Brick fireplaces

Home fireplaces appeared in Russia in the XIII century, and replaced the stove in some houses. The fireplace was not only a heating design, but also a luxurious decor. Open fire and crackling firewood create a home comfort and warm atmosphere. The fireplace, as a way of heating and decor, will easily fit into many interior styles: classic, modern, high-tech. With the fireplace, you can zone the room and create a cozy corner for a family holiday.

Cast iron. The design of a modern fireplace usually consists of a thick-walled fire chamber, a body and a chimney. Some models can be connected to the pipeline using a heat exchanger. This eliminates the need to connect central heating and purchase water heaters. The term of operation at continuous use will make more than 15 years. It is worth choosing high-quality models with well-established parts and made of thick cast iron.

The fireplace from strong cast iron will serve long.The material withstands the highest temperatures and is less susceptible to fading.

When exposed to high temperature, the design of the furnace is not deformed.

Cast iron has high heat dissipation. After the firewood in the fireplace burns out, the cast iron will store and distribute heat for a long time, which allows to heat large rooms and saves costs.

Many companies offer to buy a ready-made cast iron fireplace. Assembly and installation will not be difficult, but if you plan to install a heat exchanger, it is better to enlist the support of a specialist.

A cast iron stove will not be as expensive as stone or brick models. The average model will cost 20-25 thousand rubles.

It is not necessary to sharply cool the cast iron stove, cold water, ice or snow can damage the material. Also, do not need to hit a hot fireplace, because of this it can burst.

Requires regular and thorough care. All heavily contaminated parts of the fireplace: an ashpit, a chimney, should not be ignored and regular cleaning must be carried out.

To many, this version of the fireplace seems unpresentable because of the black color and simplicity of the material.But the cast-iron stove can be ordered with any finish, a special paint is not subject to change, even because of the high temperature.

Brick kiln is most often installed in country houses. The material allows you to personally build the structure. With regular use, a brick fireplace will start to deteriorate after 5 years. Brick stoves allow you to quickly heat the room, even in the cold season.

The design is strong enough, resistant to sudden changes in temperature and humidity, which makes it less fragile.

This brick fireplace is quite easy to use, unlike cast iron does not need frequent cleaning.

High-quality brick does not emit harmful substances and unpleasant odors when heated.

To independently lay out a brick fireplace, you must have the appropriate experience and special tools, otherwise you need the help of a stove specialist. Even minor mistakes made during installation can affect the good performance of the fireplace.

High-quality brick is an expensive material. Also necessary are the costs of the stove-house, floor reinforcement and decoration.

Brick ovens are quite heavy, for their installation requires a solid foundation.

Installation on the lower floors. In modern apartments it is difficult to install a brick fireplace. The partition between the floors can not withstand the weight, and the installation of the hood will have to coordinate with a special authority.

The modern market offers a wide selection of bricks: chamotte, clinker, etc. Basic requirements for bricks for laying fireplaces and stoves:

Resistance to temperature changes. Unsuitable bricks with a sharp cooling or heating can crack or deform, which leads to rapid wear of the fireplace.

The accumulation and preservation of heat for a long time. In the cold season it is important enough that the room heats up quickly, and the brick retains heat for a long time, even after stopping the burning of firewood.

Resistance to open flame. Be sure to check the quality certificate, which shows the main characteristics and material properties. For fireplaces and stoves must be specified GOST 390-96.

Fireclay bricks are made from special clay “chamotte” and some additives.Particular durability and environmental protection of the brick gives aluminum oxide.

Clinker brick - has high strength and low moisture absorption. It can be applied both at construction, and when facing. The color palette varies from yellow to dark brown.

A special type of clay, "skinny", is mixed with various mineral additives, which gives the brick a special strength and temperature resistance. The clinker brick is less abraded, and the variants with a glazed surface do not absorb moisture at all (a conventional brick absorbs up to 25% of moisture), which is especially important for outdoor fireplaces.

Periclase brick is expensive; rather rare minerals are used in its manufacture. But, at the same time, periclase brick has a high refractoriness and is often used for the construction of fireplaces.

For decorating the fireplace used figure bricks. You can choose a different shape, texture and color. Do not forget that the facing material for the fireplace must have the same characteristics of strength and fire resistance. Sometimes when facing carved elements are used from a ceramic brick in the form of a triangle, an arch,trapezoid and even circle.

When choosing a quality oven brick, you should pay attention to the brand of the manufacturer. One of the best firms producing facing and kiln bricks is Lod. The Latvian company in the production uses high-quality and environmentally friendly materials, monitors modern technologies and trends. Thanks to a wide color palette, you can choose a brick for any interior: make a modern fireplace out of light brick or antique from a material with an artificial effect of antiquity.

The effect of the old fireplace can be given by using hand-made bricks in the masonry. You should not worry because of the quality of such a brick, it has the same high strength properties. But, this material is quite high in cost. The advantage of brick from hand molding is not only in appearance but also in environmental friendliness; in its manufacture pure clay without impurities is used.

To obtain unique textures and colors are used:

1. Roasting with the addition of a special coal powder.
2. Produce a secondary firing.
3. Squeeze through the form with water.
4. Treated with colored sand.

You can choose a brick fireplace by location, by the amount of space and functional preferences. Modern manufacturers provide a large selection of fireplace designs with various features: small street, for the home or even an apartment.

According to the location, there are classic versions of fireplaces: corner model, built-in, island.

The corner model is suitable for relatively small spaces and does not take up much space. This summer mini fireplace is quite simple to manufacture, has good traction and stable construction. Corner models quickly heat up and heat the room.

If you need to install a fireplace in the apartment, you should choose the outer wall for the bookmark, but not next to the window, this will reduce the heating of the brick. It is necessary to coordinate the project with the building and fire inspectorate, to find out what kind of flooring in the room, you may have to install an electric exhaust fan in addition to the chimney.

In order not to risk and avoid unnecessary red tape, you can install a small false fireplace or electric wall. Make a false fireplace "under the brick" can be your own hands, and the fire will replace the wax candles of different shapes and heights.

For the zoning of the room is perfect island fireplace, in contrast to the wall, it can be placed anywhere. This model is suitable for large rooms, because takes up a lot of space. Suspended chimney is not attached to the wall and must be sufficiently sturdy sustainable design. Minus island-style models in low heat dissipation, but it can be corrected using high-quality bricks and additional decorative elements, they are also designed to retain heat.

The built-in version is the most compact. The chimney is laid inside the wall, and the portal protrudes from it all on half-brick. This option is necessary to issue a decorative material, it will keep warm and decorate the interior. Often, the built-in models complement the top shelf, it will perfectly accommodate frames with photographs, elegant figurines or candles of different sizes and heights.

The open fireplace is a classic version. There are models in which the fire is visible from one side, two, three or four. Corner and built-in design suggest one-sided opening, and the island - two, three or four.Open fire will create a cozy atmosphere in the interior, but the more open sides, the less the degree of heating of the room. Due to the lack of brick walls, the heat goes into the chimney, without lingering in the room, the brick fireplace acquires a more decorative function.

A closed firebox is safer to open, burning takes place behind heat-resistant glass. The heat released during combustion remains longer in the room. The advantage is the ability to accurately control the combustion up to several degrees, the air is supplied using special mechanical levers, and not through the open space. The closed fire chamber, even with panoramic glazing, can be the main source of heat in the house and at the same time allows to admire fire. Glazed fireplace can be combined with a stove.

The fireplace looks great in the interior, but it has a large heat loss, to avoid this, you can combine two designs, a stove and a fireplace.

The stove will allow the heat to last longer in the room, and if you equip a special plane with a cooking surface, you can cook without using a gas stove. The fire in the oven can give sufficient temperature to heat the food and cook it. This model is called "Swede" and is suitable for cooking, heating, storing clothes. The hob is made of cast iron and can have several burners.

The fire in the fireplace can be open or closed. Closed design is more functional and takes up less space. Glazed firebox can be used as a stove and fireplace at the same time. Such samples are more suitable for home interior than for the street.

The chimney is an important part of the design of the fireplace and has two versions:

Straight construction The option with a direct chimney is installed directly at the time of construction of the building. Simplicity and versatility make the design convenient and widespread.

Inclined design.Convenient for reconstruction or repair, allows you to connect the chimney to the already prepared channels.

Chimney can be with corners (rectangular, triangular) and made of brick, but experts recommend to build into it a chimney-pipe made of metal with a smooth surface, this will help avoid the formation of soot.

To improve heat transfer in the construction of the firebox, its walls can be positioned at a slight inclination, and installing a special smoke chamber will protect the room against sparks and soot.

Also, to improve heating, you can additionally lay out a heating shield made of brick, it will allow the heat to stay longer, which is very important in large rooms with fireplace heating.

Exterior design consists of a portal and facing. The portal is the part that surrounds the firebox from the outside. Doors can be attached to the portal in the event that a brick fireplace is of a closed type. Fireplace with a glass door gives a full review of the fire and not much inferior to an open device.

You can also insert a door of high-strength tempered glass with tinting, the fire behind it looks very nice and soft.Warm bronze tones will do, but in a modern interior cool graphite will look good too.

In old houses, a furnace is often rough. Such a stove can be converted into a fireplace, but you should contact the experts. Shutting off the rough under the fireplace is not an easy task, you need to assess the condition of the furnace, carefully inspect the chimney and all other structures, check the laying for cracks. A small stove door is not suitable for the device of the fireplace, you can expand it or close the door and make it more in another place.

If you plan to install a stove, you need two fireboxes and two chimneys, but such complications can be avoided by installing a fireplace with a door of heat-resistant glass. Such a trick to keep warm longer and no extra stove is needed.

If all the preparatory work to strengthen the floor is completed (the floor must withstand the weight of the fireplace structure), diagrams, plans and calculations have been made, you can proceed to the installation of a home-made fireplace.

For laying any fireplace you need a brick of different sizes: whole, half and quarter, it will help to avoid not joining the plan.The number of bricks, binding mass and other materials is strictly calculated before the start of work.

Laying home-made rows should be in strict accordance with the plan, there should be no differences and errors, you can use a level for checking. The height of the seams for the fireplace of red brick of standard sizes should not be more than 0.5 cm, the solution must be laid out in the middle of the plane of the brick.

But it’s worth remembering that only a stove-specialist can ideally correctly lay out a fireplace or stove. Do not trust the work of non-professionals or independently carry out the calculation, especially in the absence of experience. This design is not going to quickly and requires careful approach.

There are several ways of framing brick facades with built-in firebox:

Plaster - one of the most simple and practical options. The modern structure allows plastering embossed patterns or a simple smooth surface. On top you can apply paint or decorative plaster.

Painting - the easiest option. If you do not want to hide the relief of bricks, it is enough to walk 1-2 layers of paint, but you should choose the least toxic and durable samples.To paint went smoothly, you can plastered brick with a thin layer of finishing putty and only then paint.

Facing tile or stone. The option is quite expensive and effective. In today's market there are more number of images, different in color, texture, size and pattern. Facing stone can be laid out in order, or in any other chaotic order. It is not so easy to tile the facade of the fireplace, it is tedious to choose a good adhesive. It is quite interesting to look at the option with a chipped tile, to make such a design much easier, you just need to pick up pieces of suitable size and dock.

If we build a closed fireplace, we make the lining corresponding to the glass and partitions. Here the decoration will be the brick itself or ceramic tile.

The color of the fireplace should fit the main interior. For the style of "loft" fit hand-molded brick with the effect of aging. For a classic interior in beige tones - light yellow brick.

Modern colorful coatings and fillers allow you to withstand high temperatures and are easy to clean, it gives the opportunity to paint the fireplace in any color.

Laying out a fireplace made of quality material is expensive: prices vary, but basically the cost is 2-3 times more expensive than a cast-iron stove.

Making heat-resistant bricks is a costly and time-consuming process: it is necessary to harden the brick at the highest temperature, pick up high-quality clay, get rid of harmful additives. The cost of masonry depends on the work of the stove-setter, the reinforcement of the floor, the cost of bricks and binding materials, on average - 50 tons.

For the fireplace you need regular care: you need to periodically clean up the ash pan, clean it. The chimney should be cleaned three times a year, according to the recommendations of specialists. You can invite a chimney sweep or handle it yourself.

Restoration of fireplaces from a brick process is complex and costly, it is easier to clean the structure once a season, than to turn to the master and waste precious time and money.

An interesting solution would be to install an island fireplace right in the wall. In the middle of the room, a non-wide brick wall is installed; a hole is made in the middle for the fireplace.The flame will be visible from all four sides, but it is worthwhile to take care of the structural strength: install metal pins in the corners of the wall and impose square bricks on them. The upper part of the wall will serve as a venue for the chimney. This solution will be interesting in the open and closed versions.

Another option is an interesting lining. At the time of Peter the Great, it was fashionable to install furnaces with Dutch tiles with pastoral drawings of cobalt paint in the rooms. Such a stove will decorate the interior and make you look at the pictures on the background of small tiles for hours. In the apartment of a spacious area such a decision is quite appropriate.