There’s nothing quite as nice as the aromatic flavour of freshly barbequed meat. Yum. Brick barbeque areas are all the rage and last in rough weather. They’re also relatively easy to build if you’ve worked with bricks before and know some of the basics. If you don’t, you might want to get some extra DIY training, but otherwise, this construction is definitely an attainable feat. Granted, you’re going to need time and patience to knock this one out of the park, but it will be totally worth it in end. Check out our all-inclusive stages for laying those bricks and building that barbeque area!
Image by warrenski
Stage 1: Decisions, Decisions
Now, pay attention because this is probably the most important part of your whole barbeque building process. You have to choose where you want it to go. Outdoors is always great because there’s plenty of space and open air to carry that smoke away from your freshly painted walls. The best space will be one free of low hanging branches and other obstructions which can catch fire and cause a potential health hazard. Always play by the rules and local building regulations as well. Select a spot and mark out 120x120cms on the ground for your foundation and spade out the excess dirt until it’s about 20cms deep.
Stage 2: Throw It Down
Next up, you get to throw your foundation down. This is quite simple, because all you really have to do is mix quick-drying cement according to the instructions on the packet and then pour this mixture into the foundation space. Make sure it’s event by smoothing it over with a trowel. Lay your grill down on the foundation once it’s dry and mark off where you want your bricks to go around it. Measure it off and soak those bricks overnight.
Image by TheArtGuy
Stage 3: The First Courses
And we don’t mean the actual barbequed meat. This is where you bring out those wicked bricklaying skills and lay your first courses. Place your bricks around the demarcated area before you do anything else. This is just to make sure you’ve got your measurements right before you do any of the actual grunt work. Then lay a relatively thick layer of mortar down and press your first brick down. Slather mortar on its end and squeeze the adjacent brick to it, and remove any excess mortar. Once you’ve got the layers down, check that they’re level with your spirit level.
Stage 4: Build Those Walls Up
Make an internal layer of bricks (in a square) which extends upwards and creates a lip just short of the outer layers of bricks. This will be the spot where you balance your grill. The area below will be where you create your actual fire. You can create a series of horizontal protruding edges which allow you to move your grill up and down according to the heat of the fire. Strike your joints with a jointer and wash off the excess mortar once it’s dried a bit. And VOILA! You have a barbeque area.
Stage 5: Decoration
Tile it up if you’d like to, but this a whole other skill set you’ll need to acquire before you can do that. There are plenty of patterns you can go for, but plain brick is often the most popular because it’s rustic and aesthetically pleasing just the way it is.
All set? Get out there and kick some DIY barbeque area behind. Then grill some delicious meat and come tells us about it in the comments section below.