Back in July we built (assembled) an outdoor fireplace. The middle section was a kit that we got a smoking deal on that was too good to pass up. Especially considering I didnt really need invest much time considering how many other fn projects I have going on. Anyway, we wanted to add two wood boxes to it, one on each side, but the price was outrageous, something like ~$1000 ea. F that. I decided I could build my own for a fraction of that. I bought a pallet of paver blocks and stacked them to form the boxes. Next I needed tops, I priced out buying limestone slabs to match the other slabs on the fireplace, but they were $$ too. Instead I decided to pour my own from concrete for $12.
I used aluminum foil to pull a mold off the edge of one of the fireplace slabs to use for the edge of the poured piece. I put those into a melamine form, and silicone caulked the corners. Poured some concrete in, smashed the bottom of the form a bunch of times with a mallet and waited.
It turned out pretty good. The edge matches the fireplace pieces perfectly. There were just one or two small voids in the top, but overall Im super happy for my first time.
I think it probably cost me $100 to build each box, including the top.
Hoping this week to reset the mold and pour the other top.
awesome! I will be doing something like this shortly for my hearth inside my house. My wife wants me to make it look wood grain. I am going to need to go take training to pull it off.
Buy a sheet of wood grain finished fiber cement board, cover it in plastic and use that as the bottom of the mold. The grain on that stuff is quite pronounced so I bet it would work perfect.
Very nice! I had a 2 different quotes for a fireplace that looks similar to that maybe a little bigger, they wanted 4-5k for something like that…crazy.
So did you just fold up the aluminum foil to be about 1/2" thick and then just push it into the concrete? Or is the foil wrapped around something that keeps the form better? It matches perfect.
Ya, this isnt that big. But its nice for the three of us to hang out around. We paid $1800 for the kit b/c it was “used”. The place we bought it from had it stacked up at a home show last year or something and just wanted it gone. This is the one Wood Burning Outdoor Fireplaces | Woodland Direct
Of course I had to buy pavers, and a ton of concrete that I mixed two fucking bags at a time in a small mixer, etc so it cost a bit more but still wasnt too bad.
I also bought enough pavers to build a fire pit, for when we have parties etc. Im planning on making a steel ring for it along with a cooking grate etc. Maybe this winter. They accidentally sent me two sets of firebricks for the fireplace kit so I used the extras to line the bottom of the pit.
What I did was clamp two pieces of wood to the top and bottom of the slab on the fireplace, so they stuck out like 1/2" or so. Then folded a 3’ long sheet of HD foil in half twice, and laid that in the groove so it hung over the boards (top/bottom). Then balled up multiple pieces of foil and pressed them into the groove and tapped them flat with a mallet. Finally folded the edges of the first layers of foil over the backside to keep the individual pieces in place. Did this 3x.
Thats it. It took a nearly a whole roll of HD foil. I likely could have cast it with something, but I wasnt sure what to use that would be cheap and easy. Foil was the first thing that came to mind.
Dan
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Ya, I thought of his projects while doing this. Naturally this is super bush league compared. I can see why he got into it, even this was pretty rewarding to see actually work out, hah.
Well hello again NYSPEED… looks good Dan! I never saw the technique of using tin foil before, crafty.
Concrete, as simple as the material appears to be, can be quite an animal. I’ve spent the last three years dialing in a mix design that allows for some pretty amazing characteristics in texture, handling, workability, and early strength. It’s probably the most challenging material I’ve worked with which is why I’ve been so intrigued by it. Its affected by heat, humidity, pressure, mineral composition within the water…You are constantly at its mercy.
oh and the other thing amazing about concrete is the broad appeal it has… I currently have projects under contract with home values from one about as low as $125K up to $21.4M.
