How to build a fireplace in the house with your own hands. How to make a fireplace with your own hands: step by step instructions. Components and varieties

Since ancient times, man has maintained a fire in his home. Today, this habit has partially remained: it is still customary to install fireplaces and stoves in private homes. If you are just planning to build a house, then you can design a home in advance in it. If you have minimal experience in construction, then you can still build a fireplace yourself.

Features of making a real fireplace

Before you make a fireplace, you must select the material. The most common solution today is brick. From it, the owner will be able to fold the heating device on their own. In this case, there are some requirements.

Firstly, the fireplace should not smoke, and its main ability should be to warm the air. Secondly, the device must have an attractive appearance. Thirdly, but not least, it should be noted that the fireplace must be safe. At the design stage of the hearth, you must decide whether it will be open or closed.

Location selection

Before you make a fireplace, you must decide where to install it. The design can be attached to the wall or even be part of it. Sometimes fireplaces are located in the center of the room or in the corner of the interior walls. However, experts do not recommend placing the firebox against the wall that is opposite the wall with windows. If they are not well insulated, then when building a fireplace in this part of the room, you will subsequently encounter drafts.

If the house is wooden, then fire safety standards should be taken into account, because otherwise the risk of fire spreading increases many times over. When designing a heater, it is necessary to remember the presence of a chimney. Its cross section should correspond to the size of the hearth. The influx of fresh air into the room must be organized. It is also important to remember that the structure will turn out to be quite heavy, so it is necessary to build a platform that will be able to withstand the weight of the device.

Preparation of materials

Before you make a fireplace, you must prepare the material. To do this, make sure you have:

  • solid bricks;
  • sand;
  • clay;
  • cement;
  • crushed stone;
  • reinforcing bars;
  • smoke damper.

Sand should not have foreign inclusions, and the size of its fraction can be equal to the limit from 0.2 to 1.5 mm. To remove dirt, sand is placed in water and infused. Water must be changed several times until it acquires a light shade. When preparing clay, you must choose the one that is intended for laying out the hearths. Experts recommend choosing Cambrian clay. However, if it was not possible to find it, then you can take the stove.

The cement used is Portland cement. Reinforcing bars should have a diameter ranging from 8 to 10 mm. The length of each will be 700 mm. Their number is 20 pieces.

Foundation pouring

Before you make a fireplace, you must arrange the foundation. It should be separated from the base of the house and have the same width as the front basement row. About 6 cm should be added to this value. First you need to dig a hole, the dimensions of which will be 15 cm larger than the foundation. You need to go deeper by 60 cm.

The foundation can be made of brick or foam concrete. It is better to use the material that will cost you less or is available. Crushed stone is poured to the bottom, after which the material is compacted, and its horizontal is checked. Before pouring the mortar, the formwork of the required height is knocked down without a bottom. You can use wooden boards for this.

The inner walls are treated with resin or covered with roofing material. The formwork can be placed on the base and the stones with crushed stone, which were laid in advance, can be poured. The solution should be prepared from a part of cement and three parts of sand.

When building, you must take care of the evenness of the base of the foundation. To do this, it is leveled and smoothed out with protrusions and depressions. You can make sure that it is horizontal using a level. From above, the structure is covered with polyethylene. In this state, it should be left for a week, only after that you can proceed to masonry.

Preparatory work before erecting walls

When laying out, you must prepare the material before starting work. Bricks should be checked whether they have a solid color, and whether their geometric dimensions are correct. Products must not be chipped. Before laying, they are hemmed and trimmed with an emery stone or the plane of another brick.

For a couple of minutes, the material is placed in water so that all the bubbles come out, otherwise it will take moisture from the solution, which will cause a decrease in the strength of the masonry. A roofing material is laid on the foundation in two layers, and then the bricks can be calibrated. From the material, those products that will be needed for construction are selected. For 3 days, clay is soaked, water is gradually added to it and mixed until it thickens.

Step-by-step instruction

If you have thought about how to make a fireplace, the step-by-step instructions will let you understand it. The first row is laid with an edge on the solution. During work, it is necessary to check the dimensions of the fireplace with a square. Diagonals should be even, and corners should be straight. It is important to make sure that each row is laid exactly horizontally. Solid rows are laid out using a trowel or trowel.

When a smoke collector and a firebox are being equipped, the solution must be laid by hand, because it is important to exclude pebbles that come across. Rows are checked in order. The lining of the firebox does not bond with the walls, since the materials in this case have different temperature conditions, so the masonry may collapse.

During the installation of bricks, slats can be used, which are then removed. On the third row, the pins are laid, which are necessary for the fireplace grate. The side ledges of the portal are formed in half a brick. Seams after masonry can be filled with a colored solution, to which dry pigments are added.

Construction of the firebox, channels and smoke box

When building a real fireplace, you must take care of the presence of a firebox. Its walls are wiped from the inside to remove the protruding solution. The surface is not plastered. The smoke collector will have a curvilinear shape, it is laid out by 6 cm bricks.

Brick lintels will block the portal openings. They can be vaulted, wedge-shaped or arched. The installation of the jumper must be carried out using a special formwork. When laying out a chimney, you must take care of verticality. When installing a chimney on the roof, it is necessary to switch to a mixture of cement and sand. In order to close the roofing material, you should use an otter, which is an overlap.

In order for the fireplace to have a better heat-reflecting ability, its walls are laid out from the inside at an angle. The sides turn outward, while the back should be tilted forward. A smoke chamber is arranged above the firebox. Between it and the firebox there should be a cornice. Flying out sparks and soot will prevent the pass. It will protect the room from smoke.

Making a fake fireplace

If you are faced with the question of how to make a fireplace in an apartment, then you can use drywall for this. To begin with, you should take care of the availability of relevant materials, among them:

  • guides;
  • self-tapping screws;
  • screwdriver;
  • metal scissors;
  • dowel-nails;
  • abrasive mesh;
  • building level;
  • yardstick.

When preparing the guides, you must take care of the presence of a rack metal profile, which will be needed for the frame base. The elements will be fixed with self-twisting screws. You can replace a screwdriver with a screwdriver, one of these tools will be needed to work with sheets and metal profiles.

To cut drywall, some craftsmen use a hand-held circular saw. However, if you do not have such a tool, then you can work with a kitchen knife. Before you make an artificial fireplace, you should think about how it will get off. If it is ceramic or decorative tiles, then moisture-resistant sheets should be preferred. This moment necessitates the preparation of additional materials, among them wallpaper or glue under the tile should be highlighted.

Features of creating a corner fireplace

Before you create a fake fireplace, you should consider whether it will have an artificial hearth. It usually acts as a photo frame. In this case, sockets should be located nearby. It is also important to think about the place where the switches will be located.

The design may have heating surfaces; for this, heat-resistant material should be prepared. If you decide to supplement the fireplace with an electrical device, then you also need to think about the removal of heated air.

Carrying out markup

Before you make a corner fireplace, you must mark it. Using the drawing, you should fix the segments of the guide profiles. To do this, use a puncher or drill. A dowel is inserted into the hole. The rack profile must be mounted in the guide element. The base from the wall is not always perfectly vertical. In this case, you can use direct suspensions, which will eliminate this drawback.

Frame installation

If you are thinking about the question of how to make a decorative fireplace, then you should study the technology of work. Using a screwdriver and self-tapping screws, a UD profile is attached to the floor surface. Each fastener should be 30 cm away from the previous one. The starting point for installation is a bar that will be parallel to the wall.

The side elements must be fixed in such a way that they do not go beyond the boundaries of the profile and are located between it and the wall. Wall profiles are attached to the base wall. After that, the elements will have to be removed, and dowels should be installed in the holes obtained. UD profiles are installed on ready-made fasteners. If you are thinking about how to make an imitation of a fireplace with your own hands, then you must first fix the side wall elements, and then those that will be parallel to the floor surface.

Sheathing the frame with drywall sheets

Marking will need to be applied to sheets of material. Drywall is fastened with self-tapping screws, the distance between which is 15 cm. Their hats must be recessed into the material, but you should not be too zealous. As soon as the outer draft of the structure is ready, you can proceed to the cladding. For this, paintable wallpaper is usually used, but you can use plaster molding.

Converting a stove into a fireplace

Many novice home craftsmen are wondering how to make a fireplace out of the stove. If you are also one of them, then you should use the guide below. At the first stage, you must assess the condition of the stove itself and the chimney. The safety of operation of the device will depend on this in the future.

The chimney must have good cross-country ability, because without draft the fireplace will not work effectively. Alteration may not involve the dismantling of the old furnace. But you can leave only the foundation. It should also be analyzed for damage. At the next stage, brickwork for the podium is performed. This will protect the base from the high temperatures that will come from the firebox when the fuel is burned.

For the fireplace itself, refractory or stove bricks can be used. You can add a tempered glass door to the design, this will increase the heat transfer of the device and make the fireplace safer. The floor around it should be laid out with refractory material. Stone tiles or ceramic tiles are great for this. The surface of the fireplace itself is decorated with tiled tiles, it looks great and is suitable for almost any interior.

Conclusion

If you decide to make a false fireplace out of drywall, then it can be installed even in an apartment. It will not be used for space heating, but will create an appropriate atmosphere and give the interior a unique look. But in the case of a private house, it is better to install a real fireplace, which will not only decorate the room, but also make it warmer and more comfortable.

Some lovers of real fire even convert stoves into a fireplace. The design is most likely located in the kitchen or in the central part of the house. Such ovens, as a rule, take up a lot of space, and their appearance is not very aesthetic before rework. Therefore, the reconstruction of the structure will eliminate the need for its dismantling.

Typically, a fireplace is no longer installed for heating, but for decorating rooms. Therefore, if you do not have certain skills in construction, then it is best to build a false fireplace. Even if you turn to specialists, such work will cost much less than laying a new design.

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The fireplace was the first specially designed heating device known to mankind. In the industrial era, it acquired a more decorative and prestigious significance, but today there is a resurgence of interest in fireplaces that are not only beautiful, but also warm. As the main heating device, the fireplace does not have any special prospects, but as an additional or alternative one, it allows you to significantly save on utility costs, and a neat home craftsman of an average hand can make it with his own hands.

On modern types of slow-burning eco-friendly (pellets, biofuels), a properly made fireplace can show efficiency no worse than or. However, the cost of a brick fireplace in terms of material consumption is two to three times, and money - three to four times less than for the same heat output.

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

It would seem, why bother? But, performing even a very good product with steps according to the instructions, we will get it again, and hardly better than the one made by the author. And no one has canceled and will not cancel the decorative function of the fireplace, and technically it is not so simple as it looks. To build for yourself a beautiful, cozy and useful fireplace on the farm, you first need to figure out what it is, how it works, what it is good for, and what it is not for.

Types of fireplaces: aesthetics

The fireplace, as before, not only warms the room, but also gives it a special comfort. They build it in the soul of the house - in the living room. Technically effective, but unsightly and / or not fitting into the interior, the fireplace deprives the house of face. Therefore, before embarking on its manufacture, let's see what the face of the fireplace itself can be like. The choice is not so wide, because. a fireplace should not only look, but also warm. And do not smoke, do not smoke and do not create a danger of intoxication. Having chosen the right one in style, you can take on the construction.

Classic

The most common type of fireplaces - English classic. Its appearance is shown in Fig. We will talk about its device and technical features later, but one thing can be said about aesthetics: it will go anywhere, even in an art deco or fusion interior. A classic is a classic because everywhere is in place. Everything that can somehow not stick together with something has been eliminated in the process of centuries of evolution.

Dutch

The Dutch fireplace is, in essence, a fireplace stove. And not because it is lined with tiles, they may not be, as on the right pos. 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, in fact, is not a fireplace at all.

The Dutch fireplace is laid out like a stove, only with an enlarged furnace mouth and a deaf, without blower, hearth. There are either no firebox doors at all, or they are openwork, cast or forged, freely passing air. This follows from the peculiarities of the operation of the fireplace, which is discussed in the next technical section.

To build from scratch, a Dutch fireplace is difficult: masonry is not easy, and high-quality finishing is needed. But, if you need to make a fireplace from the stove, then the great-grandmother's Dutch woman in the wall or in the corner is a godsend. It is enough just to open the firebox wide open, close the blower - that's the fireplace for you.

The second, already a little expensive, but excellent in all qualities, option is to expand the crucible to fit a modern factory-made fireplace insert. We will return to them, but for now we note: a branded firebox can give a second life to a dilapidated Dutch woman. Instead of its demolition and subsequent overhaul - cosmetic repairs and a fireplace in the house. It's probably not necessary to compare.

Rustic

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

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

Rustic fireplaces are expensive, first of all. Natural sawn-to-size stone is an elite class building material, regardless of its grade. Secondly, only a very experienced stove-maker can build a "rustic". The construction is heavy, requires a good foundation, and natural stone masonry is difficult to work with. Knowledge alone is not enough here, you also need considerable experience.

Note: wild stone and natural stone are not the same thing. Wild - the way it was taken out - boulders, pebbles, chopped cobbles. And the same stone, which has been processed on stone-cutting equipment and meets certain size standards, will already be natural.

On the wall or next to it?

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

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

Built-in fireplaces require a special building design and are provided for 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 performed semi-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 connected with 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 warm himself in the evening by the fire with a pipe. An inattentive son / granddaughter who reached for the fire risked a hefty kick or a slap without any explanation.

You can lay out a Swiss fireplace without much difficulty yourself, but only in non-residential premises. In permanently inhabited premises, their independent construction is prohibited by fire legislation - open fire, after all. In city apartments up to and including business class, “Swiss” cannot be made at all, and in elite apartments it is possible only with the special permission of 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 a village or in a cottage settlement 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 the country house without asking anyone and without risking any fines. Country houses, according to the law, non-residential premises.

Modern

Modern design styles have not bypassed, and, it would seem, such archaic fireplaces. The reason is that almost all modern design styles, despite their external coldness and conciseness, are overflowing with hidden energy. And the fireplace is a receptacle for the visible energy of fire, so its framing does not have to be sophisticated and pretentious.

Modern

Modern is known as an all-accepting style. Designers, decorators, applied artists among themselves (in public, they are sophisticated aesthetes) they say: “Yes, shove whatever you want into Art Nouveau.” But Art Nouveau is by no means and by no means a disorderly dump. It requires a highly developed taste and has many meanings.

One of them is important in the fireplace business: a modern fireplace that fully meets the criteria of style and does not violate its aesthetics in any way can be made of light modern materials WITHOUT FOUNDATION, middle and right poses. in fig. A fireplace without a foundation - what is it? At least to save on construction work.

Mini

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

For fireplaces, minimalism has both pluses and minuses. Minus - an open or semi-open fireplace does not fit into the interior of the mini. If the walls are thin and it is impossible to drown a fireplace in them, you have to enclose it with some kind of box, simulating "built-in", as on the left pos. rice.

But the plus of mini-fireplaces is more significant: a minimal frame in combination with a modern firebox allows you to make a mobile mini-fireplace, on the right in fig. Indeed, a 12 kW branded 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 by no means a hero who can carry within the premises.

High tech

The basis of high-tech style, as you know, is smooth colored or metallic, often shiny surfaces, even or smoothly curved. From the point of view of the fireplace, this means that it can be made both with a ready-made factory firebox (the first and third pos. on the left in the figure), and any of the classic designs, but from modern materials, the second and last pos. However, it is undesirable to make a high-tech mini-fireplace (third position from the left) mobile. In theory, high-tech interior elements can move from their places no more than transistor valves in a computer chip.

Bionic style

Bionic style is, roughly speaking, back to nature by high-tech methods. 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 appropriately paid), and super-elite craftsmen who are able to bring the fruit of his search to life. According to the example in Fig. you can imagine how much a fireplace alone will cost in a bionic interior.

street

Outdoor fireplaces are also a trend of our time. Frankly, they don’t make much sense: what kind of whim is it to sit by the fire in the open air in bad weather? And the fireplace will not get wet all the time and get cold for the future, so the materials for it are needed especially resistant and, accordingly, expensive.

However, for a barbecue picnic in the country or, especially, in a country entertainment venue, an outdoor fireplace still has some meaning. 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. It is impossible to do this yourself without production facilities with the necessary equipment, but the prices for branded ones are acceptable. They weigh a little, two can carry. For the winter they disassemble and hide.

In the middle in the top row there is the same fireplace-brazier-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 furnaces after the autumn-winter slush, because moisture absorption of the material is negligible.

However, the cost is outrageous. The material is, as they say, flowers. But the work is already juicy berries. Are there many stove-makers who will undertake to bring a strong vault out of the "savage"? And whoever takes it and really knows how, he will have to go through tons of stone in order to select pieces for keys and wing beds. And the wings themselves also need to be folded out of nothing. And you can’t do without adjusting the pieces, but adjusting the granite so that the view does not deteriorate from the outside - this is not for you to trim the bricks with an edge, the diamond wheel in the grinder will not have to be changed alone.

But the top right option made of metal for do-it-yourselfers is just right. The design is clear from the drawing, one person drags it back and forth without difficulty. Already with firewood laid in the opening of the shell for drying, the view is quite natural. And if you lay out the upper cheek with flat pebbles on a cement-sand mortar with polymer additives, then a real “Swissman” will come out. True, you will have to wear this already together.

Finally (lower left in the figure), an ordinary brazier will pass for an outdoor Swiss fireplace. By the way, it is more capable of cooking kebabs on it than on the previous version.

If you certainly want a fireplace, and in the wild, and home-made, and brick, then it must be erected in the gazebo, on the lower right in fig. Heavenly moisture and a device with a flame inside of a porous hygroscopic material in a clay solution are incompatible things. After the winter, from the accelerating furnace, it can simply fall apart. An example of a stove-fireplace-brazier suitable for the gazebo will be given below.

Types of fireplaces: appliances

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

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

Rustic and Provencal fireplaces are the same classic ones, only decorated in a different way. Dutch according to the principle of operation and device is no different from the Dutch oven. Modern fireplaces with improvements will be considered, but let's start, as usual, with the classics.

Classic and Rumford

Diagrams of the device of a classic English-type fireplace are shown in fig. on right. A classic fireplace differs from a simple hearth under a smoke box in just two details: an infrared (thermal) reflector; reflective surface, and a smoke tooth. But these two details give a lot.

The highlight of the fireplace is a smoke tooth. It limits the throughput of the chimney by forming a slow swirl of flue gases under it. If you flood an English fireplace with damp wood, then until they flare up, a smoke ball in the firebox is clearly visible, which does not go into the chimney and does not spread outward.

Thus, the air in the furnace made several revolutions, contacting 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 energy-efficient slow combustion of even very energetic fuels - pine wood, anthracite - without the danger of carbon monoxide formation.
  2. Air oxygen was used more fully, which, with high-quality fuel, excluded the formation of waste at any position of the view.
  3. The air was 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 is 2-7 min, which made the combustion process self-regulating.
  5. As a result, with the same filling of fuel, it is possible to fearlessly regulate the intensity of heating in a way that is extremely dangerous in furnaces: by partially sliding the view.

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

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

However, it is impossible to organize such combustion in a chamber that is deaf 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 tightly close the view, the whirlwind will come out (the fireplace will smoke, like the stove), the whole process will go astray, and the fireplace will burn just like a fire.

Note: as a result, the view of the English fireplace is made with an idle hole, as in the throttle valve of an automobile 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 heats the room just as well. Only the excess of already cooled flue gases fly out into the chimney, which additionally give off their heat to the fireplace in the smoke hood. The efficiency of an English fireplace for such a simple device is unusually high: up to 46% on Cornish coal and more than 50% on pellets.

Note: from the foregoing, it is clear that it is impossible to make a smoke tooth in the form of a simple protrusion of a brick. Aerodynamics is already working here, the tooth must be profiled. Varieties of English fireplaces and differ from each other mainly in the profile of the tooth.

True, such indicators cannot be achieved in a modern city apartment: measurements were taken 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 still, even with ceilings of ordinary height the fireplace will heat no worse than the Dutch, and it is technically easier to build it. Alas, only technically, see below.

The described principle of operation gives an important consequence for practice: 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 hot water register into the hood, etc. This is not the case in furnaces with smoke circulation - the internal energy balance must be strictly observed there and the energy circulation paths must not be disturbed, otherwise the furnace will go out of mode, smoke, and its efficiency will drop sharply.

In the fireplace, the heat generation zone (HZT) is concentrated in the space from the hearth of the furnace to the smoke tooth. There is nothing to take below, but above - take at least everything, no one will notice. It is in this that the English fireplace differs from stoves, and not in that it heats with radiation, as is often written. The stove also radiates heat. In the fireplace, the HZT is also combined with the technological process zone (ZTP), combustion, but also at the same time.

Under the fireplace insert

Initially, in English fireplaces, fireboxes were made really deaf, made of stone with a slight slope outward. Without tilting, the fireplace itself will never enter the mode of internal circulation of gases during kindling. The direction of rotation of the vortex in such fireplaces was the reverse of that shown in Fig. higher.

They worked as they should be, but could be dangerous: large burning pieces often rolled out. What is absolutely useless in the castle with a stone floor of the banquet hall: there are also carpets, furniture, lush robes of a great “give in” company.

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

Nowadays, for the sake of saving on metal fittings and simplifying work, they are often again made of stone deaf, moreover, horizontal or even with a slight inclination inward. The reason is kindling with high-energy flammable liquids and, especially, kindling gels. They themselves provide an excess of energy necessary for the formation of a vortex, and then everything is the same as before.

curiously

Filmmakers / TV people, shooting something about old England, up to Sherlock Holmes, will certainly look for a castle or at least an old cottage with a “real” fireplace, in which a stone firebox is used. And the owners of such households make good money by renting them out for shooting. Meanwhile, already in the days of the dissolute Hugo, who gave birth to the Baskerville dog with his mad sinfulness, fireplaces with a grate and a low “starting” blower were in common use.

Rumford fireplace

The scheme of the Rumford fireplace (in the previous transcription - Rumford, Rumford) is shown in fig. on right. The working process in the Rumford fireplace is exactly the same as in the classic one, but instead of a smoke tooth, the flue gases are retained 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 the Rumford fireplace on the same fuel is exactly the same as that of the 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 firebox depth is one and a half times less than that of a classic one, and a foam concrete or vermiculite slab will go to the foundation.

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

About reflectors

Many masters, knowing that the fireplace heats mainly IR from the firebox, build a metal reflector or even an expensive mirror made of heat-resistant glass with titanium-niobium amalgam into it. 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) are shown in fig. It is recommended to clean the reflector to a mirror shine before each firebox.

All this complexity, generally speaking, does not hurt. But nothing in the fireplace will improve either. The thing is that black-looking soot and soot (finely dispersed amorphous carbon) reflects IR rays very well. Approximately the same as unglazed faience - visible light.

Therefore, physicists do not make models of an absolutely black body out of soot, which often causes bewilderment among high school students and students. What complete absorption is there, if it almost shines in IR! So “bother” with reflectors when building a fireplace is a waste of time. Podkoptitsya - the heat will shine on its own.

Versatile in the corner

An English-type fireplace can be not only frontal. In fact, it is believed that the fireplace in the corner should be built in the Dutch way, but this is only a prejudice. The corner fireplace, which works quite in English, is easy to fold, knowing how to work with fireclay bricks, see the laying diagram in fig. on right. The design is quite massive and is suitable only for private households. But on the other hand, it can also be used as a barbecue, and in a smoke hood it is easy to equip hot smoked.

Video: the process of building a corner fireplace

With water heater

As it 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 a lot of heat. A fireplace with a thermal power of 20 kW per tooth produces hardly 4-5 with an extremely intense firebox. 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 from 2-4 rows of thin-walled metal tubes, 3 tubes in a row, arranged in a checkerboard pattern. And it’s easier to work - 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 “fireplace with a firebox”, this often causes bewilderment: what about a fireplace without a firebox, how is it? Some kind of electronic 3D simulation of fire?

There are also such, although it is immediately clear that a fake. But in this case we will talk about a fireplace with a special factory-made firebox. An example is the Optima firebox of domestic production, see fig.

Fireplace insert “Optima”

In such furnaces, the classical fireplace heat 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 almost does not give off 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 corrugated, and the firebox door is made of heat-resistant glass that freely transmits IR. Finishing the fireplace "with a firebox" can be any, according to the taste of the customer and the skill of the master. In addition, the "furnace" fireplace provides considerable additional opportunities.

More about water heaters

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

Air heating

Framing the firebox of a modern fireplace can be, as already mentioned, any. This allows you to make a fireplace with air heating, the diagram of which is shown in fig. The pedestal of the firebox does not have to be made of stone, it can be at least from the same drywall. But, alas, this does not add joy to the do-it-yourselfer. Why - will be seen from the future.

About biofireplaces

Before moving on from things that are interesting to any techie, to matters that are, frankly, rather dreary, we should linger a bit on biofireplaces. In fact, they have already been mentioned: without exception, all mobile mini-fireplaces run on biofuels. And the fireboxes around which they are “stuck together” are also special, specifically designed for biofuels.

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

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

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

This is not an advertisement for biofuels, but the necessary information for understanding a very significant circumstance for home-made people, especially urban ones. Namely: no permits-registrations-approvals are REQUIRED for a biofuel fireplace. If only the firebox was branded 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 waste, not a tangle of poisonous snakes in the chimney, not a collapse down to the neighbor along with the ceiling. Worse: paperwork. And without a permit for a fireplace, if it is not on biofuel, you can’t do it - what is an open fire in a residential area, everyone understands. Firefighters certainly understand, and purely in a professional-sanctioned context.

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 appliances with an open firebox in residential premises. In Moscow, fireplaces seem to be allowed by the Moscow City Building Regulations (MGSN) "Residential Buildings" 3.01-96, but only on the top floors (or on the penultimate ones, if the apartment is two-story), and the apartment should have only one owner. The technical logic here is hard to see, but the administrative and financial logic of Luzhkov's era is clear as daylight: those who can afford to "roll back" can afford a fireplace.

So how to be? Let's turn the saying inside out: in every barrel of tar, if properly filtered, there is a spoonful of honey. In this case, apartments with a smoke channel, separate from ventilation, laid down in the project. These are pre-revolutionary houses, stalins, brick Khrushchevs with gas water heaters and titans, modern open-plan apartments in monolithic houses. In them, even according to MGSN 3.01-96, heaters on a flame can be placed on any floor.

This is where the twist comes from:

  • We are starting an allegedly complex redevelopment with the transfer of heating devices (do not write in the application - central heating registers!). The procedure is extremely dreary, its description is a separate issue.
  • On the sly, we get permission from firefighters for a fiery heater. The “trick” is that by default, according to SNiP, they will understand him as a stove, if he himself does not “fuck” and clarify. On paper, in words, in my own way, it is possible and necessary.
  • We are building a fireplace.
  • What if - here is a permit for redevelopment with the reconstruction of heating; here is the firebox. Here it is, the flame, look! Bake? What kind of oven is this? There is nothing about the oven in this paper! Ah, is it implied? Well, if the court accepts your implication as a fact or a document - please!

However, such a sweet moment, most likely, will never come. Firefighters know their business, and where there is no light, they will not go there. But with the papers you have to get dirty:

  1. We order a redevelopment project, the “self-propelled” one will not work in any way. Tip: if the thought flashed of attaching a balcony to a room, building a major partition, combining / separating a bathroom, combining a kitchen with a living room - it’s better to put everything in one package and work with a fireplace, it will take half as much money and nerves;
  2. We take in the DEZ, HOA, in short, in the organization operating the house, a conclusion on its technical condition (technical conclusion on the state of house structures, TZK). The TZK should note that the chimney is in good condition and when it was inspected; better - not earlier than six months;
  3. We go to a company licensed by the Ministry of Emergency Situations that develops recommendations on fire safety. In Moscow, St. Petersburg, the capitals of the federal districts and in many large cities, these are branches of the VNIIPO Ministry of Emergency Situations (VNII Fire Protection);
  4. There we listen carefully, nod our heads, take notes, but the main thing is to get their visa on the project. Without it, further is meaningless. They will require to finalize or completely redo the project - not a word in defiance, we do as they said;
  5. We go to the firemen, we get permission. They won’t give it just like that, but with a VNIIPO visa the issue is “resolved” (in VNIIPO, by the way, too), and without it - “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 in terms of paperwork, it will take no less than six months. So think about whether to order a fireplace in a special company? Their path is knurled, it may turn out to be generally cheaper and faster.

Note: it seems to be a simple fireplace for air heating from a factory firebox and drywall, you definitely need to order a pro. Indeed, for all the material for it, including the last self-tapping screw, fire certificates will be needed, otherwise it is better not to approach VNIIPO. Nevertheless, custom-made is the best option: materials and work are not comparable with masonry at a price, and you need to buy a firebox anyway. The pros know exactly where to buy something so that the firefighters "pass".

Private suburban homeowners are more fortunate: a good part of the paperwork comes from coordinating with the owners, building designers and urban architecture. If the house is your own, the architectural environment is a neighbor's cow in the pasture, then these stages disappear. And VNIIPO with firefighters are not so picky: your house, you and suddenly burn something.

Finally, then: construction!

So, now we can already lay down the fireplace. Let's take for example two classical types of construction: home and country. All others are technically either the same or simpler. Exactly how - said above. Or more difficult and inaccessible to the do-it-yourselfer. And documentary registration (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 the fireplace with the margin required by SNiP. By the way, in brick Khrushchev houses 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 a wall opening and, for example, heat both the living room and the bedroom. Violate this condition - cracks in the chimney will inevitably go, and with them the very English fireplace will give waste.

Foundation dimensions - with an extension of 100-110 mm in all directions. A sheet of iron with a thickness of 1.5 mm is laid on the foundation. On the iron bedding - waterproofing from two layers of roofing material. Modern high-performance hydroisols are not suitable for hot bedding. On the floor in front of the mouth of the firebox - also a fireproof sheet according to the requirements of the software (removal one meter forward and half a meter on the sides, galvanized on asbestos).

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

Working season

Stoves and fireplaces are erected in the off-season (spring, autumn) at a temperature of 15-25 degrees and moderate humidity. It is generally impossible to build them in early spring, late autumn or winter. In the summer, in the very heat - it is permissible for an experienced stove-maker. In dry weather, you need to humidify the air in the room with open wide containers of water.

Brick

In the vast majority of cases, ordinary red ceramic will go to the fireplace, because. combustion in the furnace is not intense and the thermal loads on the structure are low. Facial, 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 face brick mass, the contact of which with fire is unacceptable for many obvious reasons.

The brick must be of good quality mass and burnt through thoroughly, but not excessively. Bricks - "loaves", swollen, noticeably warped, with deep cracks on the surface, are mercilessly rejected. Also - a brick - "iron ore", burnt, with a dark core. Both of them will soon crack from alternating thermal loads.

Subtes, i.e. bricks processed into a non-standard size / shape (raw - full-bodied) for a fireplace are best done with a butt, and not a grinder with a circle. It's not the dust, it's the vibration. From it, in a properly annealed brick, microcracks can go, which then turn into obvious ones.

Solution

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

The solution is kneaded in water until the density of 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. Too greasy sticks in lumps, sand and water (a little!) Are added to it again to the desired consistency. Too skinny flows down, exposing, in places or completely, the metal of the tool. It is brought to the desired fat content with the addition of clay and water.

Clay mortar dries for a long time. Therefore, you need to cook it slowly - not cement, and even more so not alabaster, it will not seize. You can prepare for the future for all the work at once, this will save time. At night, a bucket or trough with a solution is covered with a damp burlap, and the next morning before work it is shoveled several times.

masonry

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

The masonry is continuously verified by a plumb line and a cord, especially for amateurs. The entire structure is narrow, tall, heavy, and its center of gravity is quite high. Forgivable for a brick fence or barn wall, a skewed or uneven fireplace can lead to collapse.

Drying

Dry the finished structure for at least 20 days at room temperature. Windows should be wide open, but direct sunlight on the product is unacceptable. It is best to arrange temporary awnings above the windows for the drying period, at least from old sheets on sticks. In extreme cases, tighten the windows with gauze.

Commissioning

After drying, an accelerating furnace is made with a half portion of the fuel. It is better to take it slowly burning - blacksmith's coal, "seed" coal. If drying was carried out under optimal conditions, then three days after acceleration, you can start heating. Otherwise, the amount of fuel loading is increased in 2-3 doses from 3/4 of the norm to full.

Do-it-yourself classic

Here in fig. - ordering an English type fireplace. The design is simplified and modified so that not very experienced masons can fold it. The bottom line is that the firebox is flowing. Do not close the blower when firing! But the grate is small and is located at the very rear wall of the furnace, so the "English" vortex is created partially due to convection suction into the furnace from below. This made it possible to lay out a smoke tooth without any teretico-technological difficulties, with a simple ledge. True, the efficiency on pellets is a little more than 40%

Video: the process of laying a fireplace

Barbecue a-la English

This gazebo (remember the promised?) Fireplace is a combined device. A single-burner stove is attached to the side of a completely English fireplace, see fig. A strict pedant from fireplaces may snort, but it’s convenient in a summer cottage.

Which to choose?

So, which fireplace is still better? Custom-made with a full sufficiency of funds - depending on the interior. With their incomplete prosperity or credit "surplus" - plasterboard with a branded firebox and air circuit, if the apartment has heat meters, it will save a lot of "communal" in winter.

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

Video: project of a small fireplace for a country house

Fire, as soon as they learned how to produce it, is a reliable companion and assistant to a person. Food was cooked on the fire, the fireplace warmed the inhabitants of the house, it was pleasant to spend long winter evenings near the logs crackling in the fireplace, enjoying communication with loved ones, or just being in thought. Every year, fireplaces are becoming more and more popular, they are more often used as an element of decor in the room.

If you decide to build your own house, which must have a fireplace, then you probably faced the question of how to make a first-class fireplace without involving third-party specialists, what drawings and calculations you need to perform and what materials you must purchase.

Fireplace, the principle of its work

Before starting the work, it does not hurt to understand how the fireplace works and what are the basic principles of its operation. In fact, the fireplace is an ordinary stove in which the firebox is not closed. The fuel for the fireplace is firewood, which, when burned, releases heat, which serves as a source of space heating in the house.


In order to prevent sparks from burning wood and smoke from penetrating into the room, the shape of the chimney is slightly curved. This curved shape also reliably protects the house from rainwater and snow.

Despite the fact that the fireplace has long been used by man as a source of heat in the house, today it should not be used as the main heating, since only 20 percent of the heat produced enters the house, and the remaining 80 percent, sadly, literally just fly out into the pipe. In addition, heating with a fireplace will not be uniform, since the main flow of warm air is directed forward from the firebox, and the sides are not heated. To increase the level of heat transfer, it is most rational to build shallow structures.

Fireplace, do it yourself

It is quite possible to make a brick fireplace with your own hands, the drawings must initially meet all your wishes. The easiest way to make a heater, without involving specialists in the work, but doing all the work yourself, is to build a fireplace, the main material for which will be a brick. The basic rule that the built heater must comply with is that it must not smoke, and must heat the house, although the aesthetic component is not the last component. After all, if the fireplace does not smoke, it perfectly heats the room, but it cannot be called beautiful, it will not bring aesthetic pleasure to its owner.

So, like any other types of work, the construction of a fireplace heater requires preparatory work:

  • project selection;
  • choice of its location in the house;
  • execution of fireplace drawings;
  • selection of building materials.

If ideas do not come to mind how to design a fireplace, what should be its appearance, in this case, you can always turn to professionals for help or try to find inspiration by looking at the types of finished fireplaces that are posted on the Web.


We determine the place for the future fireplace in the house

Most often, homeowners choose a load-bearing wall to build a fireplace in the house, which, as a rule, is located opposite the entrance to the room. However, this is not the only option, because you can build a built-in fireplace, a corner one, and even a fireplace, and even a stand-alone one. Which type of fireplace to choose depends only on the free space in the house, and only on the taste preferences of the owner of the house.

Where in the house should a fireplace not be installed? Of course, opposite the window, because in this case all the heat will be directed directly to the window, and will not heat the room. When planning a place to place a fireplace, do not forget about the safety in the house, the fireplace should not be a source of sparks or smoke in the house.


To make calculations and determine the size of the future fireplace, you will need free time and writing materials, it is better to take paper in a cage.

  • first of all, it is necessary to determine the size of the room, and schematically reflect it by drawing on paper using a scale;
  • then we perform the calculation of the firebox, its size must be no less than one fiftieth of the total volume of the room;
  • the proportions of the depth of the portal for the device of the heater are proportions of two to three or one to two, it is important to observe them in order to properly organize heat transfer and prevent smoke in the room;
  • the size of the chimney directly depends on the area occupied by the firebox, it must be less than eight times;
  • if the chimney is round, the diameter of its pipe is at least 100 mm, the average pipe length is 5 meters.

What consumables are needed for construction

The preparatory work has been completed, the calculations have been made, all the drawings have been prepared, it would be possible to start construction, however, it is also necessary to select and purchase materials for the construction of the heater. So, to build a fireplace, so comfortable and so cozy, you will need the following materials:

  • solid bricks, which should be purchased individually, since this material is quite expensive;
  • pure river sand, its fineness can be from 0.2 mm to 1.5 millimeters;
  • cement, which can be the most common, which is sold in any store;
  • a platform for a fireplace, we stock up on rubble;
  • fittings, length - 700 millimeters, diameter - from 8 to 10 mm, 20 pieces;
  • damper, which is designed for the chimney.

In addition to traditional brick, other types of materials can be used, such as metal, which will be an excellent solution, however, when using metal as a material for a fireplace, it is very important to correctly determine the required amount.


Stages of arranging the foundation for a fireplace

Before proceeding with the arrangement of the foundation, it is worth remembering that it cannot be in the same place as the foundation of the house. The laying of the foundation of the fireplace usually begins with its pouring. The width of the foundation pedestal for the future heater should be equal to the width of the basement row with a margin of five centimeters. So:

  • it is necessary to dig a hole for the foundation, the width of which is 15 centimeters more than the fireplace, the depth of the hole is at least 60 centimeters;
  • we fill the bottom of the pit with rubble, which must be carefully tamped and leveled using a level;
  • we start building the foundation, for this it is necessary to prepare formwork from the boards, the height of which should correspond to the height of the foundation, it will not be superfluous if the prepared boards are covered with a layer of resin and treated with a layer of roofing material;
  • we prepare a solution in the ratio of cement and sand - 1 to 3, and fill it with the installed formwork;
  • the top of the finished foundation is carefully leveled and covered with a layer of plastic wrap;
  • it remains to wait for the complete drying of the foundation, which usually occurs within six to seven days.

Getting ready to lay bricks

Brick and concrete are the best materials that are widely used to build a fireplace. However, a brick must be prepared before it can be used for masonry. Usually bricks have a standard shape and size, but it does not hurt to reject all rough, uneven bricks, bricks with chips and cracks. The material must have a perfectly flat surface. Before use, the masonry material should be lowered into water, within a few minutes all the air will come out of it, which will significantly increase the level of strength of the masonry.

The material is ready, it's time to prepare the clay, which must be soaked in water two days before the start of work, during which it is necessary to add water little by little, and knead the resulting solution until a homogeneous mass is obtained.

Fireplace masonry - execution steps

It's time to start laying the future heater. Masonry is carried out on several layers of pre-laid roofing material. Each next layer should be located exactly above the previous one, here the level will become a reliable assistant. Laying must be done carefully, because the appearance of the finished fireplace depends on it.

In the course of the work, we lay out the material on the rail, pressing it slightly. On top we put a layer of clay, which is laid out neatly. We lay out the lower bricks on the "edge".

In order for the masonry to be perfectly even, we do not forget to use a level and squares in each finished row in our work, which will help to comply with all the rules for performing quality work.

The chimney, its construction requires special attention. Before work, be sure to check the solution with your hands, which will completely exclude various inclusions from its composition. When laying the next layer of brick, it is worth marking it on the diagram, painting over it with a simple pencil.

After completing three rows of masonry, lay the pins that will hold the grate.

The side ledges of the portal require no less attention, they must be laid out using half a brick. The work is over, now it's time to process the seams, for this, as a rule, decorative types of solutions are used, in which it is customary to add colorants.


Video: do-it-yourself brick fireplace, 3D drawings, step-by-step analysis of the stages

Do-it-yourself step-by-step photo instruction for building a fireplace

01.08.2014

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Some still think that building a home fireplace is an impossible task and you need to turn exclusively to professionals. However, this is far from the case now. Fireplaces for the home, in fact, are 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 the house with your own hands.

Many owners of private houses and cottages dream of a fireplace, but do not have sufficient financial resources to invite specialists. Some give up their idea, while others look for other ways. It is they who are wondering 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.
  • Foundation laying.
  • Preparation for the implementation of brickwork.
  • Brickwork of the platform and portal.
  • Chimney duct lining.
  • Facing or finishing of a fireplace.

Read also the article about in addition to this material.

Every step is important. Let's look into 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 placed in the living room or bedroom near the load-bearing wall, which is located in front of the entrance to the house. But there are several more options, such as: a corner, built-in, freestanding fireplace. It is important to ensure that it does not interfere with the movement of people. The choice of the type and style of the 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, truly, is the center of the family gathering and in the interior its role is similar. In front of him you need to place a recreation area.

Advice! You should not place the fireplace opposite the window, against the outer wall, as the heat will go outside. You also need to keep safety in mind. Sparks from the fireplace should not scatter around the room, and smoke should be avoided in the room.

This will require:

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

Measurements are carried out in several steps:

  • initially, it is necessary to determine the dimensions of the room where the fireplace will be installed for heating the house;
  • you need to sketch it schematically on paper, using scaling;
  • after that, it is necessary to sketch the firebox schematically;

Advice! For high-quality heating, one 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 the correct organization of heat transfer and prevention of smoke in the room, one should be guided by 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 than the area occupied by the firebox;
  • The size of the chimney is of no small importance. Its minimum diameter should be 10 centimeters, and the average length is about five meters.

What will be required to build a fireplace?

After making calculations, building drawings, you need to prepare all the necessary material. To build a cozy, comfortable source of space heating, you will need:

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

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 the house and where to start the bookmark.

Foundation laying

Before you start arranging the foundation, it should be borne in mind that it should not be flush with the base of the house. It should be borne in mind that the width should be displayed relative to the basement row, but allowances of five centimeters should be made on all sides.

Foundation steps:

  • 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 excavated pit should be covered with rubble and carefully compacted;

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

  • formwork should be prepared for the foundation. Formwork boards need to be tarred and covered with roofing material, so that they will be less susceptible to corrosion. Formwork in height should be similar to the foundation;

  • prepare a mixture in a ratio of 1 to z, where one unit is cement, three is sand. After that, it needs to fill the foundation;
  • after pouring, it should be leveled and covered with polyethylene.

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

Preparation for the implementation of brickwork

Brick and concrete are the best materials widely used for building a fireplace. Brick before laying should be prepared, 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 level of strength of the masonry can be increased by placing the brick in water for a few minutes in order for the air to escape from it.

Fireplaces for a private house are a great option for heating, this will require clay. It needs to be prepared in advance. Two days before laying, clay should be soaked in water. During this period of time, water should be added little by little and knead the solution. You should get a homogeneous mass.

Erection of brickwork of the portal and platform

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

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

Before laying out the fireplace itself, you should lay the platform. It is carried out exclusively from non-combustible 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 placed under it.

Do-it-yourself fireplace site. At the bottom there is a niche for fuel - it is very convenient and looks interesting

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

Lots of laying options. This is the English style, classic or other types. All of them are good in their own way. It all depends on the stylistic orientation of the interior of the room as a whole, the financial capabilities and preferences of the owner. Heating fireplaces like a Russian stove will look original. The fireplace can play not only the role of a heater, but can also serve as a place for cooking.

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

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

The result should be a solid and reliable monolithic structure. Laying is carried out by the method of dressing the seams: both transverse and longitudinal. For this, incomplete bricks are useful, the spoon and bonder parts of which must alternate. A special place should be given to the thickness of the seam, since the tightness and service life of the fireplace depend on it.

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

Chimney masonry

One of the most important elements in the fireplace is the chimney. The presence or absence of smoke in the room depends on its quality of performance. An important parameter here is the geometry of the chimney section. The draft is best in a round chimney, worse with a square one. 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 should be perfectly smooth - this will prevent the formation of soot and help smoke pass through them with ease. It should be located vertically, inclined type chimneys are used in rare cases, and then the angle cannot exceed thirty degrees. The cross section of the pipe depends on the size of the outlet channel of the furnace. The smallest size when choosing a rectangular shape is 14 by 27 centimeters.

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

Advice! Before laying the chimney duct, the solution should be checked by hand, in order to exclude the presence of any inclusions. This will make the laying will be of high quality.

Fireplace finish

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 imagination. A do-it-yourself home fireplace 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.

Ready-made fireplace with brick cladding. 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, stretch the mesh. After that, apply U-shaped brackets. Then you should apply drying oil, it is she who will prevent the appearance of corrosion. One layer of plaster must 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 adhesive and chalk solutions.

Read also the information on in addition to this article.

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

  • The use of drywall. Sheets of this material can give a rectangular shape to the fireplace. Initially, the frame is fixed and only after that it is “sewn up” with drywall.
  • Decorative design. For this, it is possible to use a mass of materials, such as decorative bricks, fire-resistant ceramic tiles, natural stone, slate and others.

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

The Art of the Fireplace

Different types of trees are good fuel for a wood-burning fireplace. Coniferous trees such as spruce or pine should not be kindled with logs. This is due to the fact that it quickly burns out and a lot of soot forms on the walls of the chimney. The best option would be birch or oak. They are distinguished by: long burning, hot flame, good heat retention and a high level of efficiency. For kindling, use torches, paper, brushwood and wood chips. After they flare up, you need to add logs of a larger size.

Tips and instructions explain how to make a fireplace in the house on your own and save money, since the services of professionals are quite expensive, and not everyone can afford to call them. A home heating fireplace is a great 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.

The fireplace stove is a source of warmth and comfort, a place that personifies the family hearth. Such a heating element will fit into any interior and become its central highlight. In order to create a fireplace stove in the house, you need to think and plan everything in advance. You need to start with the type and location.

The construction of the course of work depends on these moments. Types of fireplaces are very diverse and differ in appearance and design: classic, attached to the wall, combined with a water heater or hob and oven, with a built-in metal firebox, and other options.

The location of the fireplace should be away from windows so that there is no draft, it also depends on the model of the chimney. If the surrounding material in the house is fire hazardous, then the unit must be pre-isolate before making the oven. Also, the location is determined based on the convenience of external maintenance and compliance with the standards for the construction of a chimney outlet (the closer the pipe is to the roof ridge, the shorter it is).

Before you start building a fireplace with your own hands, you must, of course, decide on the location of the fireplace stove at home, draw up a detailed diagram and order, it is better to involve specialists in this process. The order will become an instruction, based on which each row of bricks and additional details are laid out correctly.

materials

The most popular and easy-to-use material is two types of bricks: refractory (fireclay) bricks and clay (red) bricks. Make as a solution mixture of clay, sand and cement in different proportions for certain areas. You will also need tools and materials to make thermal insulation.

Masonry brick classic fireplace

The first step in building a fireplace is to create a solid foundation that can withstand heavy loads. Its depth depends on the size of the unit ( but not less than 50 cm.), and the width is always done with a margin, by 15-20 cm. more than the base of the fireplace. At the bottom of the pit, sand is poured in layers, then crushed stone, sometimes broken bricks are used.

Read also: Fireplace in English

The main part is poured with concrete, reinforced with mesh or metal bars for strength. The level of the foundation is best done below the floors of the floor. After it hardens, which requires at least 14 days a waterproofing layer can be laid on top or a steel sheet can be fixed. A lesson on how to properly build a foundation, how to lay a brick, can generally be obtained in the video presented.

The next step is to make the base of the unit. To do this, the first rows of bricks are laid out with a flat, solid platform, along which the horizontalness of the structure is checked, angle accuracy. A row is laid out on the base, an opening is made for the ash pan, and the base for the grate is made of refractory bricks. Then they build a fireplace portal and a firebox, based on ordering scheme. If the firebox has a door, then it is mounted. Between the refractory brick and the adjacent material, it is better to lay a layer of basalt cardboard to increase thermal insulation.

According to the order, overlapping device above the firebox can be done in several ways. In the form of a simple even row with the help of metal corners located in invisible places or hidden by a decorative figuratively cut shelf. Or in the form of an arch or an arcuate shape, using formwork.

On the front wall of the unit, an inclined surface “mirror” is built in, reflecting heat into the room. The internal volume of the firebox gradually narrows, and on the twentieth row, the laying of the chimney begins. The video contains step-by-step instructions, a lesson on the construction and manufacture of a chimney.

Subsequently, all the necessary fittings are installed, the brickwork is cleaned of dirt. If lining was planned, it can be done in the next step.

Laying brick fireplaces requires a high level of skill of builders, it is better for professionals to do such work. You can learn more about how to calculate the amount of materials based on the order in the video lesson.

Read also: Do-it-yourself corner stove

Variant from the old oven

If there is a non-working stove in a private house, you can make a fireplace out of it. In such an alteration, much depends on the initial state of the structure. First you need to inspect the stove itself and the chimney, check for draft, the integrity of the inner surface, and the presence of contamination.

Then the design of the entire furnace is evaluated, if the foundation and masonry are reliable, then only expansion of the furnace volume, which will become the main focus. A deep firebox can be left open; in other cases, a cast-iron door is used, through which the flame is visible. This is considered the simplest transformation option, if you add decorative elements to the fireplace stove - additional brick cladding, stone or - then the outward resemblance to the fireplace will increase.

It is more difficult to build a fireplace stove in the case when the construction needs to be done again. The old furnace is completely disassembled, the base is inspected for defects, corrected if necessary. After, several layers are laid waterproofing, and the fireplace must be built based on the chosen scheme and order. Often the device of the furnace is improved in such a way that the streams of hot air coming from the furnace can heat not only the room, but also the oven and the hob. If in the design, in addition to the fireplace, there is furnace furnace, then their chimneys must be reduced to one. You can learn more about the process of reworking the stove and how to fold the fireplace with your own hands by watching the video.

An interesting and unusual option is fireplace made of stone, its appearance will fit perfectly into the house, executed in the rural style of Provence or country. A natural stone very environmentally friendly, reliable and durable, but it is not a cheap material for construction. The device of the furnace can consist only of masonry, and can be combined with brick. Working with stones of different shapes is more difficult than with processed ones.