How to make brick fireplace

A real fireplace is a strong Association with home comfort, relaxing atmosphere winter evenings and aristocratic setting. To make your own hands brick fireplace – a time-consuming task, but doable. You will need to find a suitable scheme of masonry, choose high-quality material and strictly adhere to all the steps of the technological process.

Key elements ↑

A traditional fireplace is an open furnace of simple design, equipped with a hood-chimney. Aesthetic appearance of the hearth is the reverse side of the coin – low heat. The maximum efficiency is only 25%, rest of the heat leaves the room through the pipe. Therefore, the decision to make in the fire-place of brick should be accompanied by additional installation of heating equipment. Regardless of the drawing, the construction design must ensure that:

• quality cravings and the absence of smoke;
• generating heat at a level approximate to the maximum value for such a device;
• aesthetic appearance, matching the interior dimensions of the room.

The main elements of the fireplace brick in some points coincide with the design of the stove:

• Construction begins with the arrangement of the fireplace table, which have to do with refractory bricks or concrete. It is located between the floor and the furnace.
• In front of the fireplace made of sheet steel equipped with predtopochnyj area, this will prevent a fire floor, when triggered by sparks or embers.
• The outer hole of a fireplace made of brick, located on the front side and performs a decorative function, is called a portal. It can be made in different shapes: semicircular, rectangular or another.
• The furnace is a combustion chamber fuel. Its bottom is called a pod, it rises above the floor at 15-30 cm.
• The function of air distribution performs grate. It also serves to house the fuel material.
• The ash pan is a place of gathering waste after combustion of the fuel.
• Over a furnace for the purpose of protection and as element of the decor necessary to make the flue cornice.
• To prevent the ingress of smoke and soot in the room where is the fireplace made of bricks, called the gas threshold.
• To make the smoke box and the chimney for the fireplace of brick is also a prerequisite. The rear wall of the smoke box is equipped with a flue tooth. Its main purpose is to limit the sharp drop in air flow and to delay the falling soot.

To achieve maximum increase in the heat of the fireplace brick and outlet heat fluxes inside the room allows the combustion chamber, whose dimensions expand toward the portal. With the same purpose, the rear wall of the firebox equipped with a metal sheet made of steel or cast iron. On a two-meter height is necessary to make a furnace valve, in which the traction force control. After burning the fireplace, it is closed to exclude the entry into the room cold air.

The placement and proportions of the standard ↑

An important condition for quality work of the fireplace brick is the choice of location. Experts recommend to do it near the end wall. Alternatively, you can arrange the angle between the end wall and the inner wall of the room. A serious mistake would be if a fireplace opposite the Windows. This will provoke the formation of drafts and reduce heat transfer. The area of the room where you plan to make the design of bricks should not exceed 12 m^Two. Another prerequisite for the equipment reliable and solid Foundation, which we will cover later. If you decided to make a brick fireplace on the second floor, which is inevitable by the strengthening of slabs.

The desire to make a home out of brick requires strict compliance with the standard proportions between the structural elements, namely:

• The area of the flue hole should be smaller than the area of the furnace is 10-15 times.
• To provide good traction, straight section of the chimney must be done within 3-5 meters. When the pipe above the roof should rise at least 1 m, optimally m 2.
• The size of the combustion chamber and the area have a ratio of 1:100, that is, for the living room, occupying 30 m^Two, the furnace in the fireplace of brick enough to make a 0.3 m^Two.
• The width of the combustion chamber relative to the depth is increased in 1,5-2,5 times, and the height is greater than width 1.5 times.
• For predtopochnyh platform in sheet metal 0,35х0,5 m.

The approximate ratio of the elements of the fireplace brick depending on the size of the room is shown below:

The preparatory process ↑

To make your own design of bricks, usually used standard designs. Prepared circuit porjadovki provide accurate calculations. Independently of their better line on graph sheets, drawing each row is done separately, with exact parameters and location of the bricks. To draw the beginning lining with cap.

A clear scheme of the future of the fireplace allows you to make a preliminary calculation of the required materials. The clutch will need not only whole bricks, but their individual parts. All the bricks for a future fire are subjected to careful inspection for compliance with the following requirements:

• the surface is smooth;
• the angles are whole;
• when hit with a hammer sound solid.

The approximate material consumption for the fireplace of brick of medium size the following:

• fireclay brick – 130 units;
• ceramic products – 250-350 PCs.;
• refractory mortar for bricklaying – about 3 bags;
• cleaned sand quarry – 4 bags, choose better fraction 0.2-1.5 mm;
• cement above the 200 mark – 1 bag;
• gravel for the pouring of the Foundation faction 3-7 mm;
• reinforcing bars with a length of 70 cm and a thickness of 8-10 mm – two dozen.;
• steel strip and the area;
• the flap and the door for cleaning.

The order of operations ↑

Ideally, it is better to make a Foundation for the fireplace of brick at the stage of capital construction. The decision to complement a room, the home is connected with the cumbersome cost, but it’s doable.

The Foundation ↑

To make a Foundation for the fireplace is necessary regardless of the total base at home. The procedure includes the following steps:

• Prepared in small pit of a depth of 0.5 m, its width and length exceeding the dimensions of the fireplace brick in General, 30-35 cm.
• Depending on soil moisture, the bottom is filled with sand and gravel or just sand.
• Over the smooth gravel, you need to make a wooden formwork, the dimensions of which exceed the dimensions of the future fireplace of brick at 15-20 cm do Not forget to use a level to align the edges.
• Reinforcing bars are placed crosswise, the joints are fixed by welding. Depending on the calculated weight of the fireplace brick, the height of the formwork is required to make at least 15 cm.
• For filling, prepare the mortar consisting of sand, cement and gravel. After drying the mixture, the gap between the old floor and basement fireplace is filled with clean sand, which functions as a compensator deformation. To make the Foundation must be below floor level at 5-7 cm.

The solidification of the Foundation is given not less than 48 hours, after which you can proceed to the construction of their own hands fireplace brick.

Masonry ↑

Each brick before laying need short-term soaking on a quarter or a third of a minute. This must be done to eliminate air pockets. Sand for mortar was pre-screened. Mixture of clay and dried sand for masonry fireplace it is important to make the right consistency. You can check this in the formation from a solution of small sausages with a diameter of 2 centimeters. Evidence of the optimal density of the solution will be if the figure does not disintegrate and does not stick to the skin.

On top of the Foundation under the future size of the fireplace brick is spread a layer of rolled insulation. On the wall is a drawing of the adjacent side of the structure. Sawn off part of the bricks necessarily blocked in a solution, they can not be output outside. When masonry fireplace brick should be regularly to check horizontal and vertical level of the angles, and correspond to the diagonals. This can be done using a plumb Bob or a level and tape measure.

Work on the chosen scheme porjadovki includes the following steps:

• Laying the Foundation should be on the mortar, consisting of sand and cement. The lower part of the furnace includes rows 1 through 3.
• For the bottom of the furnace used fire brick and the same compound. The ash pan is located in 4 and 5 row.
• The salary of the fireplace is formed in the following two rows.
• From 8-th to 12-th number put wall fireplace, inside used refractory material, the outer wall need to make ceramic bricks. Masonry 12 number ends with a frame in the form of steel strip and the area of metal.
• The smoke box is between 13 and 19 next. In the beginning you want to make smoke tooth 15 of a number of the chimney begins to narrow. 16 row is installed the door for cleaning.
• 20 and 25 series is a masonry fireplace chimney. 25 a number it is necessary to make the stove damper.

Stitches in height it is desirable to make thin, this will reduce the risk of cracking of the mortar in the process of operation. In the core and the depth of the masonry they can be a little thicker. The installation of each brick for the fireplace accompanied by the removal of excess solution.

After completion of the brick fireplace in need of drying for 5 days, after which you can proceed to the gradual efficiency. This will ensure uniform sintering of a clay solution and prevent their crumbling. After that, go to the finishing work.

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