How to Lay a Brick Fireplace

A brick fireplace can be the perfect compliment for your home. Outdoor brick fireplaces can be used for both cooking and purely aesthetic purposes. By laying your own brick fireplace, you can save money or have more money to devote to constructing your fireplace. This is not a difficult task to accomplish and can be done in a relatively small number of steps.  

1. Evaluate how much room you will have and then design the fireplace. Available space will play a large role in determining the size and design of fireplace you will build. Once you have calculated how much space you will have, design a fireplace that fits your needs and that will fit in the allotted space. This design should consider such factors as the size of bricks that will be required and how large of a foundation will be needed.


2. Ensure that the desired space for the fireplace is level. If it is not, then this area must be leveled before any other steps in the process can be completed. Purchase soil to use to fill in the least level areas. Also, place a layer of soil over the entire area. This will ensure that when the soil is compacted it will settle evenly. Compact the newly added soil to produce a level building surface.


3. Pour concrete to create a foundation. Concrete can serve as an excellent foundation for building your new fireplace. When pouring the concrete ensure that the pouring is done in two sections. By sectioning the pouring of the concrete, the likelihood of the cement cracking as it dries is greatly reduced.


4. Lay bricks according to the design for the fireplace. Using the design you created in step one, begin laying bricks to build the fireplace. A detailed design will greatly aid in this process. For this reason, it is advisable for the design to be as detailed as possible. When laying bricks, ensure that a proper mortar is used to secure the bricks into place.