A fireplace in your own garden is set up in no time at all - for the simple version you only have to dig a shallow pit and surround it with stones. However, not all stones are suitable for building a fireplace - many, especially soft natural stones and concrete, burst in the fire.
Not all stones are suitable for the fireplace
Not all stones are suitable for building a fireplace
Stones bursting due to great heat can not only destroy fireplaces that have been laboriously built or even bricked up, but can even become very dangerous due to splinters and pieces flying around. From some rocks - such as pebbles and limestone - the fragments fly up to ten meters away. Anyone struck by such fragments can be seriously injured.
Be careful with natural stones and concrete
Care should be taken with soft natural stones such as all limestone, pebbles and sandstone. Ordinary concrete is also unsuitable for building a fireplace and will crack or even burst if exposed to direct heat. The cause of this phenomenon is water, which penetrates the rock and evaporates at high heat - the result is bursting rock, which can no longer withstand the internal pressure. So-called Ytong or aerated concrete blocks are also absolutely taboo in the fire.
Suitable stones for the fireplace
Therefore, when building a fireplace, you should use types of rock that are heat-resistant and can only absorb little moisture. For example, granite, a hard natural stone, should not be directly in the fire, but is well suited for framing a fireplace. Basalt, on the other hand, is one of the volcanic rocks and is extremely fireproof - making it ideal for use in and around fireplaces. The same applies to fired and therefore refractory stones from the outset, such as clinker, bricks, bricks and firebricks. If you want to concrete or brick your fireplace, you should definitely use refractory concrete (so-called "refractory concrete"), which is specially manufactured for temperatures between 1,100 and 2,000 °C.
tips
In order to provide additional protection for the stones in and around the fireplace, they should be covered with a waterproof material when not in use. If this solution does not appeal to you visually, a roof would also be an option.