so you can just close the vents by pulling a lever, then put a solid top on, and it'll go out in short order. All you have to do is prepare an area for it and choose one that fits the decor you're looking for.
In the back yard of our first house here in S.Ontario (which has cold, icy/snowy winters too) we had a large outdoor firepit that was made of bricks, and it lasted the entire 10+ years we lived...
In the back yard of our first house here in S.Ontario (which has cold, icy/snowy winters too) we had a large outdoor firepit that was made of bricks, and it lasted the entire 10+ years we lived there. When I stopped by the house 15-ish years later (after having moved around a whole bunch), the nice people living there at the time gave me a tour, and the firepit was still there and still looking great for its age. So... have you considered using brick for the firepit, at least? And I hear you can make decent patios using the material too. ;)
p.s. I just checked google, and the satellite photo shows the firepit is still there. :P
Despite my snark ;) I am probably just as clueless as you as to the specifics... but these might help: https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/ideas-how-to/outdoors/patio/how-to-install-patio-pavers.html...
I'm not sure I understand this part of it. You want it to radiate heat towards you, but not any smoke, and also not require any cleaning. And unless I misunderstand, be just a static fire pit...
At one end of this structure we'd like to have a large fire pit (not a fire place nor chimney to avoid all the cleaning) with a way to reflect the heat back at us.
I'm not sure I understand this part of it. You want it to radiate heat towards you, but not any smoke, and also not require any cleaning. And unless I misunderstand, be just a static fire pit without any moving parts such as fans directing airflow?
This isn't actually contradictory. What you want is enough thermal mass of brick, concrete, or stone to continue distributing radiant heat, while surfaces and convection confine/carry the smoke...
This isn't actually contradictory. What you want is enough thermal mass of brick, concrete, or stone to continue distributing radiant heat, while surfaces and convection confine/carry the smoke away.
A chimney is the ideal way to do this, but /u/suspended indicates they don't want the maintenance bother. The trick is going to be protecting an open fire from rain/snow, while ensuring that flammable parts of the ramada aren't exposed to heat and sparks. I'd start with local building codes - a firebox and screened chimney might be required by law if the fireplace is inside or adjoining occupied structures.
Otherwise, you might be able to get away with a vented sheet metal roof, and a central firepit made of brick and heavy stone.
Rather than attempt to build something that would survive ice, water, and fire, I just expected my fire pit to eventually fail, so I built it out of stacked landscaping blocks. It’s circular,...
Rather than attempt to build something that would survive ice, water, and fire, I just expected my fire pit to eventually fail, so I built it out of stacked landscaping blocks. It’s circular, about five feet in diameter, four courses of 6” block, one and a half of which are below the surface. The very bottom is filled with a few inches of stone with roughly 3” of sand on top to make shoveling out easier.
I think it’s been there for about seven years now, and I’ve replaced one block. I keep a few spares under my deck. Landscaping block comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes, so you can be a bit creative with it.
How you mix your cement determines how durable it will be against various things. You can make your own blocks or large wall forms if you mix it yourself. Guide for that here https://www.hunker.com/12000698/how-to-make-fireproof-concrete
If your cement crumbled last time it wasn't mixed properly, same with the different blocks you can buy, how well they were mixed will determine how well they hold up. Generally you want a denser block for handling both summer and winter without cracking.
Refactory mortar should be used to seal your blocks around the fireplace so that it can withstand the heat over time.
You can build up a bit of a back wall to the fire pit to keep the heat under the roof and direct wind from coming in and hitting the fire and blowing it straight to where people will mostly be. The roof will have to be metal protected and angle up to a peak vent style thing to let smoke escape fairly easily.
Rather than a real fire pit I much prefer having my fires in a proper steel cauldron. It's mobile, the fire burns far better drawing air from below, it's easy to clean and empty, and they come with grill and lid attachments that make cooking a breeze. There are as many varieties out there as you could possibly want.
These devices couldn't care less about the weather, either. ;)
It frees you up worrying about the 'fire' part of it at least. If you worry about wind, you can get the varieties that have a close screen lid, it'll keep anything big from escaping other than a few sparks. Some come with quenching capability too, so you can just close the vents by pulling a lever, then put a solid top on, and it'll go out in short order. All you have to do is prepare an area for it and choose one that fits the decor you're looking for.
I don't know anything about it, but if there's no chimney then it seems like wind direction would be important?
In the back yard of our first house here in S.Ontario (which has cold, icy/snowy winters too) we had a large outdoor firepit that was made of bricks, and it lasted the entire 10+ years we lived there. When I stopped by the house 15-ish years later (after having moved around a whole bunch), the nice people living there at the time gave me a tour, and the firepit was still there and still looking great for its age. So... have you considered using brick for the firepit, at least? And I hear you can make decent patios using the material too. ;)
p.s. I just checked google, and the satellite photo shows the firepit is still there. :P
Despite my snark ;) I am probably just as clueless as you as to the specifics... but these might help:
https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/ideas-how-to/outdoors/patio/how-to-install-patio-pavers.html
https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/ideas-how-to/outdoors/outdoor-living/how-to-build-a-fire-pit.html
I'm not sure I understand this part of it. You want it to radiate heat towards you, but not any smoke, and also not require any cleaning. And unless I misunderstand, be just a static fire pit without any moving parts such as fans directing airflow?
This isn't actually contradictory. What you want is enough thermal mass of brick, concrete, or stone to continue distributing radiant heat, while surfaces and convection confine/carry the smoke away.
A chimney is the ideal way to do this, but /u/suspended indicates they don't want the maintenance bother. The trick is going to be protecting an open fire from rain/snow, while ensuring that flammable parts of the ramada aren't exposed to heat and sparks. I'd start with local building codes - a firebox and screened chimney might be required by law if the fireplace is inside or adjoining occupied structures.
Otherwise, you might be able to get away with a vented sheet metal roof, and a central firepit made of brick and heavy stone.
Rather than attempt to build something that would survive ice, water, and fire, I just expected my fire pit to eventually fail, so I built it out of stacked landscaping blocks. It’s circular, about five feet in diameter, four courses of 6” block, one and a half of which are below the surface. The very bottom is filled with a few inches of stone with roughly 3” of sand on top to make shoveling out easier.
I think it’s been there for about seven years now, and I’ve replaced one block. I keep a few spares under my deck. Landscaping block comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes, so you can be a bit creative with it.