How To Build A Brick Garden Barbecue For DIY Home Improvement Enthusiasts

The first step to building a garden brick barbeque is site selection. The barbeque site should be a level section of garden located close enough to the house for frequent trips to the kitchen but far enough away, so the smoke does not vent directly into the house. As well as smoke concerns, fire hazards such as overhead branches and awnings also help select the location. After selecting the site, determine the length and width for the barbeque and mark it out on the ground using a measuring tape. It is a good idea to do a dry run of bricks to check the measurement before starting the building process.
Some measurements that are useful to determine the total materials needed are as follows: the nominal size for one brick and mortar is 225mm x 102.5mm x 75mm, for mortar a rule of thumb is 25kg of dry mortar for 25 bricks. Do not forget to add a percentage of bricks for breakage. The typical brick barbeque is thirteen brick rows high. Keep brick storage close to building location and keep bricks dry using tarps. Wet bricks can result in lime blooming, which is white staining on the surface of bricks. In addition to bricks and mortar purchase barbeque grates and ashtrays.
After selecting the site and purchasing the bricks, the next step is digging the footings. Dig the footings 24 inches deep along the laid out barbeque outline and tamp down dirt at the bottom of the hole. Coarse cement is appropriate for the footings. Create a pile of mortar on a board and place a well in the top of the pile to add water. A watering can is a good tool to use to add water for the mortar mix since it is easier to control than a bucket. Pour the mortar in the trench and tamp down and level with a timber then leave the footing to cure for two days.
Lay the first course of bricks. Butter the bottom and side edge of each brick with mortar using a trowel. The mortar should be mixed to a consistency of butter and the mortar should not fall off the trowel when held sideways. Check the first course of bricks for level using a spirit level. Build up the corners by three or four bricks then install corner blocks and stretch lines to mark level for the other courses. After every three rows of bricks are laid on the barbeque, point the joints, vertical joints first. Be sure to check for plumb and level frequently. Install brackets in the second and third row of bricks from the top. The lower bracket is for the ashtray and the upper bracket is for the barbeque grill. Cap the top row with coping stones or hard bricks.
Allow the brick barbeque to cure for forty-eight hours before enjoying your new home made DIY garden barbeque.